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Exactly how can an educator use a motion detector as a teaching tool with students? First, connect it to a computer, along with a graphing program specifically made to go with it. Next, have a brief discussion about motion detectors in general. Then, give a classroom full of excited students permission to move in front of it any way they choose to move (with just a few safety reminders). Finally, the students will be on their way to conversations about the lines that are created on the graph as they move in front of the motion detector. It is extremely motivating for students. Afterall, children hardly ever stay still very long. Photo: A student moving in front of the motion detector. The large screen is displaying a graph of his movement. The motion detector is the rectangular blue box on the table to his left. I decided to use the motion detector with the whole class since I had the technology to make the graph visible to everyone at the same time by using my computer with a projector. I had a very productive introductory lesson with my class. Our goals for this initial lesson were to 1.)discover and 2.) discuss. I had to plan this type of activity very carefully. I knew through experience that I might possibly need something for the class to do while individuals were having their turns "playing" with the motion detector. I designed an activity in which the children would have a piece of paper in front of them with information as well as questions and answer spaces on it to help them stay focused. Likewise, this piece of paper would help me stay focused on my goals for the lesson-discover and most importantly, discuss what occurred. I did not want the discussion to get lost in the fun. I wanted it to be a part of the fun. We began the lesson by having a conversation about motion detectors. There were a few students who did, indeed, have a grasp on what one was. When I mentioned the motion detectors at many stores, one student said," there is one at the grocery storeÉÉÉ..it is a black box up high that makes the door open when I come near it." I asked if he could explain how the black box knew he was there. He said, "Magic!" Whereas, I added, "O.K, technology is like magicÉamazing things can happen when using technologyÉÉÉ.you're thinkingÉÉÉ but that isn't quite right. There is another reason." Another student replied, "Someone made it do that." I responded, "Exactly, someone built the motion detector and they were able to use it along with a motor to make the door open when someone stands in front of it. Motion detectors sense motion. They have something inside -that a person has put there-that allows them to sense when someone is there. It is like your Sega or Nintendo. There is something inside the game that senses that you are pushing the buttons and when you push the buttons, it makes something happen in the game." Throughout this project I met the following MSPAP science outcomes. The students' ability to: á Employ the language, instruments, methods, and materials of science for collecting, organizing, interpreting and communicating information. This was a hands-on and minds-on activity that enabled the children to actively learn. They learned by moving in front of the motion detector, watching each other and then discussing what they discovered. Our play session was their data collection and our discussions later on were their interpretations and communication. á Demonstrate ways of thinking and acting inherent in the practice of science. As the children "played" in front of the motion detector they discussed what they observed. Then they problem-solved. When they wanted to move in front of the motion detector to create a specific kind of line--they had to decide to move forward, backwards or stay still, depending on what kind of line they wanted to make. Likewise, they had to watch the graph as well as the person moving in front of it and interpret the graph based on how the person moved. They wrote down their observations, made predictions and then conducted a test to discover whether or not their predictions were right. The following National Science Education Standards were incorporated into this activity. á Standard A: Teachers of science, plan inquiry-based science activities. The initial lesson was strictly an activity in which the students could explore. They were told that they would be able to move in front of the motion detector any way they wanted to move. They just had to do it within a certain distance from the motion detector due to its detection range. The students were able to "play teacher". They had discussions, asked questions, and found out the answers together as they moved in front of the motion detector. They made observations and predictions, discussed and recorded their thoughts and data. The second lesson was a more controlled activity but it was still an inquiry-rich activity. This time students moved in specific ways in front of the motion detector. They worked with a partner. One person had to pay special attention to the graph while the other person paid attention to the person who was moving. Then they discussed it with each other and with the entire class. á Standard B: Teachers of science guide and facilitate learning science I was there to give the students the initial objective for the activity-to move in front of the motion detector and discover what happens. Likewise, I was there to guide them in the discussions. Also, I was there to reset the graph program on the computer and