Integrating Science and Computers Presented By Sarah Riess, Program Specialist, Owens Primary School and Linda Fiddler, Special Ed. Teacher Owens Primary School

Purpose  To integrate computers into the curriculum in a meaningful way  To bring computer experience to students who do not have access to technology at home.

“Low Tech to High Tech”  CSUB with the Kern County Superintendent of Schools operates a project called TNT (Teaching New Technologies)  Our Learning Circle started 3 years ago working on bringing technology to low tech teachers and students at Owens Primary School.

The Process - Step One  Teachers met in grade levels and determined that science should be the focus.  Plant life was found to be common to all grade levels.  We have a garden on campus that would tie in with the project.  We will be completing a tree planting on campus in April along with the Bakersfield Parks Department.

The Process – Step Two  Personnel –Computer Lab Aide – Part Time  Technology Needed –Computers –Software – Kid Pix –Color Printers –Digital Camera  Training –Teachers –Aide – Repeated modeling of lesson and teaching techniques.

What Did We Learn? ProblemsSolutions We had to decide which program to use. MS Word would be harder to teach to the younger students. Kid Pix (the older version) would be easy and fun to learn and would prepare students for Word. The aide we hired was not trained in Kid Pix or in teaching. We modeled many lessons and made detailed lesson plans for the aide to follow. These lesson plans were also given to the teachers so they could prepare their students. Managing the data of hundreds of students and making sure they saved their files in the right folders was difficult. We put a folder on the desktop that contained teachers’ and students’ folders with templates inside each folder.

Bringing in the Students  Students were trained to find their folders and open the correct template.  They were trained to use the tools in Kid Pix during the 1 st session.

In the Classroom  Teachers follow the order of the lesson so the students come to the lab with the required information  The lesson plans include page numbers of the text.

Engaged in Learning  Science –Plant Life  Computers  Language Arts –Writing –Reading

The Finished Products The students will have a portfolio of their study on plants. The students will document their experiences in the garden and add this to their portfolio.

Future Possibilities  Student-Created Newsletters  Field Trip Reports  Poetry  Book Reviews  Social Studies Reports  Classroom Projects  Multimedia Presentations

In Your Classroom Many projects tied to your curriculum can be easily planned for your classroom whether you have as little as one or as many as five computers.

To Begin  Use your textbook to determine one objective for your lesson. –EX. During a unit on whales, students will create a fact sheet including a picture (drawing or photo)and 5 facts about a whale.  Determine the program you want students to use. –EX. Word, Kid Pix, PowerPoint, Paint

Data Management is the Key – Add Folders to Your Desktop  On the Windows desktop – right click.  Click New>Folder  Name the folder – “Mrs. Riess’ Class”  Click twice on the folder to open it.  Right click in the window.  Click New>Folder  Name this folder “Student”

Add Folders to Your Desktop (cont’d)  Open the program you want students to use.  Type directions needed, or save the empty document.  While saving, change the folder to the student folder on the desktop.  Name the file – “Whale Fact Sheet”

Add Folders to Your Desktop (cont’d)  Repeat for other pages if they are required by your project.  After all needed files have been saved, go to the desktop teacher folder and click twice.  Click once on the student folder. Right click>Copy

Add Your Folders to the Desktop (cont’d)  Click away from the folder in the window and Paste the folder. Repeat for all students.  Click twice, slowly, on the name of each folder and rename to be each student’s name.  You are ready to begin by modeling for your class your expectations for the project.

A Problem You May Encounter  Using a program like Kid Pix it will be necessary to tell the computer to automatically open Kid Pix when a.bmp file is opened. Otherwise, MS Paint is opened.  It is a simple setting to change.  For directions – from your start menu click help. Type in “To change which program starts when you open a file”. Follow the instructions that come up. For tech support call Sarah at or Jim at