Fifth graders at Davis Elementary are currently studying rocks and the rock cycle in science (SOL5.7a,b). Today Ms. Elsea’s students created Google slideshows with animations to share what they have learned. First they logged into their Google accounts and created a Google slideshow document. I showed them how to customize their slides in a variety of ways: they could change the template or background color, change the font, size, and color, or even use a photo as the background image (some students really liked that). Next they created several slides showing the different types of rocks (igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary), examples of each, and a diagram of the rock cycle. They added photos using Insert > Image > Search. Some students also created their own rock cycle diagram using shapes like Breana. The last step was to add transitions and animations to the slides. I pointed out that those special effects add a unique feature that regular documents don’t have, which is the ability to engage their viewers. For example, a picture of the rock can appear first, and the viewer can guess what type of rock it is before the answer appears. Or the viewer can try to guess the next step in the rock cycle before it appears. You can take a look at all their slideshows here.
