Visual+-+Representation

Let the creative juices flow - how might students be able to visually represent their knowledge? PLEASE PUT YOUR NAME NEXT TO YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS!

All areas:
 * Creating of iMovie

Math:
 * Using Geometer's Sketchpad to represent a problem or a solution for a problem.
 * Making models using mathematical idea. For example, in my high school geometry class we had to make scale models of our bedroom to get learn about ratios and scaling. It was a fun, creative assignment.
 * Making 3D shapes such as a tesselation or a geometric mobile
 * Making pictures of word problems
 * Allowing students to diplay things on a graph rather than ask them what a graph shows such as "draw a graph with jump discontinuity at 3 and infinite discontinuity from the left at 5"
 * Using Maple to form interative graphs and many many other things
 * Going to the maple website and using premad documents. Some are for student interaction
 * PowerPoint demonstrations-teaching back info that they learned
 * Use measurements to design a classroom, bedroom, or any other space so that it is accessible. You could carry this through the entire home/school/business to meet ADA requirements.

Science:
 * When defining vocabulary words, draw the object then define it. Especially for parts of the cells....Zach Andreski
 * After drawing some definitions, form groups to diagram how the definitions are related. Groups discuss each other's definitions, make a diagram, and present the diagram. Clifton Sathoff (above post about defining vocab was not by me)
 * Treasure Chest of Energy- have the students draw a treasure map to follow the the process of cellular respiration. The students will also write clues, which will be there way of explaining the processes of respiration leading to the "treasure chest" of ATP production at the end. As the teacher, we would grade their knowledge based on how they logically they put the map and clues together. Joshua McQuillan
 * Supply pictures of the different continents for students to cut out. Once the continents are cut out, have the students try to piece them together until they form a single continent (Pangea). Lastly, have them draw a few symbolic pictures that represent the different pieces of evidence on each continent supporting the "super continent" theory. Students would receive credit based on a logical hypothesis for what Pangea may have looked like, but most of the grading would be based on the evidence that supports the hypothesis. Joshua McQuillan
 * In physics, rather than giving the students an exam with problems to work on, give the students a conceptual problem. For example: tell the students they are riding a roller coaster and ask them to explain the different forces acting on the cart at the different points. Rising, the peak, and the bottom of the drop.The students should draw each phase and explain the forces involved, potential vs kinetic energy, and the motion. This could also be used as a teaching tool to see if the students have a good conceptual understanding of what is involved before introducing the actual numbers and equations before getting to the specifics. Joshua McQuillan
 * To study the body, one could make a slide show of actual pictures. For example, if the unit was on muscles, you could have your students get into groups and they have to take a picture of each of the muscles being used and label it on the photo. (i.e. take a picture of someone doing a bicep curl or tricep extension and label the muscles in the picture) Chelsea Benitz
 * I have always wanted to create a huge model cell. The students would be in small groups and each group would be responsible for one or two cellular structures (ex, lipid bi-layer, mitochondria, centrosome) to contribute to the project. They would have to understand the function of the organelle in order to create the structure and the groups would have to collaborate with each other to put it all together. The students would get a greater understanding of the cell when they can see it in a 3-D form and can teach each other about the individual components. Crystal Ransom
 * Physically act concepts out. For example, learning about motion and vectors: go outside (or do smaller version inside), use football field/streets/fences/building/something to define axis directions, do a cool activity that involves walking out vector motions. Similar idea for learning relative velocities; go outside and play around observing each others relative velocities and seeing how those observations line up with the calculations. Clifton Sathoff
 * As mentioned above, students can create a model of the cell when learning about animal/plant cells and the organelles that make them up. Some ideas for this could be for the students to create a "cell-o" which is a model of the cell made out of jello (the cytoplasm) that uses various food items (jelly beans, licorice, candy sprinkles) to represent the organelles. I've done this before...it can get messy, but sure is fun! Also, students can draw or create a house that represents a cell and designate which rooms or components of rooms represent the different organelles. Nicole Tritt
 * Having plenty of posters/photographs of content related material posted in the classroom is an easy way to incorporate visual literacy in the classroom. Nicole Tritt
 * When studying probabilities (say in genetics) use colored candies like m&m's or skittles to represent different alleles and how their frequencies change each generation. Nicole Tritt
 * Allow students to draw diagrams on exams if they feel they can better explain their answer through the use of pictures. Nicole Tritt
 * If teaching a unit on biodiversity (say an insect collection) allow students who might enjoy photography to take pictures of all the different types of insects they find outside the school, their home, or in a park and allow them to use the photos as their collection (instead of traditionally collecting insects and pinning them to a board). Nicole Tritt
 * Allow students to create their own PowerPoint presentations that visually represent what is being taught--gives them the freedom to find, edit, and create their own representation of the topic at hand. Nicole Tritt
 * Allow multiple options for completing projects. This allows student choice and will aid all types of learners. Examples of this could be drawing a story book or comic strip, making a model, making a poster, writing a report (I know not visual) etc. Make sure to have rubrics for each project. Jackie Topp
 * When studying the skeletal system make skeletons on thick paper using different types of noodles and glue. (Too make this easier have an outline of the skeleton printed on the thick paper. Students can then use their creativity and knowledge of what the different bones look like to decide which noodles to put where to make a complete skeleton.) Have students label parts when finished. Jackie Topp

English/FL/ESL:


 * Flashcards with pictures that way you can play games with them also such as Go Fish, The Slap Game, Memory, etc.
 * Making a Poster or Travel Brochure for a Spanish Speaking Country
 * Having students diagram sentences by representing different parts of speech with different shapes (Will Brydon)
 * Use video clips to supplement novels/literature being read in class, for example: after reading A Streetcar Named Desire, have students watch the film version and describe any differences or new knowledge gleaned from the experience (Will Brydon)
 * Posters in classroom of famous authors so students would have a background knowledge of who they were reading and thus further connect with the texts. [ie. Mark Twain may not be familiar to all students, and a poster that gave information about him and his literature would be helpful] (Will Brydon)