Outdoors
with Technology
April 99/May 99, Journal
of Adventist Education, written by Janine
Lim
Going outside--whether
for recess, recreation, or learning--is always exciting
for students. Nature is God's second book, and we can
learn much from the natural world He created. With that
in mind, let me share with you some ways that technology
can be used to enhance outdoor learning.
Come with me to an early
elementary classroom where the students are studying
habitats. This week's focus is on the migratory birds
that return as spring creeps over the land. Teacher
and students tramp through the woods, listening quietly
for different songs and sounds of feathered creatures.(1)
They carry along a tape recorder. (Yes, that is technology
too!) Each new sound is recorded for students to study
and identify. Sound bites of robin, the blue jay, and
the sparrow songs are captured for later use. Students
who have bird feeders at home bring in recorded sounds
of other birds.
In the classroom, the
teacher divides the students into groups to collect
data and information on the various birds. One of the
students connects the tape recorder to the sound card
in the computer.(2) Using a sound
recorder,(3) the student creates
a separate sound file for each bird song. The students
then combine the sound files with pictures, original
drawings, and facts about the life of each bird. They
describe how God made each bird unique, learning as
they do that they, too, are special and uniquely created.
They gather the information into a computer presentation.(4)
When the presentations are finished, the class invites
the families of the church to a special Sabbath afternoon
program, where they learn about God's special creation.
Come with me again as
we travel to a Enriched Biology class in Minnesota.(5)
The students are surveying their local creek as part
of a the Great River Project in which many high schools
join together to collect data about the Mississippi
river and its tributaries. The class takes a field trip
to study the creek. One group of students measures the
creek bed by stretching a rope across the stream and
measuring the depth at half meter intervals. Then they
move down the stream one meter and repeat the measurements.
Data is called out to a student on the bank, who writes
the data on the screen of an eMate.(6)
The eMate converts this into numbers in a spreadsheet.
Other students measure and test the aquatic plants,
dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen demand, the
pH, turbidity, and other indicators of the health of
the creek.
Back at the classroom,
the students work in groups of three or four. They connect
the eMate to the computer and transfer the spreadsheet
data to a program called NIH image,(7)
which creates a three-dimensional color topographical
map of the creek bed. The students calculate an average
based on two profiles of the river, and using water
velocity information, calculate the output of the river.
With their teacher, they discuss the data they collected
and the effect of the variables on the organisms living
in the creek. They then share the data with other schools
participating in the project. The students are assessed
on their planning, cooperative activities, data and
accuracy, written report, oral presentation, and reflective
journals on the experience.
For our third scenario,
we travel to a multigrade classroom in New Hampshire.(8)
Following a noisy recess, the the students sit quickly
on the playground and watch for the birds to return.
They count birds of various species. That evening, a
little girl does her homework outdoors. She counts the
bats flying past in certain amount of time so she can
share the data the next morning with her class. A group
of students measures the diameter of trees in the woods
beside the school, and near their homes. These children
are participating in three network science projects
called Batnet, Birdnet, and Treenet that require hands-on
science participation and data collection. But the power
of the project comes from sharing the data with other
schools via the Internet.(9)
Using the larger data sample collected by many schools,
the students can look for patterns and trends, and then
make hypotheses and work like real scientists. As their
teacher reflected, the students have "acquired
skills in measurement, use of models, map reading, and
graphing, and have learned about temperature and cause
and effect."(10)
In these scenarios, students
explored the outdoors to learn about the world God created.
They worked together to solve problems and present their
information. And technology was one of the tools they
used to accomplish their goals.
Notes and References
- Students could also be collecting a broader range
of sounds: those in the habitat under study.
- This can be done with any computer that has sound
capabilities. Suppliers like RadioShack sell cables
that connects your tape player's line out or headphone
jack to your computer's line in.
- In Windows 95/98, you can find the Sound Recorder
under Start, Programs, Accessories. You can record
up to a minute in this program.
- The presentation could be done using HyperStudio
(www.hyperstudio.com),
Microsoft PowerPoint (www.microsoft.com),
Corel Presentations (www.corel.com),
or even KidPix Studio (www.broderbund.com).
- Data for this scenario is taken from a video produced
by North Central Regional Educational Laboratory as
part of a training class called Learning with Technology.
Additional information about the class project is
available at http://www.cards.anoka.k12.mn.us/projects/grp/mrp.html
- An eMate is a low cost durable computer made by
Apple. They are now selling their last supplies and
not creating any more of the product. However, this
could be done with any of the other Personal Digital
Assistants that collect spreadsheet data. More info
about using the eMate can be found at: http://www.apple.com/education/LTReview/fall97/main2/default.html
- This software is free for the Macintosh and can
be found at: http://rsb.info.nih.gov/nih-image/.
For more information or for similar Windows 95/98
software, visit the Center for Imaging Processing
in Education at http://www.cipe.com/.
- Diane Lonergan. (1997). Network science: Bats, birds,
and trees. Educational Leadership, 55 (3), 34-36.
A similar article was published at http://www.classroom.com/staff/tmc/2.htm
- Other projects like this can be found at http://www.remc11.k12.mi.us/bcisd/classres/projtrip.htm
- Lonergan, p. 35.