1. Clearly, I had
many difficulties in completing this assignment. Obvious problems are that it is July so finding
“students” is trying as well as the fact that this subject matter is not my forte. In addition, I was
somehow just miraculously able to view the video. I manually installed QuickTime, and it worked for
other applications, just not this one until now! I was (until now) able to use the Rotating Earth
Simulation, however, which I now see was the key element- not the video at all (with the exception of
Lansing weather patterns). I was going to have my boyfriend, who is a high school teacher, pretend to
be a kid (which would honestly, not have been so difficult for him!) But then, I convinced three of my
cousins to come over. My cousin, Ali, recently earned her license and will find any excuse to drive
anywhere. Ali is 17, Caleb is 16, and Rose is 14. They were my “class” for the purposes of implementing
the Model Lesson Plan and worked together as one group may in a more real setting. They are all high
school students, so also an additional item to consider in comparison to the suggested 5th grade level.
I used the suggested 24 Hour Temperature Lesson plan and
began by asking what they think is the coldest part of the day, and
similar to the cited responses in John Bell’s transcript, they agreed
that the middle of the night was the coolest, with the exception of
Caleb, who insisted that it takes time to get colder. They quarreled a
bit, the way siblings would, but decided to compromise with a
majority rules voting and the girls answer was used and they said,
“Midnight.” I directed them to
http://mltoolbox.org/wx/earth_rotate.swf to view the simulation. As
soon as they saw the Rotating earth simulation, Caleb threw out the
expected, “I told you so!” The rest of the lesson continued as might be expected, and I followed the
lesson plan as closely as possible.
Problems of teaching the lesson were that I taught family members, who know I do not teach
science, in a spare bedroom (my “office”) of my home. I felt at a disadvantage initially because the
lesson was out of my comfort zone for content. I was worried that they may ask questions that I
couldn’t answer. There are two reasons why this didn’t actually happen. First, they are very well
behaved kids and for the most part, quiet and shy. Second, Caleb attends Catholic Central and is very
smart. He knew a great deal because he completed a large assignment or unit on global warming this
past spring. He knew that the earth takes time to heat up and cool down, in addition to understanding
that a few degrees warmer each year, truly does affect us but that it takes time.
I asked them if their teachers used the Internet very often at their schools and they mostly
answered with “Sometimes.” I asked if they liked it, and of course, they said those are usually their
favorite teachers (that use the Internet) or when they learn a lot (through technology).
A potential problem, but unforeseeable, would be problems with the school network (Internet)
or computer issues (i.e. sound). Other more foreseeable problems would be kids whipping through the

2. assignment and visiting other sites, students talking, or forgetting their log in or passwords. All of these
problems would, however, be manageable.
Technology use was, from my perspective, not extremely necessary. I think that the simulation
could have been done with a globe and a ball (sun) with explanations for heat and times of the day or
year. Also, I think that the Lansing Weather could have just been a hand out to be used as a reference.
However, in the end, my cousins/”students” were engaged fully and most likely because of the
integration of the Internet. If I made them come over and pulled out a globe and gave them handouts,
not only would they have thought I was crazy (in July) but would likely have also been bored! The
objective of understanding energy-flow as it relates to the temperature of the Earth over a 24-hour
period, and were able to reason about the warmest and coldest times of the year was met. Could it
have been met without the Internet? Well, by me, today? No. By another more experienced, science
teacher? Yes, most likely. However, the use of technology was more engaging and more visual as the
rotation, time and temperature changed and was able to be seen changing as it happened.
Fortunately for kids, I won’t ever teach this lesson again. But if I did, and was in my own
classroom, I would start the class off by putting a pot of water on the stove to it boil. (I have 6 kitchens
in my classroom because I also teach Foods & Nutrition). I’d start asking questions to the students, then
turn the lights on and off as a comparison to the water boiling and continue the discussion until the
water boiled as to engage them and get them “thinking”. Then refer them to groups and computers to
complete the rest of the lesson and assessment. Although I am not a science teacher, I may actually
benefit from this lesson and use it in my class when we talk about global warming and our responsibility
as good citizens of this planet. I would not have considered it until Caleb expressed how much he knew
in connecting this to global warming.