Last night I attended the touring presentation of the Rutherford Lecture. This is an annual lecture by the winner of the previous years winner of the Rutherford Medal, the top prize given out by Royal Societ Te Apārangi "to recognise eminent research or technological practice by a person in any field of science, mathematics, social science, or technology." The 2017 medal went to volcanologist Professor Colin Wilson FRS FRSNZ of Victoria University of Wellington for the work he has done on Supervolcanoes.
The lecture covered and introduction to what determines a supervolcano, Comparitive supereruptions of the Quaternary Period, and the history of the supereruptions of the Taūpo volcanic field, the most active supervolcano globally, with 4/10 of the geologically recent eruptions, geologically recent meaning the last 2.6 million years.
I find attending these sorts of events very useful in the classroom to help broaden and maintain my knowledge on a range of subjects, and this allows me to help students make connections between the content in the my classroom and their own interests.
Showing posts with label Geology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Geology. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 August 2018
Tuesday, 27 June 2017
Ongoing Inquiry into the Geology assessment for Year 10's
The last couple of days I have been watching and marking presentations from my year 10 class on a Natural Disaster.
The quality of presentation is much higher than last year. This is a combination effect from having a more literate and engaged class than I had last year, but also having provided greater scaffolding for the students. From the scaffolding they have a better understanding of what is expected of them, and the detail to which they need to go.
Some students are, as expected, only doing enough for the minimum. Others have really been focussed on the higher levels, and been motivated by the clear outlines. The hardest part for many has been presenting to the class, however as scary as it may be, presenting is a valuable skill for them to practise.
In addition I think I will give them a modified re-submission opportunity, modelled on how they will be assessed at Year 11 in NCEA Level 1. Modified, in that I will be showing each student what on the rubric that they missed, and perhaps helping them to research their way to a better grade. In this way they will hopefully develop a better understanding of how they may use rubric's to check their assessments for sufficiency.
The aim would be to have them better craft their assessments to meet the criteria at every level .
The quality of presentation is much higher than last year. This is a combination effect from having a more literate and engaged class than I had last year, but also having provided greater scaffolding for the students. From the scaffolding they have a better understanding of what is expected of them, and the detail to which they need to go.
Some students are, as expected, only doing enough for the minimum. Others have really been focussed on the higher levels, and been motivated by the clear outlines. The hardest part for many has been presenting to the class, however as scary as it may be, presenting is a valuable skill for them to practise.
In addition I think I will give them a modified re-submission opportunity, modelled on how they will be assessed at Year 11 in NCEA Level 1. Modified, in that I will be showing each student what on the rubric that they missed, and perhaps helping them to research their way to a better grade. In this way they will hopefully develop a better understanding of how they may use rubric's to check their assessments for sufficiency.
The aim would be to have them better craft their assessments to meet the criteria at every level .
Friday, 9 June 2017
Year 10 Geology Assessment
I have been reevaluating the assessment for the Year 10 Geology Unit. Although the assessment task itself is a good one, it needed more scaffolding to help the students to understand what is required.
I have spent some time putting together scaffolding resources to support students in this process.
I decided to give the students an exemplar of what was required to get to excellence standard, and along the way I also made a resource showing how I thought through the requirements, and another on how I recorded my information prior to putting my final document together.
When introducing the assessment task I showed the students all of these things, and talked through them with the students, before giving them access to them on Google Classroom.
The exemplar was also highlighted to identify which parts satisfied Level 4, and which Level 5. The student were informed that the expectation is that at Year 10, they need to be working at Level 5 or "Merit", but many students are aiming for the Level 6 assessment grade.
This is a continuation of the revised assessment task I created in 2016 in response to the absence of a reliable assessment task.
I have spent some time putting together scaffolding resources to support students in this process.
I decided to give the students an exemplar of what was required to get to excellence standard, and along the way I also made a resource showing how I thought through the requirements, and another on how I recorded my information prior to putting my final document together.
When introducing the assessment task I showed the students all of these things, and talked through them with the students, before giving them access to them on Google Classroom.
The exemplar was also highlighted to identify which parts satisfied Level 4, and which Level 5. The student were informed that the expectation is that at Year 10, they need to be working at Level 5 or "Merit", but many students are aiming for the Level 6 assessment grade.
