TPACK and Science Activity

For our science activity, we concentrated on the Utah State Standard 2 for 5th grade science, which is that students will understand that volcanoes, earthquakes, uplift, weathering, and erosion reshape Earth's surface. For our activity, we focused on exploring a volcano and also the Grand Canyon, which was shaped through the process of erosion. This is the content section of TPACK.

We chose to teach our activity the way we did because it gives the students an opportunity to visualize how the surface of the Earth is changed. Instead of trying to picture this image in their heads, they can actually see what it looks like. They also can explore the terrain for themselves and come up with their own conclusions. This is a type of discovery learning, which is a good way to teach science. Using this method to teach our content demonstrates the PK part of TPACK.

The technology we used for activity was Google Earth. This fit well with both the content and our pedagogy for teaching it. Google Earth shows the content in a real-life way, showing the topography as well as actual photographs. This enables students to visualize how volcanoes and erosion actually affect the Earth's surface. This technology also allows the students to explore the locations themselves, which helps support our view on effective teaching. Incorporating all these components into our activity demonstrates how TPACK can be used to teach science.

Tech Savvy Teachers

Written by Jennifer Ray and RaeLene Hamblin

As Tech Savvy teachers, we want to give our students the opportunity to use content-specific technology tools. We know that these technologies allow our students to explore science in ways that are engaging and enjoyable.

We used technology to teach about the reshaping of the Earth's surface, which is standard 2 in Utah's core curriculum for the 5th grade. Specifically, we wanted students to explore volcanoes, canyons, and mountain ranges after we had discussed the forces that create these landforms. Students were also given the task of describing the terrain of a new location, such as Nevada in our example. Google Earth is the technology tool students used to accomplish these tasks. The image to the right is an example of how students are able to see the topography of various landforms, in this case a volcano.

Google Earth enables students to view geographic locations throughout the world. We began by looking at the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. Google Earth allows the students view the terrain of the actual volcano by using the 3D feature and by zooming in to the volcano. Students can move the focus around the terrain so they can explore the volcano in depth. As seen in the picture below, Google Earth also offers informational articles when this specific box is clicked. In this example, a Wikipedia article shows information about Mauna Loa.

Next, students explored the geological features of the Grand Canyon. Students were able to see real photographs of the Grand Canyon alongside the topographical view. As the students explored the Google Earth images, we discussed the forces that created these landforms. Finally, students were instructed to explore a nonresidential area of Nevada and describe the terrain they see. Students also explained what forces shaped that terrain. An example of a student's view of Nevada is provided below.
This technology of Google Earth allowed students to observe and analyze data in the form images. Because the images were three-dimensional, students were able to gain a deeper understanding of the content than they would have through a lecture with pictures. The following image of the Grand Canyon exemplifies the kind of images that students are able to manipulate to explore geological landforms. Investigating these landforms engages students in meaningful learning. This is one example of how tech savvy teachers use technology to enhance learning.