Thu, Apr 29, 2021 10:31 PM
Earth, Sun, and Moon Review
I found this Interactive E-Books+ Professional to be very useful in crafting my lesson plan on the phases of the moon. Firstly, I feel that it is very well organized. I appreciate how it starts with more simple and broad topics (i.e., general characteristics of the Earth, evidence of the Earth's roundness, and the nature of Earth's orbit) , before getting into more complex and specific topics (i.e., eclipses, seasons, and the phases of the moon). I think this aspect of the material was beneficial to me as a reader because it allowed me to build off of simpler knowledge instead of diving right into the difficult concepts. I also appreciated the regular check-in assessments that occurred on nearly every page. This was great for reviewing material and monitoring my progress as I went through the e-Book. Between the way the cognitive demand of the material increased gradually, and the consistent checks for understanding, this e-book truly was interactive in that it felt almost like a full online lesson in and of itself. In addition, I have to admit that the final assessment was significantly more difficult than I anticipated, and I had to use all of three of my chances to get a passing score. While frustrating at the time, I can now appreciate that the book's material had a high cognitive demand, and a lot of attention and effort was needed to succeed. This should always be the expectation when teaching and learning. Overall, I am very grateful to have found this material for my lesson plan - especially for it's detailed description and visual of the phases of the moon (p. 73). This was exactly what I needed to figure out how to explain the causes of the apparent changing shape of the moon over the course of a month to students.