Thinkport Simulations!

I, as well as other classmates, had difficulty finding the simulations. I found classroom simulations and those are the ones I will discuss in my post, but I also found a link to “computer simulations” but it received an error message. I hope those were not the ones we were to use!

I really enjoyed the Elementary Ecosystems from Xpeditions Archive on Nationalgeographic.com (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/08/gk2/ecosystem.html.) In this simulation students act out an ecosystem and see how one species can affect many others. The students will either be animals or plants/food and have to interact with one another. When one is taken out, what happens to the ecosystem? In first grade we study animal habitats and what it takes to keep animals alive. We always take a field trip to the Ecology Preserve to study animals in their natural habitat. This would be a great place to participate in the simulation.

For my second simulation I found one that is a computer based software. Although it says that it is for grades 3-5 I think with support we could use this in first grade whole group. One of our units in science is Balance and Motion and we discuss speed and its relationship to gravity/weight. On this simulation from NCTM e-examples (http://www.nctm.org/standards/content.aspx?id=25037) students are controlling two runners and their speeds and starting points, watch the race, and compare time versus distance on a graph. This would be a great activity to jump start our unit on balance and motion. I could allow the students to start forming relationships between distance and speed through this software simulation activity! Very cool!

Overall I love the idea of simulations because I believe it gives the students first hand experiences with a subject rather than just reading about it. In my science class we learned about this Chinese Proverb: I hear, I forget; I see, I remember; I do, I understand. Simulations proves this saying by giving students the chance to do. I enjoyed this website because right here you have access to many simulations.