Grade 7 Activities
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Ad Creation -
(choose THREE of the following items to do from the four listed)
Two-Member Team Assignments
- Create two simple ads that are describing one Idea - one is trying to sell the Idea using mainly Card Stacking, the other is trying to keep you from buying into the same Idea by using mainly Name Calling. (In other words, sell the Idea with Card Stacking, sell a similar opposition Idea using Name Calling that compares itself to your idea.)
- Create two simple ads that are showing somebody using a product, but one ad uses primarily Plain Folks and the other ad uses primarily Testimonial to get someone interested - for the same product. The choices should be somehow related to the product they're selling, and not just randomly famous (or not famous).
- Create one simple ad that carefully uses Bandwagon to try to get people on board with a real sports team that has been the worst in its league in recent years.
- Create two simple ads that describe a famously unpleasant place to visit using Glittering Generalities in one and Transfer in the other. Remember that Glittering Generalities are not lies - they are loaded words that would be true in general and not necessarily just for the place you're describing. Remember also that Transfer is primarily a visual connection between things that would normally not be associated, and that one has to have a strong emotional content that you're drawing on.
NEXT: When you have completed your three assignments, turn one of them into a Video Ad using exactly two actors (you and your partner)
The Two Most Important Innovations or Inventions Between 1852 and 2002
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Consider what we've discussed, and do some useful Internet searches. Figure out what you consider to be the most important innovation or invention that came about between 1852 and 2002 (the 150 years before you were born). [Remember, its official entry into history is what determines its date. People may have been working toward it for years before, but the first successful version, or the first patented version, or when something was passed into law, or first made available to the public to see or hear about, etc., is the date we are going to go by.] It cannot be an improved version of something that already occurred before 1852. It has to be the first successful version. So, things like the steam engine or telegraphy cannot be considered because they were first introduced successfully prior to 1852.
Decide how you want to present this to the rest of us. You can use any medium that will properly convey what you are explaining. Remember, you must describe your choice fully, including where the idea first came from and everything that led up to your choice, but the most important element is your explanation of why you think your choice is the most important of all the things invented or that came into being from 1852 on. Explain:
You must fully define your criteria first in your presentation. What makes something most important? Is it something that affects the most people worldwide? Is it something that changed the way the world works, or the way people do things in their day-to-day lives?
What follows will be about each of your two choices and how they match up with your criteria in your opening section. You must also fully describe the history leading up to your choices. |
Class of 2016 choices for
Most Important Invention or Innovation (since 1900) - listed alphabetically: Airplane Air Conditioner Atomic Bomb E=Mc2 Fire Extinguisher Frozen Food Influenza Vaccine Internet Life Straw NASA Nuclear Power Penicillin & Antibiotics Refrigerator Rockets Satellites Transistor Vacuum Cleaner Water Heating (Recirculating Pump) Women's Suffrage (The Vote) YouTube What His Mother Considered the Most Important Invention of Her Time
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Seventh Grade Projects Summary –By now, you know (or should know) how to make something using most of these:
This year you will be required to create these and submit them for a computer grade each trimester. Not only will you turn the assignments in to your other teacher but you will also share it with me. Your grade from me will reflect the expectations I have for each assignment, and they may These are solo projects unless specified. Each student is responsible for creating his or her own projects. All About "The Internet of Things"
IFTTT
Are you familiar with this acronym? If not, you will be soon enough. IFTTT is the basis of IoT, another acronym you're going to need to know.
IFTTT stands for "IF This, Then That" which means "If This condition is True, then Do That." It is the underlying activity that drives the "Internet of Things" (IoT). Check out this video from Common Craft: The first example in the video above describes something that may happen when you turn on the light in your closet in the morning. In this case, the light switch changes "condition" - it goes from Off to On. Other devices that are keeping track of that light switch would have an IFTTT setting that says "If This: Closet Light is On, Then Do That: ____". The coffee pot in the kitchen could begin heating water - "If This: Closet Light is On, Then Do That: Begin heating cycle." The house thermostat could be increased from the nighttime setting - "If This: Closet Light is On, Then Do That: Set Thermostat to 80 degrees." Your clock radio could reset to the news channel that broadcasts regular traffic reports - "If This: Closet Light is On, Then Do That: Set radio station to AM1070." So, with a change of just one condition, three appliances in your house would start to come to life in ways that make your life more comfortable, and more efficient.
