A NEW LOOK AT SAND: USING VIDEOPROBE TECHNOLOGY TO INQUIRE ABOUT SAND

In the past, “educational technology” has generally referred to the use of computer technology in the classroom. However, science teachers, particularly those teaching biological and geological concepts, often make use of another educational technology tool, the microscope. In K-12 grades where microscopes are introduced, one perplexing problem facing educators is whether students are actually seeing the structure that we intend them to observe rather than a blurry eyelash. Fortunately, this concern disappears with the increasing use of video microprobe technology.

A video microprobe is a hand-held microscope connected to a television that allows everyone to look at the object of interest at the same time. These probes include instruments such as Scope-On-A-Rope (SOAR, the probe that is the subject of this abstract) or the FlexCam. These microprobes provide instant, excellent, in-focus images magnified up to 200X on a regular classroom television.

A lesson folio entitled Secrets of Sand (Louisiana Sea Grant College Program, 2000) uses the SOAR as a tool to study sand samples. Written at middle school level, the folio is easy to use with upper elementary students to adults. The focus of the folio is to introduce students to the physical properties that characterize sand samples (sand grain diameter, color, shape and roundness). Students determine where their sand sample falls on the Wentworth Classification Scale and plot diameter data to reveal information on the sorting of their sample.

Teachers and students who have completed the Secrets of Sand folio have found the use of the SOAR engaging and easy to use. Once past the “wow-ness” of the images they are able to see with the SOAR, they quickly move into an investigative mode. This is evident when their comments change from “Look at this sand grain with the shiny sides!" to “I wonder if there is a color pattern to sand grains of different shapes and sizes?”

The Secrets of Sand folio was published in a cooperative project between the Undergraduate Biological Science Education Program Grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program. The folio can be downloaded from the Louisiana Sea Grant website (http://lamer.lsu.edu/classroom/seascope/).