Document Camera Captures Bacteria Growth

Student will collect bacteria from various locations on campus. The bacteria will be transferred to an agar prepared plate.

Once the bacteria has been incubated for 2-3 days, the teacher will model the procedure for removing the bacteria and viewing a single colony under a microscope.

Normally, modeling this procedure would be difficult because the materials involved are so small. Using a document camera, or visualizer, all materials can be view on a screen or white board for the entire class to see and follow along.

Teachers can work with students as they use a sterile inoculating loop to gently remove a single colony of bacteria. They can also show students how to correctly prepare a slide.

Once the slide is prepared, the camera can be attached to a microscope viewer in order to project the image and insure that students know what identifiers to look for. The document camera enhances lessons by allowing all students to view teacher examples, no matter how small.