Science
- J.D. Birchmeier - Problem
- JD Birchmeier and Steve Dickie are high school physics teachers at Divine Child High School in Dearborn, MI. Mr. Birchmeier and Mr. Dickie find that their students have a hard time conceptualizing the concept of motion because of a lack of frame of reference.
View their solution. Tags: High School, Science, Physics
- J.D. Birchmeier - Solution
- Using the software Logger Pro and video cameras, Birchmeier and Dickie were able to overlay particle models over the top of video of moving bodies to better illustrate the concept of motion and the forces that control motion.
Review their problem. Tags: High School, Science, Video, Physics, Graphs
- Keith Forton - Problem
- Keith Forton is a science teacher at Traverse City Central High School in Traverse City, MI. Mr. Forton found that his students are good at plotting or finding points on a graph, but often have difficulty reading and interpreting graphs.
See his solution. Tags: High School, Science, Physics, Graphs
- Keith Forton - Solution
- Mr. Forton's solution is to use video capture to acquire video of simple and complex examples of motion. He then has the students use the software World in Motion to plot the and create a graph of the motion. This way students can see the translation of energy and other hard to conceptualize physics principles.
Review the problem. Tags: High School, Science, Video, Physics, Graphs
- Laura Glish - Problem
- Laura Glish is a physical science teacher at Baker Middle School in Troy, MI. She found that her students understood the effects of physical phenomenon such as waves and magnets, but had a hard time conceptualizing the cause.
See her solution. Tags: Middle School, Science, Physical Science
- Laura Glish - Solution
- Ms. Glish used animation to help illustrate concepts using digital video cameras and the programs FrameThief, iStopMotion and iMovie. Her students draw out a concept on paper under the digital video camera and then sequence the animation together using the different programs. They would also add titles and music, then create a QuickTime movie that they could take with them at the end of the project.
Review the problem. Tags: Middle School, Science, Video, Digital Imaging, Animation, Physical Science
- Marilyn Western - Problem
- Marilyn Western is a 5th and 6th grade computer teacher in Mt. Pleasant, MI. She has found that students have had a difficult time understanding the reasons for the seasons, confusing concepts about the Earth's orbit and tilt and how they affect the seasons. She also has felt that the students often have a hard time understanding concepts that are not directly related to them.
See her solution. Tags: Elementary, Middle School, Science
- Marilyn Western - Solution
- Ms. Western devised a lesson plan using technology that makes the experience of learning about the seasons active and personal to her students. Using Weather.com she has her students record sunrise and sunset and use Microsoft Excel to plot the length of days for an entire season. Ms. Western also uses digital images to take a picture of a stationary object on the playground over a series of eight weeks to illustrate the shadow growing or shrinking.
Review the problem. Tags: Elementary, Middle School, Science, Digital Imaging, Graphs, Animation, Excel
- Robert Attee
- Robert Attee is the technology enrichment teacher at Salina Elementary in Dearborn, MI. Mr. Attee has been working in his district to increase their achievement in the area of science on standardized tests with their limited English student population. After designing rubrics for the teachers to help assess the students, the district needed to find software that would be general enough that it address multiple intelligences, had a constructivist approach and was tailorable to the needs of the students.
No solution video available. Tags: Elementary, ESL, Science
- Sandra Smits - Problem
- Sandra Smitts is a 3rd grade teacher at Bauer Elementary in Hudsonville, MI. Ms. Smits and her peer teachers have to deal with the pressure to meet the district, state and federal standards while still creating lesson plans that are engaging and creative and that meet the needs of all of their students.
See her solution. Tags: Elementary, Science, Standards
- Sandra Smits - Solution
- Ms. Smits uses claymation to motivate her students to meet the standards for her science class during the their life cycle unit. Using a digital cameras and the software Video Blender, the students use clay to create an animation of different life cycles. After the unit is done, she hosts a movie day and the students watch each others videos. Afterwards she uses the videos as an assessment using a rubric she created with her peer teachers.
View the problem Tags: Elementary, Science, Video, Digital Imaging, Animation, Standards