In today’s science classrooms, teachers are expected to not only meet the tenets of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 and the National Science Education Standards, but also state and/or local courses of study. Title II, Part D — Enhancing Education through Technology — of the NCLB Act requires educators to “improve student academic achievement through the use of technology in elementary schools and secondary schools.” The National Science Education Standards emphasize scientific thinking skills, problem solving, and communication of ideas. State and local courses of study may focus more on scientific facts. How does an educator meet all of these requirements? We need the right tools.

Visual media, coupled with today’s technologies, allow us to convey difficult content more easily, address multiple learning styles effectively, and grab the attention of even the most jaded twenty-first century student. Sure, I agree that videos alone don’t grow synapses, but when used effectively, visual media in the classroom is the perfect tool for accomplishing the goals of NCLB, teaching the skills outlined in the Standards (Elizabeth Ross Hubbell discussed some of this research in this space last month), and managing the content of the course of study. In addition, visual media allow the teacher to better meet the needs of students with varied learning styles as well as diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Online search engines can help educators locate media appropriate for varying learning styles. A wealth of possibilities — from MP3 files for audio learners to activities for kinesthetic learners — is just a few keystrokes away. Let’s use the tools we have available.

Going in Circles

A common concept to the science classroom is the cycle — the water cycle, the carbon cycle, and the rock cycle to name a few. Cycle diagrams imply motion, but standard textbooks do not show the motion, and learners of all types often find them difficult to comprehend. Using web-based animations and a multimedia projector, the teacher can more effectively present the motion inherent in each cycle. These animations are tools to be used to initiate discussion within the classroom. Depending upon the age of the audience and students’ degree of background knowledge, the teacher must steer the discussion toward a level of understanding appropriate to the grade level and the course of study. There are many examples of cycle animations, and these are some of my favorites:

• The Cell Cycle
• The Carbon Cycle
• The Nitrogen Cycle
• The Rock Cycle
• The Water Cycle

Expanded Horizons

In a rural school such as mine, meeting the needs of my students or the specifics of the course of study can be a real challenge. Living in southern Middle Tennessee, many of my students have never been to the ocean or seen the mountains. As a result, when we discuss inter-relationships within the marine biome or characteristics of the taiga in environmental science, it is difficult for them to relate it to real life. Visual media allow me to introduce my students to things they have never experienced and may never experience first-hand. PBS programming from Nature and NOVA provides quality visual media and excellent teacher resources that make using media in the classroom easier. And, the teacher resources are easily adaptable by the teacher for use in any classroom.

In February, PBS premiered Nature’s “Andes: The Dragon’s Back.” Drawing on the film as a resource, students can create complex food webs for distinct ecosystems within the Andes as well as discern the relationship between an organism’s environment and that organism’s behavior patterns. Anatomy of a Glacier, one of the resources accompanying “Andes,” works perfectly as a reinforcement tool for earth science and environmental science vocabulary and as a resource for discussions about global warming.

Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Adventures offers coastal school communities as well as land-locked students the tools they need to experience the marine biome without leaving the classroom. For example, the lessons learned in the Predator Protector Interactive, which explores the ramifications of the loss of the shark population to the overall health of the ecosystem, are easily extrapolated to allow students to do research and form hypotheses about the loss of an indigenous population in their own communities. In addition, the diverse viewpoints expressed in In-depth: Stakeholders can serve as a catalyst for a “risks versus benefits” role playing exercise in which students conduct a round-table discussion of an environmental topic in which each stakeholder group must articulate its concerns and demands. In the end, the students must reach a consensus regarding the issue being discussed.

Hot Topics

As Earth Day approaches, my students and I are involved in a campaign to improve community awareness of global warming. The Academy Award-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” has served as the impetus for a more in-depth look at the problem and its possible solutions as well as an opportunity for my high school students to delve into political and scientific bias, statistical analysis, and responsible decision-making.

There are many other quality sources that will inspire you to use more visual media in your classroom. Try these tools for starters:

• US Geological Survey
  It’s not all Earth Science! Check out the animations and videos archive.
• NOVA scienceNOW
  Short video segments (3 to 15 minutes) with accompanying resources on a wealth of topics.
• NOAA Educators Page
  Great weather resources.
• GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment)
  Good for K-4 science.
• The Green Squad
  Teaches about the relationship between kids’ health, their school, and the environment at an elementary level.

Tools alone do not guarantee an acceptable product. Visual media by itself does not teach; it is what we as educators do with it that affects change and instills learning. We have the tools. Let’s use them well.

How are you using visual media and technology in your classroom? What tools and techniques work well for you?