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by Patricia Holloway and Carol Mahan

ids and nature seem like a natural survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, combination, but what was natu- today’s 8- to 18-year-olds spend an average ral a generation ago is different of seven hours and 38 minutes per day on today. Children are spending entertainment media such as TV, lessK time outdoors but continue to need games, computers, and cell phones, nature for their physical, emotional, leaving little time for nature explora- and mental development. This fact has tion or much else (2010). led author Richard Louv to suggest According to Louv, children need that today’s children are suffering nature for learning and creativity from “nature-deficit disorder” (2008). (2008). A hands-on experiential Nature-deficit disorder is not a med- approach, such as nature explo- ical term, but rather a term coined ration, can have other benefits by Louv to describe the current for students, such as increased disconnect from nature. motivation and enjoyment of While there may be many learning and improved reasons today’s children are skills, including communi- not connected with nature, cation skills (Haury and a major contributor is time Rillero 1994). spent on indoor activities. According to a national

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Digital storytelling Engaging with nature Our idea was to use technology as a tool to provide or Students need to have experiences in nature in order enhance students’ connection with nature. Students to develop their stories. To spark students’ creativ- are already engaged with technology; we wanted to ity, have them read or listen to stories about nature. use that interest to foster outdoor experiences that Reading books like Water Dance (Locker 1997), The promote learning. The content of the learning can be Hunter and the Woodpecker (Crowl 1990), or one of any concept or skill in the current curriculum. For ex- the One Small Square series by Donald M. Silver and ample, if they are studying habitats, students can se- Patricia J. Wynne (1997) can set the for outdoor lect a habitat and photograph the animals and plants nature study. To find a quality science trade book that found in the habitat to tell a story. encourages exploration, review the list of NSTA Out- A perfect fit for our objectives was the digital story, standing Books on www.nsta.org/recommends. A sec- which combines digital photography in nature with ond way to prepare students for a nature experience telling a story (see Resources for examples of digital is to have them carefully observe natural objects you stories created by students). Storytelling has long been have brought into the classroom, such as seed pods, used by scientists and explorers to re-create the world plants, insects in a viewing box, pieces of animal fur, as they find it. It is the path taken by generations to tree bark, feathers, rocks, fossils, or other items from preserve stories of our place in the world. Everyone nature. Students can record their observations using has a story to tell (Porter 2004). words that appeal to the senses. This activity requires students to use technology to Then take students on a nature walk. Nature can be capture visual images and audio sounds and add their found in the cracks of a sidewalk, a small flower bed, a voices as they tell their stories. Students can experience grassy area, or one tree. Prior to the nature walk, teach- the connection among art, science, and the natural ers should assess the school grounds, neighboring world by developing stories of their own. True digital park, vacant lot, or grassy field for safety concerns. Get storytelling is a 21st-century creative-writing experi- to know the area by exploring it on your own first. Limit ence that is supported by images and sound. Careful the area for student exploration by setting boundaries observation and record keeping are necessary in order ahead of time. Make notes of necessary precautions; to tell a story. Technology is the tool that binds it all for example, a patch of poison ivy, student allergies, together. and proper clothing. Once you are familiar with your

Figure 1 A example

Project name: Page: 1 Date: January 24 Swamp Producers Author: PJH Frame description Media list (describe the screen): (list all of the music, songs, sounds, voice recordings, pictures, , text, or title transitions required for this part of the Pic of American lotus project): in the swamp Recorded sounds of croaking frogs and water dripping, picture of American lotus, recorded student narration Narration: “Carefully look at the American lotus. What producers do you see?”

