In this movie I would like to show you step-by-step how to use the Basic Authoring technique to
create our four-page SPARKlab.
Although I'll be using the SPARKvue application on a computer,
this same technique can be used with the SPARK Science Learning System device and no computer.
Before I start actually authoring, I'd like to take a closer look at the final product,
the final SPARKlab I'll create.
What I'd like to do is look more closely at the page elements.
You'll discover shortly that, when we construct a SPARKlab page, we're basically taking certain
page elements and putting them on the page, much like building blocks.
So I'd like to walk through and identify each of the page elements on the four pages.
We can start on page 1, the title page, and we see that left two-thirds of the page is
occupied by a large image, and there's some text in the upper right.
This page has two page elements: a small text box in the upper right and large image element
on the left.
Page 2 again has two page elements.
This time it's two large text boxes, one on the top half and one on the bottom half of
the page.
On page 3, we have three page elements.
There is a small text box in the upper right and two data displays.
There's a large graph of temperature versus time in the left two-thirds of the screen
and a small digits display of temperature in the lower right.
Finally, page 4 has the same two page elements in the same design as page 2, that is two
large text boxes, one atop the other.
Now that we've taken a look at the final lab, I'm going to go ahead and construct it.
I'll begin by launching the SPARKvue software and connecting the sensor I'll be using for
this experiment, in this case, a temperature probe.
Now whenever we build our own original experiments in SPARKvue, we choose from the Home screen
the Build button.
And this brings us to the Build page.
We'll be using this Build page to construct each page of the SPARKlab,
so let's take a close look at its elements.
Starting at the top we can see there are four data displays: graph, digits, table, and meter.
There are page elements for images, large and small, and text boxes, large and small.
Now there are two columns: the items on the left column are large page elements,
occupying more space on the page than the small elements on the right.
You'll notice that the data displays on the top are all grayed out.
That's because we first need to use this column on the left of measurements to identify what
measurement we'd like to see in the data display before we use it.
Finally, on the right third the page we see a Preview window. This page is going to fill
with the page elements as we construct the page.
So I'm going to start by creating page 1.
And we have two page elements on this page: you may recall a large image on the left and
a small text box in the upper right.
We generally construct SPARKlab pages from upper left to lower right.
So I'll begin by adding a large image.
Now initially SPARKvue is going to put this as occupying the whole page, but you'll see
in a moment that it's going to intelligently downsize as we add additional elements.
So the only other element we have on this page, in the upper right, we'd like to have
a text entry box.
So I'll choose a small text entry box, and now we have those two page elements on the
page as we intend them to be configured.
This page looks good so I'll press OK to build it, and it looks like we got the page we're
looking for.
I'm going to quickly type in the title of our lab here.
And I'm going to fill this image element with the actual image I'd like,
so I'm going to click and open up my file navigator
and select the image that I'd like to occupy that space.
Once I'm confident that's the image I'd like, I can lock that and we're done with page 1.
Now when you build a new SPARKlab it always starts with a single page, so I'm on page
1.
If I'd like to add a page 2, all I need to do is press this New Page icon,
and I go back to the Build page.
So on page 2 I again have two page elements, but this time around I'd like two large text
boxes, one of the upper half and the other on the bottom half of the screen.
So I'll choose a large text box from this left column and a second large text box.
And that's the design I'm looking for. I'll press OK to build it.
This is going to be a page of background information on the top.
I'll speed through this typing.
And after that background information I'll ask a question for students to make a prediction.
OK. The top box is complete.
The bottom box is intended for students to make their prediction.
I'll save them a little bit of typing by adding some leading text.
And they can simply complete that sentence with their prediction.
Alright, page 2 is complete.
On to page 3: Build New Page.
Now on page three we're going to have three page elements.
You may recall there's a graph of temperature versus time in the left two-thirds of the
page, a small text box of instructions in the upper
right, and a small digits display in the lower right.
So beginning on the left, I need to add a graph.
And graph of course is not available until I choose the measurement from the column on
the left.
So I'll first select temperature, then a graph from the center column,
and I have a graph. This will be a graph of temperature versus
time.
Next up will be, in the upper right, a small text entry box.
And finally I'd like to have a small digits display,
so I'll choose temperature again, and digits to complete the page.
And in this text entry box I will type in the instructions for collecting data.
OK. So the instructions are complete and this page is finished.
On to the last page, page 4: Build New Page.
On this page we're simply going to have two large text boxes, one atop the other; so,
a large text box and another large text box. And OK.
And this will be the conclusion page.
And once again I'll provide some leading text on the bottom for students to respond. OK.
Now I'll page back through, just visually scanning these pages to make sure they look
OK and I didn't miss anything.
And they look like they're OK.
So what I'd like to do now is save this file as it currently is,
so I'll go to the Sharing button in the upper right,
choose to save this file as, and I'll give it a descriptive name.
And let me call it "Basic" to remind myself that this is the lab I created using the Basic
Authoring technique.
Now a quick aside: I didn't pay much attention to the size of
my screen as I was creating this, and that's fine for SPARKvue users.
But if I did intend for this SPARKlab to be used by SPARK Science Learning System device
users, I would want to first come in here and tell
SPARKvue to automatically resize the screen, optimized for the smaller SLS display.
But I'm happy with SPARKvue version, so I'll choose Save.
And I've now saved a version of this SPARKlab.
Now before I actually distribute this, I probably should go through and test its functionality.
So I'm going to walk through it as a student might,
interacting with anything that's interactive.
So I'll have a response here, to make sure everything works.
And on page 3 I'll actually collect some data following these instructions.
So I'll begin by placing the temperature sensor in the juice.
Starting data collection, you can see the data appears on both the graph and digits
displays.
And I'll add the tablet and scale the graph so we can better see any changes in temperature.
And it looks like I'm beginning to see a decrease in temperature,
so I'll let that run until the reaction ends.
Alright, the temperature is stabilizing, the bubbling has stopped,
so I'll stop data collection.
And it looks like page 3 works as intended.
On to the final page, page 4.
As a student might, I'll respond to this conclusion.
I think we've tested the functionality of our lab. I looks like it works.
So now that I can confidence in it, I can go back to the version I saved before data
collection and distribute that to my students.
In this movie we've seen how we can use the Basic Authoring technique and the SPARKvue
software alone to fairly quickly create a functional SPARKlab.
Now this lab works fine and I think it conveys the idea, but it does look a bit plain.
So in the next movie I'm going to show you how the Enhanced Authoring technique can be
used to make a SPARKlab that looks even better.