November Entry
The students in Science Research and Design created the scenarios for studying the scientific method used in this project.  After studying the components experimental design, this activity presented students with an opportunity to display expertise in the application of the principles studied.  It also gave them a sense of accomplishment and pride to prepare the work for other students to use.  We also used the student created scenarios to give additional practice for our students who were continuing to have difficulty in distinguishing between independent and dependent variables. 

Biology II students used the principles of the scientific method to generate student-designed laboratory experiments on enzyme activity investigating the protein found in fresh pineapple that will not allow Jell-O to gel. 

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December Entry
While studying meiosis, students had the opportunity to visit other sites for better understanding and enrichment at my classroom site at http://www.highwired.net/Classroom/PageOne/0,2059,3288,00.html
From this location they were able to go to following web site to complete an exercise for extra credit: http://www.biology.arizona.edu/human_bio/activities/karyotyping/karyotyping.html 

My students in Biology II are currently using the Internet to research various aspects of plant anatomy and physiology.  They will create a PowerPoint presentation, which will be presented to the class on December 20, and 21, 1999.  I am using the Biology Place at http://www.biology.com as a resource.  This company offers a trial period at no charge and is a wonderful location for both students and teachers. 

In the Science Research and Design class students submit journal entries each Friday on-line at the classroom site at Highwired.  These entries reflect the progress they have made on their research project for the week and well as the goal to be accomplished for the next week.  These students are also working with the Visual Arts III class on the Mars Millennium Project: A National Arts, Sciences, and Technology Education initiative.  The address for the project is www.mars2030.net.  The students are divided into five teams with each team being composed of both science and art students.  They are building a village for 100 people to live in on Mars in 2030.  This project is being limited to two and half weeks and will terminate as a web site reflecting their research and village outlay.  This will be featured on my home page. 
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January  Entry
This month I have created a PowerPoint on plants.  My students have begun dissection of animals.  I have all of my dissection units on the web as tutorials.  Students may use these for review or they may make up a lab by working through the tutorial.  All of the lab test are created on PowerPoint and displayed on the large TV monitor.  I am in the process of revising my lab worksheets to be more compatible with the PowerPoint tests. 

Students are preparing their “End-of-Course” project on endangered species and many of the students will create PowerPoint presentations to use in the project. 
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February Entry
This month my students have used the Internet to complete their research on an endangered species.  Presentations were made the last week of class and several students employed PowerPoint to make their presentations.  These PowerPoint programs will be converted to html and place on the web site for Endangered Species on the Biology II homepage.  One student made his entire presentation on the web and built a wonderful and informative web site on bats.  His web site was composed using html.  Several other students used pictures on the web during their presentation.  We have continued to enjoy using "The Biology Place" at biology.com. 
 As Biology II students complete the semester, the final course work involves dissections.  All of my dissection labs have a tutorial on the web on my Biology II homepage.  These tutorials may be used for review and preparation for the laboratory exams.  I have taken all photos in the lab using the Mavica 12X digital camera.  Many of these same photos are used in the lab exams, which are given using the large screen TV as a monitor.  The lab exams were composed using PowerPoint. 
 The laptop continues to be a wonderful addition to my classroom.  It allows me the luxury or working anywhere, anytime.  We also have used it in the laboratory to interface with computer based learning equipment and probes.  It is terrific for field and laboratory experiences. 
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March Entry
TLG – This has been a very frustrating process.  I feel that there needed to be more consistency between evaluators, however, I am not sure how to achieve this.  Most evaluators have been excellent in regard to responding to the teachers in my school in a timely manner but some have given much better direction to future tasks.  It was very frustrating to have been working on the grants since December and not be able to access the site during the last week to submit my last unit.  It was also very discouraging to spend weeks trying to get my evaluator to be able to see my tracks when I was doing everything correctly.  Jefferson County has been very fortunate for the groundwork done by Connie Campbell.  I would have died if I had to complete this task without support.  I also feel that all of the last minute entries need to be as carefully examined as the initial grants.  I really appreciate the opportunity to complete the grants and for teachers who use technology to gain funding to attempt stay current. 

Internet Resources – The best Internet resource I have found is biology.com.  This is a site that requires a subscription and is developed for high school and college level students.  It gives students a clear and concise explanation for most of the topics we cover and it also provides practice and quizzes to aid students in evaluating their level of understanding. 

PowerPoint – I continue to use PowerPoint for my lesson notes.  My students are getting ready to develop group presentations on plants. 
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April Entry
The TLG grant was a nightmare.  I wish there was some way to give teachers time during the day to work on the grants.  I know there would have been more money for the schools if we could have done this.  The greatest advantage of the process was the location of many great Internet sites.  I also know that many teachers were made aware of the curriculum for their discipline for the first time.  This was very positive. 

This month my students completed a unit on bioethics.  The assignment was on my classroom site at http://highwired.net.  Students selected from five topics.  Each group then divided themselves into two equal groups with one group being pro and the other group being con.  They were conducted research on the Internet to prepare for a debate.  Following the debate, each group collectively wrote an essay summarizing their findings and feelings on the debate.  This was modeled after my track I developed for the TLG grant. 

