Trees

Beverly Burmeister
Digital photography can be a useful tool for simultaneously teaching science and a variety of other skills, including technology. Science students can use photography to learn to identify species of trees as well as learn how to take and edit photos. Students could work individually, with each student taking a type of tree, or they could work collaboratively in teams. Sharing their work with the class would provide experience presenting information to others. The students could add hyperlinks for easy access to additional information.

These are examples of photos which the students could take for their projects: [|Ginkgo tree, bark, and leaf]

[|Cherry tree, bark, and leaf]

[|Dogwood tree, bark, and leaf]

Participants would have opporunity to learn: A hands-on project like this could result in a sense of mastery and accomplishment which sitting at a desk and absorbing information does not afford.
 * Common and scientific names of tree
 * Similarities and differences of tree shapes and sizes, bark colors and textures, leaf sizes, shapes and colors
 * Computer skills
 * Using a digital camera
 * Uploading images into computer
 * Using software to edit photos
 * Working with others to complete a project
 * Presenting information to the class

Taking digital photographs and working on this project were enjoyable. The two most challenging aspects for me were taking photos of the tree bark and figuring out how to reduce the size of my pictures. In the future, I would like to increase my skill in sizing the photos for a neater presentation.