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surroundings, select observations that complement the features of the natural area. Ask students to observe Figure 2 Photography tips for students the clouds, sounds, birds, trees. At the end of the out- door experience, a quick formative assessment could • Get to know the ; use it often. include small-group or class discussion of what they • Take lots of pictures. learned or what they did not understand. After reading a nature book, observing natural ob- • Zoom in close. jects, or taking a nature walk, engage students briefly • Create interest by dividing the frame into thirds and in storytelling. Pair up students and have each orally shooting the subject in one of the thirds or off center. share his or her observations and feelings as practice • Take pictures at different times of the day. telling a story. • Avoid harsh sunlight during midday. • Use a homemade screen to soften the harsh sun- Creating the digital story light during midday. The next step is to move from telling the story to writ- • Save the pictures in a file with your name. ing it down. Create cooperative learning groups of • Use a photo-editing site such as Picnik. three or four students by assigning students of dif- • Respect nature by leaving everything as it was fering abilities and learning styles to work together found. on the project; if possible, include one technologically literate student per group. The goal will be for each group to create a digital story that reflects the sci- needs. After you have created a blank storyboard, ence content students are learning. An example is to make a larger version on poster board to model for have students identify the kind of producers found in your students how to develop a storyboard. Select a swamp. Have student groups focus on inquiry skills five statements that tell a simple story. The example by creating questions that explain what they would tells the kind of producers found in a swamp. Choose like to explore further, such as the following: What 10 pictures to use in your sample story, and copy kinds of plants grow in a grassy field or forest? Are and enlarge them for ease of demonstration. Using more insects found in the school yard in September or double-sided tape, place the copies of pictures on October? What is the air temperature at the school in the storyboard with the sentence each picture sup- the morning, at noon, and in the afternoon? Where ports (see example in Figure 1). After is the hottest or coolest place in the the teacher demonstration of how to school yard? After 10 minutes, use a storyboard, have students meet schedule a meeting with each with their groups to begin the process group to ensure students select of developing their storyboard using a suitable topic. the blank storyboard you created. The At this point, teachers goal should be for student groups to should create a blank story- create a two-minute presentation that board that students will use will require approximately 200 words as a template to plan their and 20 images. Completion of story- stories. Many websites The goal will be for each group board pages can serve as an assess- provide free suggestions ment. Student groups can hand in for creating a storyboard to create a digital story that each page as new components are in Word. For example, Ja- reflects the science content added. son Ohler has instructions students are learning. Have students write the story for making a template in in the first person using blank Word by inserting a 10 cm × storyboard pages. This will 10 cm (4 in. × 4 in.) table (see become the script that stu- Resources). You can merge some dents will record in their of the cells, while resizing others to fit your own voices. Assign each

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Figure 3 Digital-storytelling scoring guide

Student name:______

Project name:______

Exceeds Meets Below Not expectations expectations expectations present Digital story 3 2 1 0

Content Information is accu- Information is clear, Information is confusing. Information is inaccu- rate, affects audience, appropriate, and cor- rate or inappropriate. cites sources, uses rect. higher-level thinking.

Creativity Idea is well developed, Idea is developed, Idea is weak, ordinary Idea is lacking or inap- adds a new approach good approach to approach to story line. propriate, does not fit to the story. story line. story line.

Storyboard Well-planned story line Evident that story Story line did not Planning was not was fully implemented. line was basis for the match the planning. evident. finished product.

Videography: Images and sound Appropriate image Inappropriate use of Incorrect, inappro- Quality of provide relevant infor- quality and audio that copyrighted images or priate, or missing images, mation; editing adds enhances the content, audio, voice garbled, images, sound, or sound, and images unclear, edit- editing. editing to the quality of the minimal editing. product. ing confuses story.

Adapted from an in-depth scoring guide for evaluating digital stories created by students, developed for the Show-Me a Movie Digital Storytelling Contest for Mis- souri students (see Resources).

student in the groups a storyboard to complete. adequate to complete the activity. Group members One person will be responsible for the beginning, can share responsibility for taking the pictures. others for the middle details, and one student will be These pictures can be saved on the computer in an responsible for writing the ending. Each group will image folder and labeled with the student’s name need access to a computer and set of headphones for later use in the project. If access to equipment is with a USB adapter to record the script. Be sure to limited, student groups can rotate among the various have students save the recording of each student in tasks of collecting data, writing the script, taking the group in an audio folder labeled with the name or scanning pictures, and recording narration. Be of the student and the group. sure to save all of the groups’ photos in a separate Use nature photography to gather visual images folder labeled with the group’s name. Ensure group that support the story. Review the tips for taking a participation by having each group member supply good photograph with students (Figure 2). If pos- an equal number of photos. Have student groups use sible, plan class time to take students outside to take Windows Movie Maker, iMovie, or Photo Story to pictures that help tell their stories. One camera or put their work together and begin the digital editing cell phone with a photo feature per group would be process. See Resources for helpful links.

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Figure 4 Digital editing process (teacher directions) for creating a system to save student work

To ensure smooth creation of the project, the information from each student group must be collected in one folder.

1. Set up a system of folders: Use names of student 4. Students will use digital story-editing software to groups for each folder. import pictures from the subfolder in the order a. make three subfolders within each main folder that goes with the script. Students can save indi- for students to save images, narration, and the vidual images in their folder. Once all the pictures entire project. Use students’ last names and have been imported save the project in the folder the following titles to identify the subfolders: named “Group Name DS Project.” i. Images a. Students will use the storyboard to type in the script. Save the project in the subfolder ii. Narration named “Student Name Project”. As each iii. Project student adds to the narration, be sure to save the latest version in the folder named “Group 2. have students use to write a script Name DS Project.” with a total of approximately 250 words per group. b. Students will record narration by using the a. later students will type their written headset and reading part of the script. After contributions from the storyboard into the each recording, make sure students save the recording window of the digital story-editing project in the folder named “Group Name DS program you have chosen to use for the Project.” projects (Photo Story, iMovie, or Windows c. Students can add transitions or a sound Movie Maker). track, if desired.

