Katie Blunt - Ed Tech: September 2010

I recently helped a 5th grade class create basic PowerPoint presentations on Native Americans. The teacher asked me to teach the basics of creating slides for the presentation, then go over a few rules to guide them in creating effective presentations. I found a couple of great blog posts and resources to help.

First, I wanted to get a good, basic list of presentation tips. Michael Hyatt lists 5 Rules for Better Presentations on his blog. In summary, they are:

Don’t give your presentation software center stage.
Create a logical flow to your presentation.
Make your presentation readable.
Remember, less is more.
Distribute a handout.

I recommend you take a closer look at his explanations about these 5 tips, particularly the point about distributing a handout. I am not usually a fan of providing paper copies of almost anything, but I do agree with him that providing a copy of your slides at the end of a presentation lessens the stress of those listeners who feel they need to write everything down. Perhaps the compromise it to provide listeners with a link to an electronic copy of your presentation.

After offering some basics to the students, I wanted to be able to show them some PowerPoint examples, particularly dealing with tip #3. I searched Google for some PowerPoints about PowerPoint. (Side note: For those who are not aware, if you add filetype:ppt to the end of your Google search, all of your search results will be actual PowerPoint presentations.) I found a presentation with examples and non-examples of PowerPoint slides. It reviewed concepts like limiting the number of words on a slide, not over-doing animations, sounds, and color, choosing readable fonts, etc. Click here to download this presentation.

I am a fan of the Apple iWork software, so I do feel I should mention that Keynote is a great program to use for creating presentations as well. For one thing, I more familiar with Apple menus and navigation. I find my way around Keynote much more easily than in PowerPoint. I also love the animation and movie-making capabilities in Keynote. If you've never given it a try, I highly recommend it!

A teacher recently asked if I could find some Internet sites that help reinforce the 6th grade curriculum on microorganisms. First I have included the Utah Core Curriculum on microorganisms, then I have listed some of the sites I was able to find:

Core Curriculum on UEN
Science Benchmark: Microorganisms are those living things that are visible as individual organisms only with the aid of magnification. Microorganisms are components of every ecosystem on Earth. Microorganisms range in complexity from single to multicellular organisms. Most microorganisms do not cause disease and many are beneficial. Microorganisms require food, water, air, ways to dispose of waste, and an environment in which they can live. Investigation of microorganisms is accomplished by observing organisms using direct observation with the aid of magnification, observation of colonies of these organisms and their waste, and observation of microorganisms' effects on an environment and other organisms.

Standard 5 : Students will understand that microorganisms range from simple to complex, are found almost everywhere, and are both helpful and harmful.

Objective 1: Observe and summarize information about microorganisms.

Examine and illustrate size, shape, and structure of organisms found in an environment such as pond water.
Compare characteristics common in observed organisms (e.g., color, movement, appendages, shape) and infer their function (e.g., green color found in organisms that are producers, appendages help movement).
Research and report on a microorganism's requirements (i.e., food, water, air, waste disposal, temperature of environment, reproduction).

Objective 2 : Demonstrate the skills needed to plan and conduct an experiment to determine a microorganism's requirements in a specific environment.

Formulate a question about microorganisms that can be answered with a student experiment.
Develop a hypothesis for a question about microorganisms based on observations and prior knowledge.
Plan and carry out an investigation on microorganisms. {Note: Teacher must examine plans and procedures to assure the safety of students; for additional information, you may wish to read microbe safety information on Utah Science Home Page.}
Display results in an appropriate format (e.g., graphs, tables, diagrams).
Prepare a written summary or conclusion to describe the results in terms of the hypothesis for the investigation on microorganisms.

Objective 3 : Identify positive and negative effects of microorganisms and how science has developed positive uses for some microorganisms and overcome the negative effects of others.

Describe in writing how microorganisms serve as decomposers in the environment.
Identify how microorganisms are used as food or in the production of food (e.g., yeast helps bread rise, fungi flavor cheese, algae are used in ice cream, bacteria are used to make cheese and yogurt).
Identify helpful uses of microorganisms (e.g., clean up oil spills, purify water, digest food in digestive tract, antibiotics) and the role of science in the development of understanding that led to positive uses (i.e., Pasteur established the existence, growth, and control of bacteria; Fleming isolated and developed penicillin).
Relate several diseases caused by microorganisms to the organism causing the disease (e.g., athlete's foot -fungi, streptococcus throat -bacteria, giardia -protozoa).
Observe and report on microorganisms' harmful effects on food (e.g., causes fruits and vegetables to rot, destroys food bearing plants, makes milk sour).

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