:TECHBRARIAN

Oceans, grasslands, and rain forests aren’t the only place with wildlife, New York City has it too!

1. Watch the slideshow below to see some of New York City’s wildlife:

2. Now, pick a habitat below and watch the slideshow.




3. Next, use Kidspiration to draw the habitat you chose for its animals. Click HERE to see how to use Kidspiration for this project.

4. Finally, put your Kidspiration on your blog and explain why you chose to create it the way you did. Click HERE to see how to put your Kidspiration on your blog.

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1. Get ready to see some incredible videos of nature.  Choose 3:

2. Now answer the following questions in your blog:

a) Describe the environments shown in the videos you chose. What plants or animals lived there?
b) How are the places you saw different from the nature we have in New York City?  How, if at all, are they similar?
c) Of the environments you saw, which were the most interesting?  If you could travel to one, which would it be and why?

–> Click HERE to see an example

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Now that you’ve used images I chose to create a poem, it’s your turn. One little thing, though: many of the images on Flickr are copyrighted– meaning you’re not allowed to use them without permission.  But there’s a section of Flickr called “Creative Commons”.  Pictures in Creative Commons are free to use in your as long as you give credit to the photographer.

Go to Flickr’s Creative Commons page by clicking HERE.  Find a picture that sparks your imagination or makes you feel something deeply.  Write a poem about it in your blog.

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Pick a pic by clicking below.  Write a poem based on what it makes you think about…

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I just discovered this sensational website called The InSite.  It’s all about teen issues and how to deal with life’s dramas.

Spend at least 30 minutes checking it out and answer the following questions in your blog using your own words:

1) What is something you learned about dealing with emotions (for example, guilt, loneliness, and embarrassment)?

2) What is something you learned about dealing with relationships with friends, family, or boyfriend/girlfriend?

3) What is something you learned about your health (for example, drugs, sleep, and body image)?

–> Click HERE to see an example from BLozado

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Before you get started in the wonderful world of blogging, you need to make an apple account.  This account will let you store your files on a single computer and customize your computer to look the way you want it to.  WARNING: sometimes your computer won’t be available…DON’T WORRY…almost everything we do is on the Internet…not on your individual computer.  If you’re smart, you’ll make an account on a bunch of computers.

CLICK HERE TO OPEN THE DIRECTIONS

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Well hello there! You are about to start a brand new technology adventure like nothing else!  It’s called “blogging” and it will let you share your thoughts, feelings, and ideas with the world.  Those who read your blog will be able to comment on what you’ve written and share their experiences with you.  Once you start blogging, you may never want to stop! So here’s your assignment:

1. Click on the link below to watch a video that explains blogging:

2. Next, watch a video about what blogging means to Island School Bloggers:

3.  Now, check out a few blog posts from Island School Students:

EMcNeil composed a poem about being a student

PNegron made an animation about “blood diamonds”...

AVelazquez pretends she woke up as a lady bug

Rhernandez put a movie in his blog about being healthy

SColon wrote a poem about her brother

SJones posted about a dream she had…

4. Before the end of class, let’s get back together and discuss the following questions:

-What is a blog?

-What can you put in your blog?

-What do you think is not o.k. to put in your blog?

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In Haiti only about half of the children receive an education and only two percent finish high school.  Without a proper education, the poor stay poor in Haiti (and many countries like this.)  While education is the key to rising out of poverty, many parents are not able to send their kids to school.  Why not?  Play the game below to find out:

Play the game Ayiti  about life in Haiti by clicking HERE.  In your blog answer the following questions:

1)  How is Ayiti different from 3rd World Farmer?  How is it the same?

2) What strategies did you use? For example, did you combine work and school, or did you send everyone to work? Which worked? Which did  not?

3)  Why would parents choose to devote so much effort to sending their children to school?  What obstacles did you face in trying to keep them in school?

** BONUS **

4. Explore a Google map of Haiti by clicking HERE.  What are some things you observe about the country?  For example, which city in Haiti has the most houses?  What part of Haiti seems the emptiest?   What countries are near Haiti?

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Imagine this:  you are instant messaging with two “people”.  One of the people is human and the other is really a computer.  Can you tell the difference?

This is the question that a man named Alan Turing had in 1950.  He called this test– to see if humans could tell the difference between Man and Machine– The Turing Test.  So far, no machine has passed.  That said, ever year computers come closer and closer to passing the Turing Test.

Now it’s your turn to test some of the machines.  This is not exactly a Turing Test because there are no humans on the other end, but your job is to talk with two machines and figure out why you know they’re not human.

1. Click on each of these machines and have a conversation with them:

Splotchy

Suzette

2.  In your blog answer the following questions:

a) Did either of the machines come close to passing the Turing Test (did they seem human?)

b) What were some of the questions you asked them?  Why?

c) Why do you think it’s so hard to design a machine that passes the Turing Test?

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So the new Terminator movie came out last week and it got me thinking about robots.  What  is the state of Robot technology in 2009?  How close are we to creating machines that can sense, think, and act as well (or better) than humans?

Watch a part of The Works: Robots by clicking HERE.

Now, answer the following questions in your blog:

1. What’s the difference between a humanoid and an android?

2.What’s the uncanny valley?

3. Is there something about humans that robots will never possess?  If so, what is it?

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