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March 15, 2001
Putting the Bang Back into Science
Whether your class is studying biomes, biology, or black holes, multimedia technologies can take your lessons from "Hmmm" to "Wow!"
By Chuck Drake
Bringing Digital Life to Plants and Animals
For years, students have complained that science is boring. But technology in the classroom has changed all that, according to Jason Crean, a science teacher at Homewood-Flossmoor High School in Flossmoor, Ill. As the developer of the school's plants and animals program, Crean has found several innovative ways to introduce technology in the classroom to combat the science doldrums.
At the beginning of the program, students use technology to publish a magazine titled Consumers Reports. First, they select an animal (a "consumer") and write a report on that animal, including its food sources, eating habits, and other facts. Then each class assembles their articles into a magazine format-complete with student-created advertisements and games-and everyone gets a copy to take home.
"Working on collaborative projects is much easier when technology plays a role," says Crean. For example, his students create multimedia projects on a biome of their choice, such as the desert or forest, using Microsoft PowerPoint. The projects are illustrated by importing digital camera images into the presentations. Finished projects are displayed on a SMART Board interactive projection screen that students use to teach their classmates about their biome. Crean believes multimedia presentations have specific advantages: "Compared to other learning styles, there is no question that students learn more visually.
The kinds of multisensory tools found in technology aid students in processing information and strengthening all styles of learning," he says.
To keep students connected, Crean has built a Web site where information on assignments, tests, and quizzes is updated weekly. Teachers also find Crean's site useful because of the links to local and national zoos, as well as a "virtual zoo" he created with images of animals accompanied by challenging questions.
Before completing the plant and animal program, each student creates a virtual portfolio of his or her work, which is saved on a Zip disk. These artifacts can be used for work at the college level or to demonstrate technology skills at a job interview.
From Earworms to El Niżo: Great Web Projects
For Naveen Cunha and his fifth-grade science and math students at Oakwood Intermediate School in College Station, Texas, learning by doing is taken to the next level through interactive Web quests.
The quests require teams of students to research a question, topic, or concept by using selected Web sites. Students must search, locate, filter, and integrate the information they find in order to complete the assignment.
One example of such a quest is the Corn Earworm Web Project, which combines real scientific experimentation with online multimedia research. Students started by planting corn and observing how earworms affect the crop throughout the growing cycle. By researching information on the Web and taking pictures with digital cameras while on a field trip to the USDA, students documented the life cycle of corn earworms in vivid detail. Later, they presented their projects to USDA scientists and researchers.
Another recent quest had students studying the impact of climatic changes and their effect on global commerce. The students served as financial advisors for a company that wanted to invest in Peruvian industry. They researched weather conditions-especially the El Niżo phenomenon-and made recommendations based on their findings. "The reports were complex, as was the whole situation, and the kids saw that," says Cunha.
In yet another weather-related exploration, students researched El Niżo's effect on a global scale, how weather instruments are used, and the importance of satellite imagery. Using a Nova Solutions multimedia lectern that houses a scanner, VCR, laserdisc player, and drawing tablet, students collected, edited, and presented the information they had gathered.
For Cunha, technology is merely another tool to assist in the real work of students-learning. "Multimedia works both ways in my classroom. I use technology to introduce and enhance subject matter for my students, while my students use it to experiment, apply problem-solving skills, and create professional presentations," he says. The approach has worked so well that his students have been invited to make presentations to their city council members, who have put some of the students' ideas into practice.
Getting Down and Dirty with Technology
At Seaside High School in Seaside, Ore., science teacher Mike Brown uses technology to manage and instruct students in and out of the lab. Through the Coastal Studies and Technology Center, a nonprofit organization that Brown founded, students have plenty of opportunities to venture outside the traditional classroom and incorporate technology in hands-on activities that answer real-world questions.
Students learn how to use Geographical Information Systems and the Global Positioning System to create map layers. They also develop presentations using ArcView GIS software, and they draw and model data using Rhino 3-D software. This past year, with the help of a GIS consultant, a field scientist, and a $17,000 grant, Brown's students took their software skills outside as they researched an environmentally sensitive local watershed for the City of Seaside. Using GIS and GPS software, as well as visual observations, they mapped 197 drainpipes in the area-a significant improvement over the existing data, which was last updated in 1964.
