AT&T Classroom Podcast 7- Genetic Babies

Genetic Babies in the AT&T Classroom


Marlene Osborn's seventh grade class from Roberts Middle School spent six weeks investigating genetics. Flip booklets and other models using various forms of technology were crafted depicting the stages of mitosis. DNA was extracted and the materials were investigated using the Intel digital microscopes. Students examined many inherited traits like PTC tasting, widow’s peak, hitchhikers thumb, free ear lobes etc. and built heredity wheels using Paint Shop Pro to enter the data. The culmination of the unit was a simulation of a gene pool where students randomly selected gametes with their inherited traits for egg and sperm. These combinations resulted in genotypes which were used to create “genetic babies”. Assessment of student understanding using the Turning Point personal response system provided the teacher with an alternate method of tracking student knowledge.

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AT&T Classroom Podcast 6 - Geography & Government

Stow Ohio, Geography, History and Government


Julie Obraza's third grade students were moodling in the classroom during their six week study of their community, Stow Ohio. Moodle is an online community where students can exchange ideas by posting information. Mrs. Obraza was the first teacher in attendance at the AT&T classroom to utilize this form of communication for reflection.
Students learned to use a compass as well as a GPS instrument to determine direction and location. A ranger from the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Environmental Education Center, Pam Barnes, did a hands-on activity with the children using the GPS system. A daily activity using the Interwrite Board and a projected map of the world, provided students with an opportunity to give and follow directions.
The study of Stow government was launched with a field trip to the City Hall. Here Mayor Fritschel addressed the class and students got a glimpse of the council chambers. The Geographic Information System Coordinator, Steve Gibbons, used a variety of Stow maps to show how the population has grown from the early 1950s to the present.
Upon returning to the classroom, students were given the choice to run for elected offices. A primary election (along with voting booth) was conducted and the final slate of candidates was posted on a Turning Point slide show which allowed the students to vote anonymously using the personal response system. Timelines using Inspiration software and Palm handhelds were constructed to document all of the fun and educational activities the third graders experienced.

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At&T Classroom Podcast 5 - Excel

Excel Spreadsheets on the Palm Handheld Computer


Nancy Pittner's fourth grade class from Riverview Elementary School in Stow, Ohio spent six weeks in the AT&T classroom learning about how to collect, organize, represent and analyze data. Children used ordinary materials like raisins and M&M packets to estimate and then find precise counts. Line plots were constructed and the terms associated with statistics were defined. Students were soon picking out the mean, mode and range on measurements of their height and that of a group of first graders.
The students gathered and organized data from surveys, read and interpreted tables, charts and graphs, constructed spreadsheets in Excel both on desktop computers and on their Palm Handheld Computer. A final project gave the students an opportunity to utilize a variety of technology options to demonstrate what they learned. Several of the student groups employed animation, using PowerPoint and Digital Blue cameras to show the change over time. Whether it was raisins on a graph or a clay flower growing and blooming, the students demonstrated that their understanding of data analysis had grown and developed over this six week unit.

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AT&T Classroom Podcast 4 -Lizzie Borden Trial

Students Debate the Lizzie Borden Trial

The students of Cuyahoga Falls Roberts Middle School and their teacher Debi Bolls elected to do a study on the elements of nonfiction while attending the AT&T classroom. The focus was on plot and conflict. Students examined various Little Golden Book stories to identify problem, action and result. Using Inspiration, graphic organizers were prepared outlining the characterization of the characters in the script. These formed the basis for the construction of a conflict journal. The students then did a Reader’s Theater reading of the “Murder On Second Street” by Suzanne Barchers, published in Read Magazine. This provided a good background on the Lizzie Borden trial .
The culmination of the unit was a mock trial with half of the class presenting the prosecution point of view and the other half the defense. Each student was required to present and defend a portion of the case. During the trial the students voted on the points to ponder with the personal response system. The final project for the unit was the preparation of a paper…. I (student’s name) find the defendant Lizzie Borden (not) guilty of the crime of murdering her parents because ……..

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The AT&T Classroom, which opened in the spring of 1998, serves as a unique learning and research environment. State-of-the-art technology is available for K-12 students and teachers in the classroom on a daily basis for extended, inquiry-based unit of study.

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The Research Center for Educational Technology (RCET) was founded in 1999 to provide a collegial network for university researchers and K-16 educators committed to studying the impact of technology on teaching and learning. RCET offices are located in northeast Ohio on the campus of Kent State University in the Moulton Hall Learning Technologies Center. The work of RCET is multi-dimensional and dynamic. A broad scope of work is in place to accomplish our mission:To explore the uses and influences of technology in education through rich collaborations among researchers and practitioners, to help improve teaching and learning in today's classrooms and inform the development of the ubiquitous computing environments of the future.
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