3. have student groups gather approximately 20 5. After all editing is complete, have students pictures. The images can be scanned or imported finalize the project. Help students burn the into each student’s subfolder named “Student finalized project to a DVD so it can be viewed by Name Images.” Images should be “medium” in one and all. size, or approximately 640 dpi.

To begin the digital editing process, students will least confusing. Remind student groups to save their need to have access to one computer per group. You work as they make progress. When the project is may need to schedule a class visit to a computer lab ready to finalize, have student groups save projects or enlist additional help from the teacher respon- in a movie file. The movie can be put on a CD, flash sible for technology. Student groups will import drive, or the hard drive of a computer. the narration and images from their saved files. As The class instruction and activities involved with each piece is added, students need to save their this project could take from 5 to 10 class periods. work as a project in the same file. A The amount of time required to complete this proj- can also be added. Remember to guide students in ect varies, depending on the age and ability level of using audio tracks or visual images that adhere to students. The equipment available and time required copyright permissions. In the editing process, stu- to observe and record the science concepts involved dent groups can add transitions, as in PowerPoint are other factors that influence the amount of time presentations, however, caution students against us- required for project completion. For example, living ing too many fancy, fast-moving transitions. Similar and nonliving factors in the ecosystem will be easy to PowerPoint, a simple presentation is often the to document, while finding examples of asexual

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and sexual reproduction might be more difficult to lives of 8- to 18-year-olds. Washington, DC: Kaiser Family observe and photograph. Demonstrating changes Foundation. over time, such as seasonal ones, would require Locker, T. 1997. Water dance. San Diego: Harcourt. more observation time outdoors. Louv, R. 2008. Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. 2nd ed. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin. Assessment and presentations Porter, B. 2004. DigiTales: The art of telling digital stories. Seda- The productions can be evaluated in several areas. lia, CO: Digitales. You may want to devise your own rubric, but a sam- Silver, D.M, and P.J. Wynne. 1997. One small square series. ple scoring guide is included in Figure 3. The scor- New York: McGraw-Hill. ing guide includes measures of content, creativity, storyboarding, and (or the quality of Resources images and sound). Ratings range from a high score A journey into process—http://digitalstorytelling.coe. of 3 (exceeding expectations) to a low of 0 (required uh.edu/movie_art_02.html items not present). Individual participation in the Animoto for educators—http://animoto.com/education project could be measured by adding an individual- iMovie tutorial—www.apple.com/support/imovie/?cmp performance category to the scoring guide. To as- National Science Teachers Association—www.nsta.org sess individual achievement on the science content, Photo Story 3 guide—http://windows.microsoft.com/en- pre- and posttests could be given. US/windows-xp/help/digitalphotography/create-first- It is important to schedule presentations of all photo-story students’ productions. To include 21st-century com- Show-Me a Movie Digital Storytelling Contest for munication skills, students can post their stories to Missouri students—www.csd.org/TechnologyVLC/ sites such as VoiceThread or Animoto. Students can Show%20Me%20a%20Movie/showmehome.php share the movies on a class blog, podcast, or wiki, or Storyboard in pdf—www.jasonohler.com/pdfs/ on other social media sites. Students can work col- digitalStorytellingStoryBoard-adv.pdf laboratively, another 21-century skill, with students The educational uses of storytelling—www.coe.uh.edu/ in other schools to compare their school yard. Social digital-storytelling media is a great way for you to locate another class- VoiceThread class subscription—http://voicethread. room willing to collaborate. com/products/k12/educator Finally, invite parents and friends for an evening Windows Movie Maker guide—www.windows-movie- viewing. Seeing the productions with family and maker.org/windows-movie-maker.html friends invests students emotionally in the project. Combining that emotional investment with the phys- Student projects ical and mental aspects in which they have already Animal adaptations by Mrs. Cochefski’s class—www. been engaged will reap the benefits of experiential schooltube.com/video/55edb063df25471f8447/Ani- learning. Looking back at Richard Louv’s coined mal-Adaptations-Mrs-Cochefskis-Class term nature deficit disorder, you will see throughout Oreo the attack bunny—http://digitales.us/content/oreo- this process how students will connect to nature and attack-bunny learn the science concepts you are teaching along with the 21-century skills of creativity, communica- Patricia Holloway ([email protected]) tion, collaboration, and technology. n is a conservation education consultant in the Division of Outreach and Education for the References Missouri Department of Conservation in Puxico, Crowl, C. 1990. The hunter and the woodpecker: A storybook Missouri. Carol Mahan (carol.mahan@mdc. based on Indian legend. Chamberlain, SD: Tipi Press. mo.gov) is a conservation education consultant Haury, D.L., and P. Rillero. 1994. Perspectives of hands-on sci- in the Division of Outreach and Education for the ence teaching. www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/ Missouri Department of Conservation in Rolla, cntareas/science/eric/eric-toc.htm. Missouri. Kaiser Family Foundation. 2010. Generation M²: Media in the

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