This is a continuation of the revised assessment task I created in 2016 in response to the absence of a reliable assessment task.
Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Passive Learners
10NR are very borderline learners. There are a number of them that are not engaged in learning, and I am struggling to find a path in for them. The ones that are capable are not interested in learning for learnings sake, but instead see Year 10 as an intermediate wasted year and will engage again when it is time for credits.
My usual strategies are not working. They are an odd bunch. They will passively watch something, and they will tutu with things, but not if it looks like learning activity. Although for Climate change they all opened the website and worked a bit at, for most of the class they work rate was so slow. It is highly frustrating when I can see that as long as they focussed that they would be moving mountains, but they are just so apathetic.
I am going to work on them having more video clips, and instant rewards. There does not seem to be any appetite for slog in this class. They don't appear to be any recognition that with hard work comes better rewards.
I'm going to have to ditch the daily quiz, as it is a waste of time until I can get some sort of engagement with the learning. I have persevered, and it is still a good tool to use with my other classes as a daily revision task, but this class might be better served with a mini video or similar, something they can passively sit through rather than actively read or write.
I don't like feeling like I am requiring less from my students, Ultimately if they can't read or write well their choices will be limited in life, and I don't want to do that.
My usual strategies are not working. They are an odd bunch. They will passively watch something, and they will tutu with things, but not if it looks like learning activity. Although for Climate change they all opened the website and worked a bit at, for most of the class they work rate was so slow. It is highly frustrating when I can see that as long as they focussed that they would be moving mountains, but they are just so apathetic.
I am going to work on them having more video clips, and instant rewards. There does not seem to be any appetite for slog in this class. They don't appear to be any recognition that with hard work comes better rewards.
I'm going to have to ditch the daily quiz, as it is a waste of time until I can get some sort of engagement with the learning. I have persevered, and it is still a good tool to use with my other classes as a daily revision task, but this class might be better served with a mini video or similar, something they can passively sit through rather than actively read or write.
I don't like feeling like I am requiring less from my students, Ultimately if they can't read or write well their choices will be limited in life, and I don't want to do that.
Passive Learners
10NR are very borderline learners. There are a number of them that are not engaged in learning, and I am struggling to find a path in for them. The ones that are capable are not interested in learning for learnings sake, but instead see Year 10 as an intermediate wasted year and will engage again when it is time for credits.
My usual strategies are not working. They are an odd bunch. They will passively watch something, and they will tutu with things, but not if it looks like learning activity. Although for Climate change they all opened the website and worked a bit at, for most of the class they work rate was so slow. It is highly frustrating when I can see that as long as they focussed that they would be moving mountains, but they are just so apathetic.
I am going to work on them having more video clips, and instant rewards. There does not seem to be any appetite for slog in this class. They don't appear to be any recognition that with hard work comes better rewards.
I'm going to have to ditch the daily quiz, as it is a waste of time until I can get some sort of engagement with the learning. I have persevered, and it is still a good tool to use with my other classes as a daily revision task, but this class might be better served with a mini video or similar, something they can passively sit through rather than actively read or write.
I don't like feeling like I am requiring less from my students, Ultimately if they can't read or write well their choices will be limited in life, and I don't want to do that.
My usual strategies are not working. They are an odd bunch. They will passively watch something, and they will tutu with things, but not if it looks like learning activity. Although for Climate change they all opened the website and worked a bit at, for most of the class they work rate was so slow. It is highly frustrating when I can see that as long as they focussed that they would be moving mountains, but they are just so apathetic.
I am going to work on them having more video clips, and instant rewards. There does not seem to be any appetite for slog in this class. They don't appear to be any recognition that with hard work comes better rewards.
I'm going to have to ditch the daily quiz, as it is a waste of time until I can get some sort of engagement with the learning. I have persevered, and it is still a good tool to use with my other classes as a daily revision task, but this class might be better served with a mini video or similar, something they can passively sit through rather than actively read or write.
I don't like feeling like I am requiring less from my students, Ultimately if they can't read or write well their choices will be limited in life, and I don't want to do that.
