My+Visit+to+the+Science+Friday+Island+(Dean+Mendoza)

__**Landmark URL**__: Me at the "entrance" to SciFri Island (Click on the picture, then push right arrow to see entire shot.) SLURL: []



**__Subject__** : Biology, mainly and Chemistry--also, Physical Science, Earth, and Space Science (Physics ["I.P.C."], too?)

High School (Middle School, too--some)
 * __Grade Level__:**

**__Summary__** : The Science Friday Island is a place to sit and watch different topics of Science introduced and discussed. As soon as I got here (not on a Friday), it looked like a place to see videos, see pictures, and hear audios, all about Science .Right off the bat, I got on the Hot Air "Balloon Tour". I saw the entire island in about half an hour. It was a leisurely look at what different areas/topics the Island had to offer. I saw a video on Bubbleology (why sometimes bubbles go DOWN!), another video/audio on the Coral Reefs (how they all know when to reproduce on the same night), and I read several interesting facts about the Earth (its water, air, and land volumes). I did not get to do and see everything that I had intended, from my balloon ride. I guess that I will have to come back again to take another spin at looking and learning at what I missed this time around. I would very much recommend this place if you like to learn a little of everything about Science!

I could see myself using Second Life in my classroom by going to this Island maybe on a Friday, when they have even more going on (as its name implies) and looking for some things that are related to that week's lessons. By using SL and an In-Focus (a "projector" on a White Board), it will be in a very new way. I think that it is important to teach with different approaches, keeping the subject fresh and interesting. A good way might be for me to use it to show the Island and what it has to offer, looking for appropriate material for the week's lessons; or I could let the students explore for an enrichment activity--learning new, but maybe off-topic, lessons for themselves; then, I could switch to another student, to learn and explore other things. This is a good way to put what is in the textbook into the "real" world, and seeing Science applied.

**__TEKS__** (applicable) : I 7a and 7e and C9a and 9c These are about Density, Viscosity, Compounds, Mixtures (the video on sinking Beer Bubbles) and Speed, Acceleration, Newton's Laws of Motion, and Behavior of Gases (all from the Hot Air Balloon tour)

(n.b.--There were definitely some Biology TEKS in some of the videos, too.)