As a teacher, I find it difficult or overwhelming to always try to come up with creative or inspiring ways on my own for my students to learn about science and still meet the Utah core standards. When I use technology to teach, I implement a whole new facet of opportunities for my students to learn. Technology is a great resource, but its more than that, its more than just throwing my student in front of a computer with a program that should help them learn. It takes effort to build knowledge in a student’s mind, and technology is a tool that every teacher should use to build that knowledge, but it is necessary to develop background about the subject matter in order for the technology to be effective. You still have to teach efficiently for the technology to be a efficient teaching tool.
In my classroom I was reaching the time where I needed to teach my 3rd graders about living and non-living organisms existing in an environment.
Which is standard 2 in the Utah core curriculum: Students will understand that organisms depend on living and nonliving things within their environment. Objective 1: Classify living and nonliving things in an environment. I wanted my students to develop a real understanding of an environment, and then understand what a non-living thing is, as well as a living thing. From this unit of learning I wanted to go straight to objective 2 after teaching objective 1. Objective 2 is about the interactions between non-living and living things. Without knowing this would happen, the two actually integrated and I only ended up teaching it over a period of time as one lesson. Here is how I did it. I used Virtual Pond Dip as my technology help. (http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html)
First I introduced the subject, “Students we are going to learn about living and non-living organisms”. I needed to know how much they already knew. I needed to research and provide them with background information before Virtual Pond Dip was utilized. I needed to do this so they could get everything and more from Virtual Pond Dip. So they would already be interested in organisms, living or non-living. I put my computer on a projector screen so the whole class could be involved. I began discussing the environment of a pond, and then began discussing what is in a pond. These are things they came up with: Dirt-non-living, with living organisms residing in the dirt. Organisms-with complicated names that had specific roles in the environment they were in. Not knowing where they were but getting an understanding of what they knew helped me know what to talk about when I showed them several pictures of pond creatures; real pictures, not drawings. (Note: Remember these are just two of the pictures I used, in order to fully inform the students obtain numerous pictures of organisms that reside in ponds, you can find the name of those organisms from the Virtual Pond Dip website, then just google search the organism name to learn more about them and find pictures.)
This is a Copepod, or a Cyclops.Here is another real microscope picture of the Cyclops.
This is the Virtual Pond Dip image of the Cyclops. When the students have previously been exposed to the Cyclops they will be able to realize that it exists in an environment with other living and non-living things from Virtual Pond Dip. Virtual Pond Dip is the technology resource I used after teaching about the organisms.
From these real pictures they became enthralled that life like this existed. So not only did they understand what a living organism was, but also non-living, and they were excited about it. After continuing the discussion and involving my students in a writing assignment about the pictures and life they had seen, I decided it was time for the students to discover Virtual Pond Dip. I scheduled our computer lab and had this screen already up for each student.
They could click on different organisms on their own to learn more specifically about the organisms.
They experienced a setting on their own and were able to explore and read about each organism on their own, after they had already learned about each organism with me verbally. This is a science activity that started small, but allowed my students to learn more about non-living, and living things than just the definitions. They could really relate and they wanted to know more, they wanted to inquire pond water, and see it under a microscope, they wanted to see the organisms moving and see what organisms ate other organisms, they wanted to know more about the dirt and why it was there, and what purpose it served. Being a Tech Savvy Teacher can create a classroom environment where inquiry is guaranteed and expected. I used VirtualEnjoy Virtual Pond Dip, and remember to create background knowledge and build from every technology tool you use.
Resources:
Virtual Pond Dip website: http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html
1 and 2 Pictures used obtained from this informative website:http://jaffeweb.ucsd.edu/pages/celeste/Intro/
Britt these are awesome ideas! Very original and so so fun for your students!! good planning and use of content! I want to be in your class!!!! A job well done!
ReplyDeleteI like how your incorporated writing and science. They wrote in their journals about the instructional part and then were able to take it further with the virtual pond dip program. I also like how the children were able to explore the organisms independently- they could look more into the ones they were really interested in.
ReplyDeleteWow, definitely a cool idea. Last semester for ECE 323 I wrote a lesson plan for 3rd graders using this same standard base, and I wish I had come up with this idea myself! It would have enriched the lesson and provided some new information that I wasn't able to cover. I mean, there are only so many ways to teach this in the classroom without going somewhere to observe. But a virtual pond dip is like a field trip in the classroom! Good job.
ReplyDeleteI liked your comment at the beginning of your article, about how in order for technology to be effective as a teaching tool, it must be accompanied with good teaching. How true. Just because a program is billed as being educational, it doesn't mean it will be useful to students unless they have the necessary background knowledge to help them utilize the technological experience in their pre-existing store of knowledge.
ReplyDeletegreat! - you can actually download pictures 1 and 2 when you get to the point in your images instead of the screen shot and it will be easier for you and easier to see. Just right click on the image and say save to disk.
ReplyDelete