Photo Essay (Assignment #7)

Hello Physical Geography Student's,
Now that we are starting our 3rd week of the semester, I will begin bringing in examples of our semester project from previous student's. I will have at least two examples every class that you can look through before or after class to get an idea of what I am looking for. Since your semester project is worth 100 points, it is very important that you understand the assignment and do not put it off until the week before it is due. To prevent total procrastination and to make sure you understand what is expected, remember that in two weeks you have one photo with it's analysis due for 10 of the 100 points.
This semester I am trying something new due to having this blog available for all students. Even though I have examples in every class session, I understand that there is a class before us and after not allowing students to look over the examples for very long. I will post an example right here in the blog so that you can access it from home if you have questions. I hope this will help you while you are working on your project through out the semester.
Please understand that this is strictly to give you examples of photos that would work for particular chapters we are covering. It will not be in the same format that is expected of you and the project you turn in to me in November. The semester project handout shows you in detail how to set up your project and the requirements for each analysis.

Chapter 3: Introduction to the Atmosphere
Topic: Human-Induced Atmospheric Change
Date: August 22, 2010
Page: 55
Location: 101 freeway
Description: Traffic

Chapter 6: Atmospheric Moisture
Topic: Classifying Clouds
Date: August 12, 2010
Page: 140
Location: Apartment in San Clemente
Description: Altocumulus clouds

Chapter 8: Climate and Climate Change
Topic: Mediterranean Climate
Date: August 25, 2010
Page: 204
Location: Santa Ana Mountains
Description: Wildfires during the Mediterranean dry season.

Chapter 9: Hydrosphere
Topic: Atmospheric Moisture
Date: September 5, 2010
Page: 235
Location: La Buffadora, Mexico
Description: Atmospheric moisture in the form of advection fog.

Chapter 11: Terrestrial Flora and Fauna
Topic: Parasitism
Date: August 14, 2010
Page: 299
Location: Mission Viejo, CA.
Description: mistletoe toe living on the tree as a parasite.

Chapter 12: Soils
Topic: Litter
Date: August 31, 2010
Page: 328
Location: San Juan Capistrano, CA.
Description: leaf litter on top of the soil.

Chapter 13: Introduction to Landform Study
Topic: Sedimentary rock
Date: September 2, 2010
Page: 360
Location: Calafia Beach in San Clemente, CA.
Description: Sandstone cliffs

Chapter 14: The Internal Processes
Topic: Folding
Date: September 2, 2010
Page: 406
Location: San Clemente, CA.
Description: the folding of sandstone

Chapter 15: Weathering and Mass Wasting
Topic: Creep
Date: August 8, 2010
Page: 431
Location: Rancho Santa Marguerita, CA.
Description: creep affecting a tree at the bottom of a hill.

Chapter 17: Karst and Hydrothermal Processes
Topic: Sink holes
Date: August 27, 2010
Page: 469
Location: Laguna Beach, CA.
Description: sink hole with vegetation growing out of it.






Remember that I will meet with you during the semester to look over your pictures or read your analysis to give you feedback.

Assignment 6: 5 other Blogs

In exploring other educators blogs, I picked up some interesting ideas on how to make my blog more useful for my students along with some tips on what not to do.

http://williamsonscience.wordpress.com/

Mr. Williamson’s Science Blog

• With the white background, it is hard to read due to the font also being a shade of white.
• I liked how he incorporates quizzes into the blog.
• It is great that the entire textbook is there available for the students.
• I noticed that his students will create their own blog at some point and he uses a discussion thread for students to answer questions.
• After reading a few post, it started to give me a headache due to the color scheme.

http://mrjorgensen.edublogs.org/

 

Brilliant Muskie Blog

• The instructor who has created this blog seems to be only using it to post news articles to their students and then have them comment.
• If that is all they are using it for, it works. I like this idea for any education level. It gets the students to use technology and learn about current events. I also like that they then have to comment on the news article.
• Color style and format – is fine but would not be one of my first choices.

http://mrcolliersstudents.edublogs.org/

 

Mr. Collier’s Blog (Math & Science; Victoria, Australia)

• Right away I love the set up of this blog. It is immediately clear, great pictures, and set up is appealing. best so far!
• This is the blog that I have been trying to figure out how to do in my head. Mr. Collier has created multiple links at the top for different classes he teaches. Exactly what I am looking for.
• Another nice feature is you can access your class by the link at the top and by the picture/square in the main body of the blog.
• It seems to be simple with not a ton information and I think that is good.
• The color scheme makes it very easy to read and navigate.

http://mrmillersblog.com/

Mr. Miller’s Classroom Blog

• I am glad I decided to check out a blog of a teacher that teaches students below high school. I was focusing on Science and as old as possible but I am glad I switched it up.
• I really like Mr. Miller’s blog.
• His video of a tour of his classroom and campus is a bit shaky and needs work but I love the idea! I for sure want to incorporate videos like that into my blog!
• As a college instructor, I cannot communicate with parents but I love that as a 6^th grade instructor, he also has blog posts for them. I think parents will really appreciate him including them in the learing process and keeping them informed on when teacher/parent night is.

http://madwordsnow.edublogs.org/

MadWords Now Blog

• I like the layout and color scheme.
• At certain points I felt like it was a bit cluttered but when I read each blog entry, it made sense.
• I liked the laid back way he communicates. I think that his students would appreciate it and like reading his blog.