1	Communicating Science Content Using Web-Enabled Presentation Software George B. Stengren The Heritage School New York City, NY
2	Purpose Use presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint® to enhance or replace classroom texts in communicating science content. Show how the National Science Education Standards can be applied in this activity. Develop a template for classroom presentations. Give an example of a presentation done using this framework.
3	Equipment needed Computer with access to the internet. If you are viewing this on the web you already have this. Interface for projecting presentation in the classroom. This can be expensive depending on the computer and desired quality of projection. Presentation software. I am using Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 included as part of the Office Suite. I got a substantial price break because I am a fulltime teacher. A desire to do this and a willingness to spend some time learning the ropes. The learning curve is not steep, but it can take a while to get a presentation to look good and be effective.
4	If you do these presentations at home, and do not have a web connection at school As long as you have compatible equipment for display, you can put your presentations (and all associated files) on a disk and bring it in. I recommend you do a test run in order to avoid “flop sweat” in front of the class Any hyperlinked pages that you wish to present can be saved as web pages and attached to the files. This is a temporary measure, which brings me to the issue of Copyright….
5	You should be aware of this… Much of the material found on the web is copyrighted, even if the copyright symbol © is not appended. For example, this presentation is copyrighted. Further, credit should be given where credit is due. We ask our students to do this…. There are provisions in the copyright law that make it possible for educators to use some copyrighted material in the classroom. The links below should take you to the Library of Congress website pertaining to this. I am not a lawyer-I do not give legal advice. You are responsible for the choices you make.
6	It helps to have the following resources A general reference guide to the presentation software that you are using. I make no recommendations beyond that in this regard. A copy of the National Science Education Standards. A link to their website is below, but I also recommend a text copy. Other curriculum planning guides, such as the Atlas of Science Literacy (AAAS), and the applicable state and local curricula. Reference books and texts. Pictures or other images……
7	Pictures and Images Most of us take pictures, look at them once, then throw them in a drawer. These can be valuable resources. You can have print, negative, and slide images put on disk at most good photo processing places. It is usually a lot cheaper if you have it done when initial processing is done. Digital cameras are becoming ubiquitous. If you have one, then you probably know how to get them on disk. There are inexpensive processing programs available. You get what you pay for. I recommend you organize your images regularly. This will save you a lot of time. I know this because I didn’t do it and am now paying the price…
8	The forthcoming presentation On the next slide you will find a link that will take you to a presentation that I am developing. The National Science Education Standards that apply to this presentation are: Grades 9-12 In Content Standard B: Interactions of Matter and Energy In Content Standard C: Biological Evolution et seq. In Content Standard D: Energy in the Earth System In Content Standard F: Natural Resources and Environmental Quality
9	Summing up… The link below will take you to a work in progress-a presentation that I will be using at the beginning of the year to introduce content in my Environmental Science courses. It is intended to help students understand the relations among organisms and to their physical environment; in this case, the coastal ecology of Southern California. All of the images were taken by me. You are welcome to use them for non-profit educational purposes in the classroom. I would appreciate prior notice and require that you get my permission for any other purpose. Please understand that links sometimes go bad. I have tried to use US government agency websites wherever possible. They are usually very content-rich and well maintained.