Thomas Aiken PV STEMNET

Grade 7 science Digital Imaging

August 19, 2005 Project Abstract

 Poison Ivy? Yes or No? A Plan for Implementing Imaging Technology into the Classroom

Problem statement:

Understanding and appreciating biology increases by observing, first-hand, a variety of living things. The problem is it's often impractical (logistically & financially) to bring a large classroom of students outdoors or on field trips. Collecting and bringing in specimen can also be difficult or impossible (e.g. wild animals or rare species). It is for these reasons I intend to use imaging technology to enhance and expand the ways I present and explore science concepts and topics. One specific situation where I plan to use imaging technology is at the start of school when I teach poison ivy identification.

Motivation:

I am a science teacher because I'm fascinated by the complexity and diversity of our world. I believe students may become more intrinsically compelled to want to learn if their appreciation of science can be nurtured, and if topics can be shown to have connection to their lives. I know it's important that everyone be able to reliably identify poison ivy because only a small percentage of people are actually immune to its irritating oils. If I can improve my students' ability to recognize poison ivy using imaging technology, this may improve the quality of their lives.

Approach:

I will implement my lesson on poison ivy identification by collecting digital images of characteristics and features that are helpful in identify poison ivy (e.g. leaf, stem, flower, fruit, aerial rootlets, growth habits, and habitats…). I will also collect digital images of other plants (decoys) that are similar to, but are not poison ivy. I will enhance the images using Adobe Elements and create a slide presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint. I will use a computer projector to teach students and test their ability to identify & distinguish plants that are and are not poison ivy.

Results:

I expect digital imagery technology will be effective in helping students learn to distinguish identifying plant characteristics, and appreciate biological diversity.

I hope students will realize the common expression “leaves of three, leave them be” is not enough to reliably distinguish poison ivy.

Conclusions: