Making Photomicrographs the 21st Century Way

The overall goal is for every student to capture a usable image via the standard student light microscope.
Our objective is the use 21st Century equipment, i.e. digital cameras coupled with computers and digital projectors. All students are successfully engaged in activities, which in turn provide skill sets leading to successful graduates. Our purpose is to educate every student and the results are satisfying to the students, their families and the post high schools where the graduates attend college. The final evaluation is Peoria Notre Dame High School continues to have a graduation rate at nearly 100% with 98% attending colleges and universities and the remaining 2% going into the military.

In the past, the students would draw a simple sketch of the organisms that they saw while looking through the student microscope. However during the past decade I added the digital camera to the microscope. At the end of the day I would load the digital images from the camera to the classroom computer, and the students would use flash drives to save to their computers, and eventually show in PowerPoint to the class.

This was time consuming and students would grow impatient with the wait for the only digital camera setup.
Sometimes because I have 27 students in Biology classes student could not get done or had difficult times getting done in one class period. During the last two years I found the students could handhold a digital camera to the microscope eyepiece and get reasonable images, thereby eliminating the long waiting times.

This year, i learned about the amazing FlipCam! This video camera is so good the students literally go kinda wild about their results. My students just beam with pride on the day they show their microorganisms to the class. To quote one student when she was asked how she got such high quality images (using the FilmCam), she replied, "Its just genius!"

Student work is available to see at <www.peorianotredame.com> scroll to Directory and W.Beckman's <http://sites.google.com/a/pndhs.org/w-beckman-pndhs-org/> see Student Work.