Tech Savvy Teacher: Uncovering Microscope Mysteries

Discovery learning using DigitalBlue microscopes.

In today’s world of iPods, laptops and being connected at the hip to your cell-phone (literally), 5 year olds better know how to master Mario Cart than they know how to read a picture book. Teachers have now had to start confiscating cell-phones, monitoring internet use during class time, and asking their students to help them with computer programs – why shouldn’t we take this “problem” and use it to capture the attention and renew a love for learning in these little technology addicts? Tech Savvy Teacher is a monthly column meant to inform teachers of the 21st century in how to integrate technology in their elementary school classrooms.

At Highland High-Tech Elementary, team teachers Theresa Gervais, Krysten Clark, and Kamrie Littlefield have taken the leap to include technological gadgets in their 1st grade classroom. During a science unit where students investigated different types of plants and the environments in which they grow, their technologically competent 1st graders got to see plants up-close and personal! “With the use of a Digital Blue microscope, which takes pictures of the view in the lense and sends it to the computer screen, we created a lesson to teach our students about observing and drawing different kinds of leaves.

"Entire" leaf under microscope.

We were able to find and classify different kinds of leaves (entire, serrate, dentate, needles, etc.) to examine under the microscope and show close-up pictures of leaves. This allows the students to get a much closer view all at once, rather than trying to pack an entire class around a single microscope, by observing the detailed characteristics of each leaf.

Close-up of "serrate" leaf.

View of "lobbed" leaf under DigitalBlue microscope.

The students were able to analyze the main features that that differentiate the leaves and further classify them by type. Then, to integrate technology even more, we would have the students use the Paint program (on a PC) to draw leaves, including different edges and veins within the leaves, assessing their knowledge of the content. The learning even extended outdoors as we became scientists and gathered samples of our own.”

First-grade drawing of dentate leaf made in Paint.

This is an example of using technology to teach content standards. This particular activity is geared toward first grade Utah Core Curriculum. It covers standard 3 objective 1.a, that students will develop an understanding of their environment by observing and drawing pictures of plants. Integrating technology into the classroom can make learning and assessment “fun” as well as increase their technological prowess. Look for next months issue of Tech Savvy Teacher for ideas on how to use Google Earth as part of your classroom instruction.