Tutorials for the EdGrid Meeting 2001, May 29-31

Tuesday, May 29

STELLA Tutorial - 1:00 to 5:00 PM

In the STELLA tutorial, participants will have the opportunity to see how computer modeling and simulations can be used to address national standards in math and science for grades 9-12. Using materials field-tested across the state of Maryland, participants will discover the many ways that models can be used in mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, environmental science and earth science. This tutorial will also look at challenges faced in preparing teachers to use models and simulations in their classroom instruction.

MASTER Tools - 1:00 to 2:45 PM

Modeling And Simulation Tools for Education Reform
The MASTER Tools, developed by The Shodor Education Foundation, Inc. are designed to be interactive tools and simulation environments that enable and encourage exploration and discovery through observation, conjecture, and modeling activities. Instructional materials are currently available for GalaxSee, SimSurface, and the Fractal Microscope. We also have a beginning collection of models and materials in medicine and biosciences, and environmental science. Participants will have the opportunity to see how models can be used in mathematics and science.

The Digital Earth Tutorial - 3:15 to 5:00 PM

The Digital Earth is a database of georeferenced data that can be browsed by a 3d terrain rendering program called TerraVision.  Using the TerraVision browser, students access data sets of satellite imagery and aerial photography that ranges from images of the whole Earth to a single building.  Imagery is draped over a high-resolution terrain model of the Earth so that flyovers provide a way to experience the terrain.  In our educational application students "fly around" to find an area of focus. As the user flies closer higher resolution data sets are brought in, giving an impression of visual continuity. Once a region of interest has been chosen, the student can analyze it using an allied visualization and data analysis environment based on Java VisAD components.

StarLogo - 3:15 to 5:00 PM

StarLogo is a programmable modeling environment for exploring the workings of decentralized systems -- systems that are organized without an organizer, coordinated without a coordinator. With StarLogo, you can model (and gain insights into) many real-life phenomena, such as bird flocks, traffic jams, ant colonies, and market economies. This tutorial will explore ways to use this model in an inquiry-based approach to studying population changes in a unit of study designed around the Illinois Tallgrass Prairie, introduce a curriculum alignment process for identifying computer models to extend and enrich curricular content and processes, and explore a variety of Starlogo simulations and basic programming techniques.

Thursday, May 31

Biology Student Workbench - 3:30 to 5:15 PM

The following Biology Workbench tutorials may be shared depending on the needs and interests of the participants:

1. Explore HIV Evolution: An Opportunity To Do Your Own Research
   ( http://bioquest.org/bioinformatics/edgridbeloit/activities.)
   In this activity, we will have the chance to develop our own questions and use the Biology Workbench for Students to answer them. The problem space is built around a rich set of HIV sequence data.
2. Sickle Cell Anemia: Understanding Molecular Biology Using the Biology Workbench
   ( http://bioweb.ncsa.uiuc.edu/educwb/tutorials_current/Sickle_Cell_Anemia/SC2000/)
   The step-by-step tutorial looks specifically at the sickle cell anemia mutation that leads to this painful disease. The tutorial utilizes two web-based interfaces: Biology Workbench and Protein Explorer.
3. How are different organisms related: A High School Inquiry-Based Biology Workbench Unit
   ( http://bioweb.ncsa.uiuc.edu/educwb/tutorials_current/Evolution/ AND
   http://www.inquiry.uiuc.edu/bin/update_unit.cgi?command=select&xmlfile=u10211.xml)
   We will review a tutorial that was recently developed by a collaborating high school teacher.  If there is time, we will review a short videotape illustrating student and teacher work with the Biology Workbench.

Project Interactivate - 3:30 to 5:15 PM

The goals of Project Interactivate are the creation, collection, evaluation, and dissemination of java-based courseware for middle school mathematics explorations. "Interactivated" lessons, discussions, and activities enable the teacher to extend hands-on activities and to teach new content areas with professional competence and confidence, incorporating technology in appropriate ways. These materials are designed to be adapted easily to any standards-based, middle school mathematics text. We believe that the best courseware results from the active collaboration of content experts, curriculum designers, technologists, and real teachers in real classrooms. The tutorial will explore the materials that are designed to be adapted easily to any standards-based, middle school mathematics text.

ChemViz - 3:30 to 5:15 PM

ChemViz is a set of web-based scientific visualization tools and curriculum materials designed to make computational chemistry accessible to high school, and college, teachers and students. By using ChemViz as a computational laboratory to generate images of the electron densities for various combinations of atoms, students are able to understand in concrete terms the differences between equal and unequal sharing of electrons, bonding and antibonding orbitals, strong and weak bonds, and the energy differences of atoms at appropriate and inappropriate bond distances and angles. In this hands-on tutorial participants will learn to use the ChemViz tools and explore one or two lesson plans using the tools.