Sparking student curiosity with microscopes
Location
CoLab, OCB 100
Start Date
27-4-2018 10:30 AM
Document Type
Poster
Description
The goal of this project was to engage middle school students in microscopy and spark their curiosity for aquatic diversity at the microscopic level. Initially, a set curriculum for the students was organized. Teaching took place with seventh graders every Tuesday at 10:00am-11:20 am at Kansas City Academy at 7933 Main St, Kansas City, MO 64114 from October 10th to December 5th, 2017. Students collected samples from natural bodies of water and made their own wet mount slides to look at separately. Images from the local samples were projected from the microscope on to the whiteboard so everyone would be able to recognize the specimen. Students were interested in the microscopes and specimens (mostly Tardigrades) but getting students adjusted to the equipment was a struggle. The project outline was adjusted to accommodate student acclimation to the microscopes. By the end of the project, students efficiently used the microscopes. Many of the students expressed excitement as they tried to guess the name of the organism they were looking at. The project resulted in heightened student interest and ability in microscopy with a significant increase in domain-area knowledge. The outcome of this project suggests that providing opportunities for direct hands-on instruction increases students’ abilities through immersive experiences. This project was part of an Honors contract in Biology 125 with Professor Steven Giambrone in Fall 2017.
Image
Sparking student curiosity with microscopes
CoLab, OCB 100
The goal of this project was to engage middle school students in microscopy and spark their curiosity for aquatic diversity at the microscopic level. Initially, a set curriculum for the students was organized. Teaching took place with seventh graders every Tuesday at 10:00am-11:20 am at Kansas City Academy at 7933 Main St, Kansas City, MO 64114 from October 10th to December 5th, 2017. Students collected samples from natural bodies of water and made their own wet mount slides to look at separately. Images from the local samples were projected from the microscope on to the whiteboard so everyone would be able to recognize the specimen. Students were interested in the microscopes and specimens (mostly Tardigrades) but getting students adjusted to the equipment was a struggle. The project outline was adjusted to accommodate student acclimation to the microscopes. By the end of the project, students efficiently used the microscopes. Many of the students expressed excitement as they tried to guess the name of the organism they were looking at. The project resulted in heightened student interest and ability in microscopy with a significant increase in domain-area knowledge. The outcome of this project suggests that providing opportunities for direct hands-on instruction increases students’ abilities through immersive experiences. This project was part of an Honors contract in Biology 125 with Professor Steven Giambrone in Fall 2017.
Comments
The faculty supervisor for this project was Steven Giambrone, Biology.