Monday, 22 August 2016
The Rock Cycle with 10NR
10NR have been more engaged in this Earth Science unit than for most this year. I believe it is a combination of a growing maturity and improved literacy skills, certain students having been relocated to another class and the change of teaching plans. I have been actively seeking more demonstative and interactive learning experiences and Earth Science is a unit where this is easier to do than in others.
Two girls went to the SSC immediately at the start of the lesson as one of them had red raised knuckles and the seond went for moral support.
Today was the rock cycle which was the perfect time to do a hands on activity. The crayon rock cycle. an oldie but a goody. I have done it a few times before, but I have yet to perfect the execution.
10NR were as predicted very enthusiastic about the smashing of crayons with a hammer, the jumping on crayon bits, and the melting of crayon bits. I'm never sure how much I am getting through to them as to why we are doing the activity and getting them to link the smashing and jumping with the weathering and pressure that they represent.
The theory work that came afterwards was resisted, but after Friday the girls were insistent on music so the deal was as long as the work was being done, they could have music.
Two girls went to the SSC immediately at the start of the lesson as one of them had red raised knuckles and the seond went for moral support.
Today was the rock cycle which was the perfect time to do a hands on activity. The crayon rock cycle. an oldie but a goody. I have done it a few times before, but I have yet to perfect the execution.
10NR were as predicted very enthusiastic about the smashing of crayons with a hammer, the jumping on crayon bits, and the melting of crayon bits. I'm never sure how much I am getting through to them as to why we are doing the activity and getting them to link the smashing and jumping with the weathering and pressure that they represent.
The theory work that came afterwards was resisted, but after Friday the girls were insistent on music so the deal was as long as the work was being done, they could have music.
Oddly calm
Last Period on a Friday is usually a tricky lesson particularly with 10NR who are resistant to learning at the best of times. On Friday they were unusally docile.
The lesson started with a YouTube clip of the Tangiwai train crash from the docudrama on TV a while ago, then I explained Volcanoes, and set them to work. It was colouring and cutting and pasting, but they had to label stuff as they went. I also had clips of volcanic activity on the screen for them to watch. Perhaps it was the two pronged approach. As they gave up on one activity they were caught by the screen, and when they were bored of the volcanic clips they went back to the cutting and pasting. It probably isn't helping to develop a long attention span, but it did seem to keep them on topic in the classroom.
Friday, 19 August 2016
New and Improved Rock Cycle
After doing the crayon rock cycle with limited success I had to try a new way of doing things. In a quirk of timing just after teaching it to my Year 10's I had the opportunity to do it as a demonstration lesson on a interview. This time I tried with playdough of different colours and textures. The playdough is less solid and rock like, but it has the advantage of sticking together when the rocks are sedimentary,and it is easy to break pieces off for weathering. The metamorphic rocks are less pronounced, but by working the playdough until all colours merge a satisfactory igneous rock develops. I think I shall work with the playdough version in the future.
Different assessment
Since there is no department wide assessment used for the Earth Science I have decided to to use as assessment a research project. They can research a natural disaster of their choosing, then present information about it in their own way be that a song or rap, an animation, a poster or a presentation.
Assessment
Assessment
Edible Geology
10NR are a difficult class that is hard to engage in learning. For Earth Science I tried using their stomachs. At home I made mini muffins with choco-caramel lollies pushed into the middle, then at school we made jelly and sat them in the middle of sugar crusted patty tins. the intent was to make a model of the earth with the sugar as the crust, the jelly as the mantle, the mini-muffin as the Outer core and the lolly as the inner core.
The lollies needed to be pushed further in when they are put into the mini-muffin mix before baking, the jelly needed to be more concentrated, and the sugar needed to be put on after the jelly had set pretty solidly. The actual Edible earths did not turn out very well.
The main aim of engaging the class worked more successfully. Most of them completed the written portion of the class as I intimated I was going to hold their Earths hostage.
The lollies needed to be pushed further in when they are put into the mini-muffin mix before baking, the jelly needed to be more concentrated, and the sugar needed to be put on after the jelly had set pretty solidly. The actual Edible earths did not turn out very well.
The main aim of engaging the class worked more successfully. Most of them completed the written portion of the class as I intimated I was going to hold their Earths hostage.
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