I am a general science teacher from a rural county in North Carolina. We have had hits to our economy the past few years with major closings of textile plants and huge lay-offs from the local truck manufacturing plant. Our district has also been restructured to include an increasing number of minority students in the student population.
It is sad that our students do not have many life experiences to bring with them into the classroom. Some of our students have never even left the county for a vacation. As their science teacher it always amazes me the lack of prior knowledge our students have when entering my classroom setting.
I try to create a learning atmosphere of Hands-on/Minds-on. If I can find a way for it to be a tactile experience (better than a video game) I will use any means available to try to get the resources, including my own funds, to turn on the minds of my students.
After my students learn about the cell cycle and mitosis, I always incorporate a laboratory activity where they microscopically examine onion root tips in which many cells can be seen undergoing mitosis. This allows my students to see real cells rather than pictures or diagrams that someone else has created. In the past, my students had to share microscopes and make cell drawings by hand.
This year, with your generous contributions, I would love to add a new technological tool to use for this learning activity, new QX5 digital microscopes that can interface with our laptop computers. The students will be enabled to view their microscopic images on their computer screens rather than through the ocular (eyepiece) lens of a microscope.
This procedure will prove to be a huge improvement over the old, traditional method. The older approach required students to move each of their heads back and forth over the microscope eyepiece. Frequently, the students were not exactly sure whether their teammate was looking at the same cell that they were. This made what was suppose to be an exciting and more tangible activity tedious and frustrating.
If we are able to get the new microscopes the students will be able to locate a good region they want to work with, capture the mitosis image and save it on their computers. The students can then print their pictures and collaborate with their lab partners as they closely examine each of the cells to determine which mitosis phase those cells are in.
Microbiology is often a very tough concept to grasp. Students tend not to be focused on what is not concrete(cannot be seen or touched by them). I hope with the WOW factor that computer technology gives my students, they will be catapulted into the microscopic world and will be able to easily grasp some tough concepts. Learning is always more fun when it becomes visible. With your help the microscopic world will become a vivid reality! Thank for empowering my students!
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