The video touches on some other possibilities for conditions: If sunset or sunrise has been reached, or if the weather forecasts are predicting a high chance of rain, or if the current local temperature is hotter or colder than desired, and so on. Another example is smart cars being able to adjust speed and braking according to road conditions being broadcast locally. The Internet of Things will probably depend upon each of us carrying some sort of signal device at all times, like a smart phone or smartwatch (or even an embedded chip), that can both broadcast signals to the IoT as well as receive updates from it. For example, if your smartphone notices that you've entered church, it could automatically turn off your phone's ringer and music volume. If it recognizes that you've entered a store you regularly go to, it could immediately find and display your shopping list. Perhaps someday that same shopping list could be broadcast to the store's IoT which would assemble your order and have it ready for you when you check out. Can you picture something like the moving clothing rack in a dry cleaner's shop (or like the hanging doors stored on endless racks in Monsters, Inc.)? The Internet of Things may want to know everything about you, however, and this may cause people concern. If your every movement and preference is located on smart devices, you may be leaving yourself open to identity theft and to stalkers. Current laws may have to be strengthened to help protect people's privacy, and guarding access to your information will become even more important in the future. SO, what will your future look like? After you watch the Common Craft video above, consider what other kinds of things are on the horizon for IFTTT and IoT. Add a page to your website that reflects what you envision the future will look like for people when more widespread use of the Internet of Things is the norm and not just part of the lives of first adopters. Use images and text in combination to describe how daily life will be much different in the future compared to today. While much of this may be imaginary at the moment, your vision must be based in current research and development in the area of IoT. Check out some of these sites for some recent developments, and think about how they could affect someone's daily life in the future: IoTList IoT Awards CES 2016 |
The Role of Student Research Specialist: As you go through your efforts to look up things using the Internet, watch how you go about looking for information on the Internet. If you consistently find it difficult to get the results you were seeking, perhaps a tweak of your searching techniques could be in order.
Remember: Google (and every other computer application) cannot actually read the words you write. It simply uses look-ups to match keywords you type with words it has collected into large lists. It can't make decisions, such as determining what is most important, or differentiate between the meanings of invention and innovation. It will simply tell you about sites it has found that have those words on it. That's all. On the other hand, it can detect common associations of ideas (in the form of words), and these can appear to demonstrate a greater level of understanding about a topic, but don't forget: it figured these out observing and using the results of human activities When you search, think of what kind of words you'd expect to find on a site that somebody created to explain what you're looking for, and enter those words and phrases into the search box. These are common associations, too, and they come from YOUR experience, and from trial and error. I will be looking for individual students, or groups of students, who can demonstrate this skill with some mastery. Work on honing your skills as you search the Internet for assignments. Seventh Grade First 3D Printing Assignment: Flat NameplateYour 3D nameplate will be created in one plane (flat). When it prints, your name will be in the same plane as the base. It will appear on the top of the base and will be debossed into the base. (This means each letter forms a depressions in the base.) They cannot go through the base.
Dimensions: Maximum length: 130 mm Maximum width: 40 mm Maximum height (thickness): 15 mm Minimum thickness at bottom of each letter: 5 mm
Did You Know? -This assignment has several parts. It is based on my Trivia Page under the Cool Links tab above.
WEB DESIGNGreat Responsive Web DesignsCSS Zen Garden site
On your webpage, here's what I'm really hoping you'll provide:
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Seventh Grade is the year we start to cement our acquired tech skills,
as well as expand them in new directions.
Building on the sixth grade understanding of being a Digital Citizen,
we will explore at some point the way online advertising has such an extraordinary impact on our lives.
We will learn to identify some of the techniques advertisers use to get us to change our minds to their way of thinking.
Equally important, we will look at the innovations that technology have produced recently
while also developing a historical sense of where of all this great technology has come from,
and the way inventors and innovators have thought about the things they've tried to introduce to the world.
We will be able to describe new technologies with a view to the past as well as the future.
Our web creations will be more focused on universal topics that are of interest to us,
and we will enhance our sites with multimedia creations that bring value to others in a variety of ways.
Exploring many of the online tools that are out there will be a major portion of this year's activities.
as well as expand them in new directions.
Building on the sixth grade understanding of being a Digital Citizen,
we will explore at some point the way online advertising has such an extraordinary impact on our lives.
We will learn to identify some of the techniques advertisers use to get us to change our minds to their way of thinking.
Equally important, we will look at the innovations that technology have produced recently
while also developing a historical sense of where of all this great technology has come from,
and the way inventors and innovators have thought about the things they've tried to introduce to the world.
We will be able to describe new technologies with a view to the past as well as the future.
Our web creations will be more focused on universal topics that are of interest to us,
and we will enhance our sites with multimedia creations that bring value to others in a variety of ways.
Exploring many of the online tools that are out there will be a major portion of this year's activities.
Below the line is some of the stuff we did last year (look quick, because it will be gone soon:
Blue Card Assignment
After you've selected your blue card in class, please submit your collected information to a Google spreadsheet I will share with you:
- what is it for or what does it do?
- when was it first known or written about or patented or introduced publicly?
- where was it first known or seen or used or introduced?
- who is associated with its first use? (this could be an individual or group)
- why do you think it came into being - why would somebody invent it? (this is an important question - please answer with care.)