1. Making A Good PowerPoint Presentation Tahoma Jr. High 8 th Grade Science Maple Valley, WA Many things go into a good presentation – but most are “common sense”.

2. PowerPoint is a very powerful tool because we learn better with visuals AND… when you present the PowerPoint to an audience, you are TEACHING which is The BEST

3. First of all – do NOT use any LAST names anywhere on your PowerPoint We may use these as examples of student work online and for security reasons to protect you, there can’t be any last names used (especially if there pictures of you/others on it too). Element PowerPoint Fred F. Mr. Cross Pd 3 example for Title Slide

4. Let’s first deal with the “Cut & Paste” Problem How about we look at a couple of examples… They WILL know when you are simply doing Cut & Paste (“C&P”) and you will pay dearly! It’s plagiarism and a very serious infraction. Your teachers have seen many web sites over the years for these projects, as well as many students and their writing abilities.

5. * straight from www.webelements.comwww.webelements.com NameName: iron SymbolSymbol: Fe Atomic numberAtomic number: 26 Atomic weightAtomic weight: 55.845 (2) CAS Registry IDCAS Registry ID: 7439-89-6 Group numberGroup number: 8 Group nameGroup name: (none) Period numberPeriod number: 4 BlockBlock: d-block Description Here is a brief description of iron.description Standard stateStandard state: solid at 298 K ColourColour: lustrous, metallic, greyish tinge ClassificationClassification: Metallic Availability: iron is available in many forms including foil, chips, sheet, wire, granules, nanosized activated powder, powder, and rod. What’s “CAS Registry ID”??!) – not part of the requirements makes it obvious it was C&P. The LEAST you can do is write the info yourself – and make sure you KNOW what it is (or we certainly won’t)!!

6. Name: Iron Symbol: Fe Atomic Number: 26 Atomic Mass: 55.8457845 AMUs Melting Point: 1535.0 °C (1808.15 K, 2795.0 °F) Boiling Point: 2750.0 °C (3023.15 K, 4982.0 °F) Number of Protons/Electrons: 26 Number of Neutrons: 30 Classification: Transition Metal Crystal Structure: Cubic Density @ 293 K: 7.86 g/cm3 Color: SilveryTransition Metal Date of Discovery: Known to the ancients Discoverer: Unknown Name Origin: Latin Symbol Origin: From the Latin word ferrum (iron) Uses: steel, hemoglobin (carries oxygen in blood) Obtained From: iron ores * straight from www.chemicalelements.comwww.chemicalelements.com Same thing again – quite obvious it was C&P when you see all three temperature scales (and they aren’t explained by the presenter). What temperature is “K”?? (leave it out if your audience doesn’t know about it)

7. Usually people who Cut & Paste, end up reading to us – because they don’t understand their own information. It is actually VERY insulting to your audience to read to them. They already know how to read! Instead of reading… PAUSE, then: PARAPHRASE !

8. If you don’t understand your own information, and you are supposed to be teaching your audience about it, wouldn’t it make sense to figure out for yourself WHAT YOU ARE TEACHING US FIRST ??!! Do the extra preparation and practice to become comfortable with your task of teaching. Which of the following methods of teaching is more effective?

9. IRON Number of Protons/Electrons: 26 Number of Neutrons: 30 Atomic Mass: 55.8457845 AMU or is this better… By the way, PLEASE don’t be reading long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long strings of decimals ! ! Instead, paraphrase with a rounded off “about 56 AMUs” And… HOW ABOUT HAVING SOME PICTURES??!!

10. 26 Protons in nucleus Fe Iron 30 Neutrons in nucleus 26 Electrons around the outside As we learned in 7 th grade, cells have a nucleus… atoms do too! Protons + Neutrons = 56 AMUs

11. This… Date of Discovery: 1500 Discoverer: Andreas Marggraf in Germany Commonly found or mined in: Australia, Canada and China Or…

12. Andreas Marggraf discovered zinc in Germany in the year 1500 Large mines are found in: Australia Canada China

13. Instead of this… Melting Point: 1535.0 °C (2795.0 °F) Boiling Point: 2750.0 °C (4982.0 °F) or… Metric is used worldwide (except in the U.S.) - and ALWAYS in science. But Americans (your audience) again need extra help here. Put the American units (they can’t be called English anymore because even they stopped using them long ago!) in parentheses. ALSO - with temperatures this high, do you really need decimal accuracy for an 8 th grade audience??

14. Iron melts at: 1535°C (~2800°F) and boils at: 2750°C (~5000°F) Both of those are VERY high temperatures, and that’s why Iron is a SOLID at room temperature (25°C or 75°F)

15. Are you getting the idea now ? And let’s not forget about some very obvious ones (or they should be to you if you Evaluate your own work) Do NOT stand in front of the screen, OK? (we DO want to actually see your hard work) Do Dress Rehearsals so everyone knows who’s saying what and when and you DON’T RUN LONG! – nothing loses an audience faster than “Dead Time”.

16. Have eye contact, and use a Speaker’s Voice while changing the tone so it’s not a monotonous rambling (not reading helps) – you should “talk to us”. Choosing colors, font size and backgrounds are all important. Check out the one below… good? Can you read this easily??

17. Change brightness and contrast (Format Picture) on pictures to dull them out as a background allowing text to show better. This is much easier to read, and you can still see the picture in the background. How about also checking spelling, grammar, punctuation – and all those other things your English teacher says are important. English IS your primary language, isn’t it??! Take pride in using it well.

18. How about also making your information more interesting by “connecting it” to your audience? Didn’t some of these elements sound familiar – like in vitamins and food ??! Iron can be found in… and humor can help too… (but use very, very carefully)

19. Avoid “Fancy Text” animations that don’t match the timing of your presentation Or distract your audience more than inform and NO SOUND !! It may be allowed in the future/other classes – but not in 8 th Grade Science this year.

20. And finally… DO NOT GO OVER YOUR TIME LIMIT !! Work ahead of the curve, not behind it… (anticipate and AVOID potential problems) This seriously stresses out your teacher because we want them all done on the due date. And that also means, NO TECHNICAL EXCUSES EITHER !! (be ready to present)

21. Keep it INTERESTING and EASY FOR YOUR AUDIENCE TO CONNECT WITH. This comes from doing Lots of Research first, and then making an effective layout. end show