Using Photography to Teach Science

Overall, a great article with practical ideas on how to implement photography into the teaching of science. The author provides detailed ideas on how to engage students in the vocabulary of... See More

Overall, a great article with practical ideas on how to implement photography into the teaching of science. The author provides detailed ideas on how to engage students in the vocabulary of science using photos - either self taken, student taken or professionally taken. These ideas are perfect for engaging younger children in developing a curiosity about key concepts in science. Lesson plan ideas are also offered for working with ELL students. Great article filled with lots of lesson plan ideas - highly recommended!

Using photographs to stimulate science talks

The author spends a great deal of the article discussing how he uses HIS photographs (which make mine look like a total beginner!) in his classroom to stimulate conversations among students ... See More

The author spends a great deal of the article discussing how he uses HIS photographs (which make mine look like a total beginner!) in his classroom to stimulate conversations among students about science concepts. But his discussion on how he uses them to draw science vocabulary and concepts out of his student's conversations are excellent reminders of how to reach our visual learners. He then provides places to find quality photographs and encourages including photos of human events (like construction) as well as nature and asks students to find the science in the world around them I also liked how he asked students who spoke languages other than English to contribute the vocabulary from their native language as well, tying into root words in English. Finally, he explains how to get students to participate in the process of contributing science pictures for class discussions. The lessons and ideas presented in this article are applicable at ALL grade levels, not just elementary. As a means to provide the "application of science" that the National Science Education Standards ask for, what could be better than getting students to see the science in ANY photo? IT could also be a means to include other cultures as well, if the photo included people from other countries going about their daily lives. And having students learn words from other languages, that would tie in with the word analogies in many high school standardized tests. And the author didn't even address integration of art as well. A very versatile article for all!