ScreenCasts

These screencasts are the first two of the four screencast assignment. I am Adolescent Education certified to teach Earth Science so my two screencasts today are both Earth Science related.

** Topographic Maps **
My first screen cast I created was using Jing. The program itself was a free version downloaded off line. I really like Jing. It is simple to use and easy to upload your screencasts to screencast.com. I don't think I came across any major problems using Jing. I actually prefer this program over the others I have looked at so far.

This screenscast is target towards 9th and 10th grade earth science students. The topic is the basics of topographic maps which is something students need to be familiar with and be able to read and understand. The screencasts explains and labels the basic parts of a topographic map such as contour lines, isolines, contour intervals, finding contour intervals, and a few key facts about reading a topographic map such as contour lines bending upstead, lines becoming closer uphill, and index contours. The screencast is shown through a drawn topographic map and labeling and emphasis is created during the screencast using the Paint program. (i.e. I circled areas where the contour lines were bending upstream.)

media type="custom" key="8158268"

Finding Regents Exams Online My second screencast I created was using CamStudio. This was also a free version off line. After using Jing this program seemed more basic. I also couldn't find a way to stop the video without showing on the video that I was actually stopping, unlike Jing where the top and play button are invisible to the viewer.

This screencast is targets towards 9th and 10th grade earth science students. The topic is how to find regents exams online for at home practice. The screencast starts out by having students typing in 'earth science regents exam' in their search engine and clicking on the specific link. It then informs them that regents exams dating back to June 2006 are available to them with examination, answer booklet, scoring booklet, and conversion chart. I then showed what each link will take them to. (i.e. That if examination is clicked on then the examination questions will open.) This gives students the directions and options to practice regents exams at home, the library, etc. and know how to find them.

media type="youtube" key="Nb1MbQ-gjr0" height="390" width="640"

The Earth Science Reference Table: Relationship of Transported Particle Size to Water Velocity
I created this screencast using Screen Jelly. This screenscast is target towards 9th and 10th grade earth science students. This screencast shows students how to read and use this chart in their Earth Science Reference Table (ESRT). This chart is very important for the Regents Exam just like any other chart in the ESRT. This screenscast shows studenst the parts of the chart and how to determine particle diameter, stream velocity, and particle name.

The program itself isn't bad. I wish there was a way to record without the audience having to see you starting and stopping Screen Jelly. That is one reason I like using Jing. The sharing and uploading was very easy and it was a good program.

The Link: []

media type="custom" key="8213398"

Labeling Rock Sections
This ScreenCast was created using Screencast-o-matic. This screenscast is target towards 9th and 10th grade earth science students. This screencast shows students how to correctly label a rock section from the oldest rocks to the youngest rocks. This is important because it is something students will have to do for the Earth Science Regents Exam. By having students do this it shows that they understand concepts such as The Law of Superposition. This will also help students if they are at home and can't remember why a layer may be older or younger than the next.

I really liked using Screencast-o-matic. It was easy to upload the video right to YouTube and the features were easy to use. I also liked that it had the yellow circle to show where you were focusing on the screen with the mouse and the blue dot to show when you were clicking on something. I would recommend this program.

The Link: []

media type="youtube" key="vYtpMG4AFZg" height="390" width="640"