Science/Math Challenge

I am experimenting using technology to increase the effectiveness in my science lessons in the classroom. There are many technological resources that have been created for enhanced instruction in the classroom. For my experiment, I am using basic computer knowledge to fulfill a third grade science curriculum objective.

3rd Grade Science Project: Is it dead or alive?

Objective: Classify living and non-living things in an environment.

For this experiment, I collected pictures of things we see in our environment everyday. All the things we see are either living or non-living organisms. So, how do we know which things are living and which things are not? To find the answer to this question, I examined the pictures below that would be found in the environment we are surrounded in each day to determine what classified an organism as living or non-living.

This leaf is a living organism because it can grow, it can move, and it can reproduce.

Water is an element that can move and it can change form, but it can not grow or reproduce so it is classified as a non-living organism.

Flies and all other animals and insects, including humans are living organisms, they have the ability to grow, move, and reproduce.

Trees and all plant life are living organisms. They can grow, move, and reproduce.

Brick is not classified as a living organism because it can not grow, move, or reproduce on its own.

The different characteristics that make an organism living are that they have to be able to grow, move, and reproduce. The characteristics for a non-living organism is that they are not able to grow, move, and reproduce.

By taking digital pictures and using that data to observe the different characteristics of things the students would learn how technology can make the study of science easier. By taking pictures of organisms in their environment, the students are able to refer back to those pictures in many different areas. This makes teaching easier because you do not have to leave the classroom for long to do an entire lesson. By taking pictures and bringing them back to be observed, the data is also in hard copy form. The students are able to organize the data they have collected easier because they can refer back to a specific picture easily to identify its characteristics.

Photos were taken from:
Fly: thekebun.files.wordpress.com
Leaf: www.greengeek.ca
Brick: www.freefoto.com
Tree: www.evergreenspecies.com
Water Bottle: southernfriedfatty.wordpress.com