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A Camera Based Science Lesson for Kids
By Cristina Mulberry
Cameras, especially digital cameras, can provide a great tool for a child's education. They can develop attention and concentration, learning of science and language skills, and can even play a role in developing written langauge as well. The camera encourages creativity and brings an excitement to any learning activity. There are a number of resources online to assist parents, teachers, and older kids themselves in learning the photography basics they need. Indeed, there are also guides online to assist those trying to find affordable and appropriate equipment. Often we find very young children picking up a camera and curiously investigating the various knobs and buttons, peering through the lens, and pretending to photograph others. Even as children begin reading more, we find that they are captivated by the visual image, paying closer attention to a photograph than to the text on a page. We can capitalize on this increased attention and curiosity by introducing a camera into the education mix. In addition to the natural attraction of viewing visual images however is the pride that can come with capturing photographs and the creativity that it introduces into any task. This natural curiosity and the automatic affinity for snapshots is a great starting point. But fostering this can help in furthering the learning process and perhaps cultivate a life-long love of a new hobby. Parents and educators can begin by helping a child learn the basics of handling a camera and capturing "good" photographs. After this, it is a matter of matching educational material with an appropriate camera based activity to get things going. Traditional science lessons for example can often be modified to include photography as a tool to observe processes, wildlife, and more. For instance, if a child is just learning about the plant and animal kingdom, a trip to the zoo, a park, a farm, or arboretum are great photo ops to allow the child to capture images and to later arrange them by class, genus, or species depending upon the complexity of the assignment. The up close experience will be memorable, while the process of clicking photographs and later working with them focuses attention on the learning assignment. An additional advantage of the camera is that it is often easier to capture images than it is "the thing" itself; and sometimes more tasteful! For instance, a child might not wish to touch a large locust but would be willing to snap a shot from a few feet away. In addition, while a park might not want wildflowers removed, they won't mind if a snapshot is taken. A child can also follow the cycle of various processes with a camera. For instance, the blooming of a fruit tree, the development of fruit, birds or insects visiting the tree, dropping of the fruit, and perhaps even decay are all part of nature's cycle which can easily be captured by a child. Documenting with the camera makes it easy to develop story boards for sharing, science projects for contests, and so forth. Certainly there are a vast number of assignments that could also make use of photography to support the learning process but these are merely food for thought. The author's website listed below can provide additional activity suggestions. |
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PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
Cameras for Kids
How kids can learn with a camera
www.squidoo.com/cameras-for-kids
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The copyright for this content entitled "A Camera Based Science Lesson for Kids" has been specified by the contributor as:
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This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
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This intel was contributed by mulberry
mulberry
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May, 2012
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