HSD Videoconferencing

Over the last two months, Mrs. Spangler and Mr. Podgurski’s 5th grade students were involved in a Wild Weather videoconference project. During this project, classrooms from around the country observed their weather and collected this data for their region. On April 14th, students were fortunate to meet Mark Bogner, a Chief Wild Weather Meteorologist from Kansas via videoconference! A Wild Weather blog was used for students to provide background information about their school as well as post questions. The final videoconferences was held on May 5th and 6th where schools shared the students’ final projects. This project allowed students to work collaboratively and see those participating schools and also get the chance to reach outside their school walls! To see our students’ projects click here.

Mrs. Swarm’s third grade class participated in a videoconference event on May 7th with the Hands On Museum in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Students discussed the three states of matter, then combined ingredients to create two mystery “slime” substances. They used four of their five senses to describe their slime to the activity leader at the museum and attempted to identify whether it was a solid, liquid or gas. Each student took a small container of slime home with them for further experimentation!

Sixth grade students saved 30 astronauts in the NASA e-mission simulation, Target Moon, at Centerville Elementary on May 1, 2009. The students participated in one of five teams - Communications, Comet Tracking, Moon Mapping, Crisis Management and Public Relations.

Black Knight’s E-Mission Experience
By Sarah and Elizabeth

Ready to go by 9:10 on this early Friday morning. Nervousness is filling the room. Stress might be visiting the teams as they are working.  The word “over” is ringing in my ears.  Mrs. Smith says there will be lots of commotion once the mission’s starts….Now.

30 astronauts, 3 moon bases, only one moon, and KC2035. What will happen? A smaller comet by KC2035 is the latest info. No one knows for sure what it will do, but it will probably hit the moon along with KC2035. The Communications Team thinks if all the teams do their jobs correctly, everything will be all right. They also will communicate to Mission Control by a chat room and videoconference.  The Moon Mapping Team will find the possibilities of danger to the lunar bases with all their math skills.  The Comet tracking Team will find the time of impact and how far the ejecta will expand.  The Crisis Management Team is trying to find ways to evacuate the astronauts. They already have some ideas to get them to safety. A member of the Comet Tracking says that the extra comet means double the work.  Right now, the Crisis Management Team might have found a way to evacuate the six astronauts to safety. Reporting all of this is the Public Relations Team, who translates this news to the public.

Down to 1 hour until the comet hits the moon; the stress is overflowing, especially for the Crisis Management Team. Breaking news- about 30 minutes until impact…the comet has just hit, and NASA has lost contact with all astronauts. No lives were lost from this impact. Mission Control has said “Congrats.  Great teamwork, and great work.”   This mission was complete success.  Mission Control has said that teamwork is key to a complete mission.

To hear a student produced podcast introduction the the e-mission click here and then scroll down to the entry “CES Black Knights e-Mission Experience”

On April 24th, Mrs. Miller and her health class participated in a MAGPI sponsored event titled, “Inner World Discovery”.  This videoconference helped the high school students explore the immune system through an interactive multimedia presentation which took a trip through the human body.  The program was designed by Phillip Silverstein, Riddle Memorial Hospital’s emergency room doctor.   Dr. Silverstein discussed the complexities of understanding the immune system as well as explained the devastating effects of HIV.  Our students enjoyed the event and many had their first experience with videoconferencing.

Mr. Wise took two classes of Sports Marketing students for a virtual field trip to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Friday, April 24th!  His first semester students enjoyed the Careers in the NFL Program so much that Mr. Wise decided to visit again for the second semester.  The Hall of Fame is located in Canton, Ohio and offers distance learning programs to schools nationwide.  Each program is supplemented by classroom activities which are aligned with national standards.  The Careers in the NFL Program examined the importance of education and careers available in and around the National Football League.  The students watched a 15 minute careers video which focused on the Pittsburgh Steelers organization and the variety of careers available with the organization.  Our students asked great questions and were very well prepared to discuss career options with the Hall of Fame presenter.  Visit their website for pictures and more information:  http://www.profootballhof.com/hall/DistanceLearning.jsp

Pam Felegi’s “Special Interest” students virtually joined Dr. Shu Yang and three other schools in a program titled Frontiers of Material Science. Dr. Yang is the Assistant Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of PA. Dr. Yang’s discussion outlined the basic concepts of hydrogels with a focus on how they respond to external stimuli. She gave several examples of swellable gels in our daily lives including diapers and silly putty. Videoconferencing was new to many of the students who participated in the event. All expressed an interest in experiencing similar opportunities!

Mr. Newman and Miss Lessard took their 10th grade Cultures class to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans on Tuesday, March 31st without even leaving the building! Their virtual visit program was titled “We’re All in This Together”, The American Home Front during WW II and was viewed from the Distance Lab at the High School. The presenter tackled the four challenges of the Home Font: making materials, food shortages, protecting the country and keeping America optimistic! The students viewed photos, posters, songs and speeches and discussed the triumphs and mistakes that were made on the home front. The students enjoyed the program and learned from the videoconference but suggested to the museum that the next trip include more of a audio-visual tour of the museum’s exhibits.

On Thursday, March 25th, Mrs. Felegi’s Special Interest students attended a MAGPI sponsored videoconference event titled “Cell Signaling and Target Therapeutics for the Treatment of Cancer”. They had the opportunity to listen and interact with the presenter, Dr Matthew Lazzara, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. The presentation outlined some basic concepts underlying receptor-medicated cell signaling in health and disease. Dr. Lazzara discussed how improperly regulated cell signaling processes can lead to cancer. Five other high schools also participated in the conference. In a round-robin format, each site had the ability to ask questions of the presenter. Our students all expressed that they enjoyed the videoconference event and are ready to participate in future events!

Mrs. Amy Saporetti from the Landisville Primary Center participated in the “100th Day of School Videoconference” with her 1st grade students. This videoconference, sponsored by MAGPI included a presentation from the author, Dr. Lester Laminack. Each participating school received a complimentary copy of Dr. Laminack’s book titled “Jakes 100th Day of School”. The schools each had a chance to show off their skills by sharing their 100th Day of School projects with the author and the other schools connected on the videoconference call. Mrs. Saporetti’s students each prepared beautiful posters to demonstrate that they were familiar with 100 words. This was the perfect time for the students to have fun with the number 100!

Dance students learn hip hop movements.

Mrs. Kautter participates in class.

Mrs. Kautter’s first group of dance students enjoyed the Hip Hop and Conflict Resolution videoconference offered through MAGPI in December so she scheduled another event for a second group of dance students! On March 10th, Hempfield High School students had the opportunity to learn some of the history of Hip Hop and were given instruction on the basic dance moves by Dan, one of ArcheDream’s teaching artists. Dan demonstrated locking, popping, up-rock & b-boy styles of break dancing. Students had an opportunity to showcase their freestyle dance moves! Our high school dancers were excited to participate in this interactive event and are interested in exploring future videoconference opportunities.