Online Simulations

I think that simulations should be used often to give students context for what they are learning, as well as a visual for learning the material. In earth science, it helps students visualize changes that often happen over very long periods of time (like plate tectonics).
The school I worked at this year had Vernier probes and optics set, which I was able to use in my classes. The Virtual Optics Bench described in Chapter 3 seems like a great simulation as a substitute for the Vernier Optics set.

One of my favorite online simulations (though involved and will take at least a class period for the students to complete) is Virtual Earthquake (http://www.sciencecourseware.com/eec/earthquake/). In this simulation, students learn how to use S and P wave arrival times to determine the distance to an earthquake, and using multiple data points, they find the epicenter of an earthquake. In part two, students find the magnitude of the earthquake. This simulation also enforces skills in reading and interpreting graphs. The other good part is that you can register as a teacher so that you can view the student's final quiz scores when you log in with the class code.


Though I do not have much experience using online data in the classroom, I see it as a very efficient way for students to complete inquiry-based assignments that are not as time consuming. They are still required to interpret data and use that data to come to a conclusion, so I think it accomplishes some of the same learning goals. I am looking forward to creating my "Generate an Argument" assignment, though I am having trouble coming up with a good concrete question for the data set I would like to use!