Topics: 

1. The first cloning of a human embryo has occurred.  Should the medical community allow this technology to be used? 
 Web sites: 
http://www.newscientist.com/nsplus/insight/clone/clone.html
http://209.52.56.28/cloning/index.html
http://powayusd.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/ewe2/
http://www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk/mhe97/cloning.htm
http://www.agnic.org/pmp/1997/scd9704.html

2. Scientists have recently cloned five piglets for the purpose of using pig organs for human transplant.  If you or a family member is on the transplant waiting list, would a pig organ be an option selected for or would you continue to wait for an organ donor? 
web sites: 
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/january98/organ4.html
http://www.bio-ethics.com/news/spare.htm
http://www.api4animals.org/IssuesAndAdvocacyCampaigns/Xeno/XenotransplantationAndCloning.htm
http://www.atp.nist.gov/www/comps/briefs/99011060.htm

3. Should the recently discovered Wooly Mammoth be cloned?  What will be its place or role in the phylogenic tree in present history?  What type of life would this animal live if the cloning were successful? 
web sites: 
http://www.d-b.net/dti/intro0.html
http://209.52.56.28/cloning/index.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/18258/index2.htm
http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/oct97/s101597a.htm
http://www.nurseweek.com/features/99-9/genes.html
http://www.lessons.k12.tn.us/~trackstar/tracks/f02977.html

4.   The technology for cloning should only be funded for research to provide human organs for transplant or for improved quality and quantity of the world food supply. 
web sites: 
http://www.ads.uga.edu/annrpt/1996/96_031.htm
http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/oct97/s101597a.htm
http://www.absglobal.com/pr0302.htm
http://www.ncgr.org/gpi/odyssey/dolly-cloning/cloning_risks.html
http://www.cast-science.org/anag/anag_05.htm
http://www.monsanto.com/monsanto/mediacenter/background/ADAposition.html
 

5. “Designer Children” – Are they included in parental rights? 
web sites: 
http://www.policy.com/news/dbrief/dbriefarc265.asp
http://www.reason.com/biclone.html
http://www.nutri.com/cloning/
http://209.52.56.28/cloning/index.html
http://www.humancloning.org/

My students have complete PowerPoint presentations on plants.  The class was divided into eight groups, with each group presenting a different topic.  They have used to web to find supplementary material for their presentations as well as additional graphics.  They also learned how to save to the network.  The presentations were excellent. 
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May Entry
The Internet is a vital part of my classroom and curriculum   The Internet expands the classroom beyond the four walls and allows students information and communication with the world.  My classroom is on-line at Highwired.net and can be accessed by students from home if they need to review homework or project assignments.  I also have web links to help students with addition study material.  They also have access to The Biology Place, which is a subscription web site where students may engage in enrichment activities or additional practice in a subject area.  Student work may be e-mail to me.  Students may access this site from any computer, home or school, with the log in and password.  This is a great educational tool and is especially beneficial for advanced students to work beyond the classroom.  The site is developed for secondary and college level students.  I also have a classroom web page where students may see examples of projects completed in the past and on-line tutorial for laboratory exercises.  Each year, my students work more and more on line.  It becomes increasing difficult to plan without including may Internet activities especially in regard to research and projects.  Increasing numbers of students have access the Internet at home and they really enjoy using the Internet in an educational manner.

I have online tutorials for all dissection labs and all other major laboratory assignments are in progress.  The students in Science Research and Design have each published their research projects on the classroom web page.  These students also developed “scientific method scenarios” for use by elementary and middle school students.  These are published on the county web page.  Through the TLG 2000 grant, I developed four units that worked very successfully in my classroom.   

Research students have e-mail accounts to communicate mentors and other professionals in their field of study.  The opportunity to communicate with scientist is invaluable to student development.

I use PowerPoint to introduce new material to students.  Students use PowerPoint to make presentations and share information with other students.  Students prepare research information using PowerPoint and web page design to present both written and pictorial information on the topic.  Research students all use both Word and PowerPoint to express their information in both written and oral fashion.

My students use my classroom web site to review for test and get information missed when absent from class. Parents have called occasionally to get resources to help students and I refer them to the classroom web page and to Highwired.com to my online classroom.

The greatest advantage of monthly training sessions is the constant reminder of ways in use and includes technology in the daily class work. It really helps to develop a network of peers, regardless of grade level, to exchange ideas with and to encourage each other.  Each session reminded of a way I wanted to include technology on a daily basis.

The laptop was very useful in laboratory experiences.  It allows us make remote, onsite lab measurements.  We used to laptop to program a robot, which would have been very difficult without the laptop.  The laptop was used for many student presentations at science competitions and the science fair.  The laptop allowed my to record information at many conferences and meeting.  I have learned that a laptop is a must for research!

Students have gained in knowledge through the use of the Internet for research.  They have improved communication skills through the use of PowerPoint and using PowerPoint presentations to deliver material.  Science research students have used technology as to tool to collect, analysis and validate data gathered.  They have used the computer and microscope to capture images and video of data.  They have also published their research on the web page.  Biology II students have used probe ware to collect and analysis data collected in laboratory activities.  All students have used Excel to graph and display data and to interpret data.  Technology has allowed students to conduct and develop more scientifically accurate research and to become proficient with the tools of science. 

The most beneficial aspect of participating in this projectwas the opportunity to work with and help other teachers with technology.  The exchange of ideas is by far the most beneficial aspect.  I have gotten many ideas from elementary and middle school teachers and I hope I have given them ideas that helped in their class activities. I have given tips and shared information learned with others in my pod area.  I have also conducted several workshops, including assisting other teachers with the TLG grant process.

This is an extremely valuable experience.  Once teachers have developed a given level of expertise, there is a tremendous need for update and refresher classes a few times a year.  Teachers need to continue to grow in their technology skills and keep abreast of advances in teaching materials and classroom techniques.
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