Move over Steven Spielberg

Models are a great way for students to understand mitosis and meiosis, but have their limitations. While students label the pieces and parts, there is a low level understanding of what thos... See More

Models are a great way for students to understand mitosis and meiosis, but have their limitations. While students label the pieces and parts, there is a low level understanding of what those parts do. Models are also very limited in their ability to be modified and while the stages can be modeled, they are not always as easy for students to understand the steps and see them as distinct events in a process. Our Professional Learning Community, PLC, used the static models we made and then followed the procedures for creating a stop-animation movie. We used digital cameras to take a photo of the model, moved it a little, took another photo and continued the process until we had close to 100 photos that we loaded into Windows Movie Maker. While it takes time to teach the students how to use the program, it allowed them to learn the program with a task in mind. Another advantage was the editing software where students could add labels as their slides progressed. The grading rub

A new approach to Mitosis

This is a great activity to helps students learn the process of mitosis by designing and creating an animated movie that details each step of the process. As students work in groups to crea... See More

This is a great activity to helps students learn the process of mitosis by designing and creating an animated movie that details each step of the process. As students work in groups to create their movies, they will be actively engaged in learning about mitosis. I also really like how this activity integrates technology and science. I can't wait to try this with my students.