Combining learning and Technology

Learning about flowers is a fun activity in any classroom but using a digital microscope makes it even better. This 5E lesson plan lets students explore form and function of parts of flower... See More

Learning about flowers is a fun activity in any classroom but using a digital microscope makes it even better. This 5E lesson plan lets students explore form and function of parts of flowers to better understand these beautiful and necessary plant parts. Starting with some trade book readings to introduce the topic and ending with a comparison of several different kinds of flowers students and teachers learn that technology can be an integral part of any learning experience.

Easy to use technology for children

This journal article presents a fantastic 5E lesson plan where 4th graders use digital microscopes to investigate flowers. I have used digiscopes in my classroom and find they are much easi... See More

This journal article presents a fantastic 5E lesson plan where 4th graders use digital microscopes to investigate flowers. I have used digiscopes in my classroom and find they are much easier to use than the optical microscopes. A useful feature, discussed in this article, is the ability to display the images on a computer or LCD screen. This allows group discussion on the microscopic images and allows the instructor to help students with understanding what they are viewing. This lesson could be adapted for middle school as well.

Flowers Revisited

This is a great article for elementary teachers or pre-service teachers to read to show and replicate the progression of the learning cycle. The article combines the use of technology and t... See More

This is a great article for elementary teachers or pre-service teachers to read to show and replicate the progression of the learning cycle. The article combines the use of technology and the learning cycle in learning the parts of a flower, as well as focusing on students’ observational skills. The authors describe how to incorporate the use of a digital microscope (QX3) into the excitement of exploring flowers while describing each phase of the learning cycle.