Placing Ourselves in the Universe

This week we have been studying various ways to look at a sense of place. Today's class took us to a place where I am the most comfortable, the place called science.This morning we looked at our place in the vast universe and really could see just how small our world is.I found it interesting to look at the numbers that give us a sense of comparison.The fact that the map of the universe is not a map of how things are now but how things were at some point of time really makes one ponder the essence of reality. The lesson on microwaves was a perfect lesson. Liz captured my attention from the the minute she made me hypothesize. Her questions made me think, how hot would the water get, how hot would the oil get(I was disappointed that we didn't have a thermometer)?She really explained how microwaves worked in a very simplistic manner. Ending with the concept maps gave us a chance to try to recall the lesson and helped us get clarifications that we needed.For me today's journey was perfect.

Today's discussions were interesting, although somewhat above my level. Using a beach ball to demonstrate the galactic coordinates was very effective; I kept thinking of my years teaching latitude and longitude in 3rd grade and how students assimilate concepts more easily when familiar objects are used in lessons. I wish we had spent more time talking about GPS and the various satellites that are transmitting so many types of information. That would seem to me to clearly relate to Jeff's historical overview because it's the present and future of our use and sense of place. I enjoyed the microwave experiements but wouldn't have been able to remember/understand much of what we discussed without the concept maps that we created in small groups. Interacting with each other at different times throughout these sessions is one of the reasons I'm really enjoying this Institute.

Great session today! Loved the models introduced to help my students visualize difficult concepts. I found a site that has semi-clear beach balls for cosmic mapping and I'll put that up on resources. I was able to formulate so many ideas about how I'll use my classroom set of laptops, most especially using "Where is M-13". I'm going to e-mail my district's technology admin and request a site license for the software. The lightbulb in the MW was very interesting but I "hear" the parents' comlaints before it even happens. I may need to think of an alternate method of showing the same thing.

Great morning very interactive, I liked that!!! Prior to today's lecture I found the unit on radiation boring. Now, I can't wait to bring in my microwave and do the demo's that we did today!!!

My comment is for all the sessions: I would appreciate if there was a handout for each talk, so we can concentrate on listening to the lecture and we would have it for future reference. I really did appreciate Liz's handouts and her experiments that we can turn around & use in the classroom. The M13 program can be utilized in many different applications in the classroom and I really appreciate being introduced to it.