Ascaris lumbricoides

Here is another example dissection on a dark background. This is the common dog round worm, Ascaris lumbricoides.

Zoowiki this week.

This week I will be working on the Biology II syllabus for next year. Students, if you are bored this summer and want to get a head start, now is your chance! You can download the PowerPoints and print them out. This is a dandy way to take notes in class; you can write directly on the printout. To do this just choose print preview in PowerPoint. Select the handout option and put three on a page.

Clam Dissection Example

Here is an example of how students can use this blog to study for a laboratory dissection. We dissected this clam in our lab, photographed it and added lables. You can enlarge the photograph by clicking on it.

Maggie the dog

This post is for my 6/7th graders. Maggie is doing well and growing fast. She has been outside a lot more since school has been out. She got to meet a racoon on the back porch last night. They had a disagreement about who the dog food belonged to.

Fly Poison

We found this plant called Fly Poison, Amianthium muscaetoxicum at Hobbs State Park yesterday evening. I have not seen this species before. Joan is better at spotting these little things than I am.

Earth Science Certification Test

I took the Oklahoma State Teacher certification test for Earth Science; 80 multiple choice questions and one essay. It took six hours to drive to Tulsa and back to Arkansas, but only about 1.5 hours to take the exam. It wasn't easy. There were more questions on astronomy than I anticipated.

South American Snake Killing Bird

My wife Joan and the kids captured this video at the Little Rock Zoo's Winged Wonders program. Here is a link: http://tinyurl.com/nhgu8m

Easy Classroom Podcasting

Here is a link to the course syllabus for the Easy Classroom Podcasting workshop. It is a six week class off to somewhat of a slow start so far.

http://tinyurl.com/lth5pj

Wikispace vs. "the old fashon way"

I have just been considering the utility of a wikispace vs. a regular web page. Now that I have some experience with both, I find the wiki much more difficult to control than, say just building a web page from scratch using HTML or an editor such as MS Frontpage.

Podcasting Today

Today I recieved my third in a series of lessons on podcasting for the on-line class I am taking. So today we will begin producing a new episode for use on the zoowiki. I will produse a series of podcasts this summer including a field adventure to Colorado. While I work on the page development and curriculum planning, I couldn't be in a better place. This morning I watched deer in the woods off my back deck. It is foggy, cool, and beautiful here this morning.

Michigan High School Science Content

Here is a good wiki from Michigan High Schools http://mi-science-biology-companion.wikispaces.com/

Posting PowerPoints to Wikispace

The "insert file" feature in wikiispace seems to work OK and I was able to past a simple (small file size) PowerPoint. The formatting of the link on the main page is nat that great. I am having a lot of trouble formatting the navigation bar also.

Wikispace and Java

I think the problem is that wikispace doesn't like Javascript.

Wikispace

I have been working to build my wikispace today. I have found a bit tricky to embed HTML code into the site. I tried embedding the same web applications (voki, hit counters, etc.) in a normal web page using Microsoft Frontpage. It worked fine.

Technology Integration

Here are a few of the applications I will beworking with: MySpace, facebook, Wikispace, Voki, Quizlet. Content areas will include: Biology, Zoology, and Geoscience.

Introduction

For this first post let me tell you how the site came to be. I first began using the internet in my teaching at St. Gregory's University in the 1990s. Over the next nine years my simple web page grew into a complex series of pages containing audio, video, PowerPoint presentations, and more. Now I am teaching High School Science and embarking on a summer-long experiment in web-based instruction and curriculum development.