Tech Savvy Teachers

What is the content you are focusing on in your science lesson?
In my lesson I am focusing on 2nd Grade: Lifecycle Properties of rocks. The rocks that my students will identify are sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous.

What is the pedagogy you are using and why is it a good fit with the content?
The pedagogy I am using is a hands on, and learning by discovery lesson. During the assignment I did not tell my students anything about the rocks that they were going to look at. I wanted my students to list the attributes of all the rocks and show that they can see the differences and tell them to me, instead of me just telling them. I think that this pedagogy is good because it enhances critical thinking and observation skills in my students. It is a good fit for with my content knowledge because it lets my students hold, see, and feel all of the rocks getting a more complete understanding of each of them.

What is the technology you’ll be using and why is it a good fit with the content and pedagogy?
The technology that we will be using is the digital microscope. I think that this fits perfectly with my content and pedagogy because it is hands on and discovery, but it helps magnify the details of the rocks giving students a better understanding of what those rocks are made of. The microscope also takes pictures, which will allow my students to remember and reference back to their findings. Using this technology with rock identification is a great way to help students learn, because it magnifies the rocks and makes their small details that indentify them larger. By using a hands on, discovery based learning students can use the microscope and the rocks to help them identify the rocks they are looking at.