Urban Environmental Education

There is so much to absorb through all these K12 Learning 2.0 activities, that I can’t tell right now how I feel about all this.  Social networking is an interesting concept but I am still forming my impressions.

This article from “Treehugger” point out how we are not really working to access sources other than fossil fuels.  Geothermal energy may be location specific, but it is not completely being exploited.

www.treehugger.com/files/2010/08/tapping-the-energy-below-the-earths-surface.php?campaign=th_rss

Pageflakes, where do we get these names.  I can see using this to get students to read and explore the areas of theie topics I want them to explore.  Including feeds from science magazines could make the topic more interesting for the students.  I didn’t see how to use it to list homework, research topics, etc.

Google Docs was an idea that was new to me.  I wonder about the security of the site.  Can anyone except me access the files and change them?  Sharing documents with other is a good idea when several people are creating something together.

The spreadsheets could be used by investigators working compiling the same data, like for water or air quality.  Students, in different classes or locations could work on the same written assignment, like a news article.  Teachers could collaborate on a curriculum project or update existing curriculum.

YouTube turned out to  be really different than what I expected.  I thought it was just silly stuff, but I was happy to find serious educational material available there.  TeacherTube was great.  I can see myself using it over and over.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKNFHDUYOsA&feature=pyv&ad=5294457449&kw=environmental

I really liked the Library Thing.  I am an avid reader, I practically inhale books.  I especially like mysteries and scifi.  I think keeping a running list of the books you have read would be good for me.  <aybe then I’ll stop buying ther same book twice.

This was my first experience with podcasts.  While teaching Environmental Science, I beleive I can use podcasting to have students select and listen to podcasts that are relevant to the topic we are studying.  Some students learn better through listening and this would be perfect.  Students could also create their own podcasts on environmental topics.  I subscribed to 3 science podcasts, one was NPR.

I think it is a good idea to have all your bookmarks in one place and to be able to share them with like-minded people.  I must say however it took me some time to get the bookmarklet on the Links Bar.

http://delicious.com/gracelynnjohnson

I love interesting and strange plants.  A blue tomato!  Someone told me about a black tomato, supposedly an heirloom tomato.  I wonder if these are the same tomato variety.

http://www.yougrowgirl.com/thedirt/2010/07/12/yes-virginia-there-is-a-blue-tomato

MixBook and Picnik were both examined and they both are for editing and working with photos, but they are not free.  You can upload your phots to MixBook and completely design your picture album but first you have to decide how much to spend on having it completed and sent to you.  The results shown in the tour were wonderful but I am teacher, I like free stuff.

http://www.mixbook.com