In addition, students are actively involved in the center's Neawanna Stewardship Program-a wildlife conservation effort that tracks and studies the area's native trees and birds. Upward Bound students at Seaside High became involved in a different kind of conservation effort along the Neawanna River. Using handheld computers with bar code readers, they tracked the flow of large woody debris in the river. Information they collected helps local wildlife conservationists prevent the disruption of salmon trying to swim upstream.
"Students enjoy getting out of the classroom, using technology, and doing real, concrete work. And they like to see it all come together into something meaningful. Sure, collecting science data can be a bit tedious-especially after measuring the 301st tree-but we try not to overdo any one activity with a single group," says Brown. The students seldom ask if what they're learning matters because they can see firsthand that it does, he adds.
The Stars Are the Limit
Science comes alive in Mike Dyre's earth science classes at Forest Park High School in Woodbridge, Va. Offered as a part of the school's information technology program, Dyre's earth science course motivates high-schoolers by tapping into a wealth of high-tech resources.
In addition to an academic curriculum enhanced by technology, the IT program offers three core areas of study: graphics and multimedia, math and programming, and hardware and networking. By blending traditional teaching methodologies with multimedia-rich activities, Dyre creates unique learning opportunities for his students.
In his "Web Assignments" unit, Dyre utilizes a project-based approach that incorporates the Internet. Armed with a list of relevant Web sites, students are challenged to research a topic and report their findings. In a recent investigation involving the Christmas solar eclipse, for example, students had to imagine what the eclipse would look like in their backyard and predict precisely when it would occur.
In another assignment, teams of students use a spectroscope to determine which elements are present in stars. After establishing the stars' elemental composition, students log on to the Internet to extend their research. Most earth science classes only read about spectral lines in a textbook, but these kids were fortunate to have access to the right equipment.
Students can continue their work from home by accessing Dyre's virtual classroom, which he created using Blackboard.com. In a password-protected environment, students obtain daily lessons, take tests, get lecture notes, see their grades, and communicate with each other. They can also post their own information to the course site. "My hope is that when they're done with this course, students will have gained a sense of curiosity along with scientific inquiry that will serve them for years to come," says Dyre.
Anywhere, Anytime Chemistry Lab
What happens when you separate a dedicated science teacher from her livelihood? While recovering from surgery last year, Kathy Dunne, a chemistry teacher at the Advanced Technologies Academy (A-TECH) in Las Vegas, Nev., designed an online high school chemistry course complete with objectives, assignments, labs, discussions, and evaluations. The resulting virtual science classroom, which complements Dunne's on-site chemistry classes at A-TECH, gives her students the opportunity to conduct labs and review course materials on a round-the-clock basis. The site is also available to chemistry classrooms across the country as well as to homeschooled students. "Students love the idea that what they're doing in class today may help someone learn chemistry in another time and place," says Dunne.
At the site, Dunne creates video lab animations using Macromedia Director. Students also play an important role in developing Web site content-using digital or video cameras, they document lab experiments step by step for viewing online. Then they write up the experiment using computer graphics, animation software, and the digital pictures. Many student lab write-ups find their way into the virtual science classroom for others to use.
All of Dunne's online labs are unique and offer fascinating answers. Did you know, for example, that orange juice can conduct electricity? Click on her Conductivity Lab to test twenty elements and solutions using a virtual dry cell battery and light bulb. Or see how certain elements react to the Bunsen burner in her Bunsen Lab, which combines written instructions, digital images, and video.
Dunne's students can log on from almost anywhere to view pictures and video demonstrations of classroom activities as well as homework assignments, class discussions, and lab safety procedures. Science teachers find the site useful, too, especially for conducting virtual labs when the actual labs are either too costly or too dangerous for their own classroom.
Chuck Drake, a former T&L teacher of the year, is the information technology coordinator for the IT Specialty Program at Forest Park High School in Virginia.
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