to maintain a positive work environment for all students. á Standard C: Teachers of science engage in ongoing assessment of their teaching and of student learning. I have used various technology resources to aid in meeting this standard. I used a videocassette recorder and a computer to assess my teaching as well as student learning. The video was a wonderful tool. After the initial activity, I was able to look at the video to see what to do next with the students. I was able to recall first hand the students' reactions, responses, and overall discoveries and understandings. á Standard D: Teachers of science design and manage learning environments that provide students with the time, space, and resources needed for learning science. The students were given the necessary time and space to be able to move in front of the motion detector freely and discuss their findings. I connected the computer to the SMARTboard, using it as a projection screen. All of the students could see the graphs at the same time. Unfortunately, I was unable to use it as the interactive tool it is, due to technical difficulties. I have emailed the company who makes the motion detector for help with this problem. (There are not enough places to plug in all the necessary parts for the SMARTboard to be used interactively.) Nevertheless, it was used as a whiteboard with dry erase pens and had almost the same effect. Just using the projector itself was a valuable resource for this activity since I was able to work with the whole class at the same time with only one motion detector. á Standard E: Teachers of science develop a community of science learners that reflect the intellectual rigor of scientific inquiry and the attitudes and social values conducive to science learning. This activity has helped the students become better problem solvers. They are eager to discover answers for themselves rather than just get the answers from me. They continue to make observations, ask questions, problem-solve, and show attitudes that they truly have learned science-several ask every day when we are going to use the motion detector again. á Standard F: Teachers of science actively participate in the ongoing planning and development of the school science program. I hope by sharing this activity with my peers I can encourage them to try it with their classes. Likewise, I hope the school will consider purchasing at least one motion detector. I have shared this lesson with peers hoping to give them an idea for a great science activity that would get their students interested in science learning. The motion detector can be used as a springboard to other disciplines such as math and language arts- writing included. I am willing to share with anyone who shows an interest. General comments, observations, and thoughts about what this activity brought to my classroom experience with 1st graders. I was very pleased overall with the way the activities went. My entire class was motivated. Everyone wanted a turn in front of the motion detector. I had them come up one by one and then after a while, when it seemed like some of the children were beginning to get a little restless (only because they hadn't had a turn or because it was hard to sit still so long) I had them come up with a partner. It would have taken a lot of time to let everyone have a turn alone and the average 1st grader's patience isn't long enough to withstand 25 individual turns in front of the class. The children didn't mind coming up together. The point here was for EVERYONE to be engaged. The actual "playing" in front of the motion detector, even with a partner, satisfied this idea. As this engagement activity occurred , there were conversations about what they observed. They discussed the shapes of the lines. They compared the lines to each others' lines as well as things they knew in the world. Some observations were: "Hey, that looks like Catherine's (line)" "It looks like mountains". "É.like tall mountains and then short mountains "É.like the letter M" "É.like the letter W" "ÉÉno, they look like icicles" "É.they look like both (mountains and icicles) "É.like buildings" "They look like a cow's udder" One girl even compared the look of the up and down sloping lines to stock market graphs! She is familiar with the looks of them because of her father's job or his interests. I found it interesting the way they moved in front of the motion detector. As I explained the general area where they were to be moving (in front, not behind or to the left or right of the little circle on the motion detector, since this was what detected they were there) I modeled for them. I moved backwards and then forwards. I reminded them that they could choose to move any way they wished. The first few children moved backwards and forwards. Then most of them began standing still and shaking their arms, legs, and jumping up and down rather than moving forwards and backwards. When this occurred, the lines were static-not really a true judge in distance. The students got excited and laughed when they got the lines to be real static-looking. As student after student continued to wiggle and jump, but not move backwards or forwards, I reminded them they could move any way they chose. They didn't have to move like their classmates. I was trying to get a different kind of movement. Most of the static-looking lines had some horizontal lines within the entire line. These straight lines were noticed by a few students. A strong discussion had just begun when the last student had his turn. Someone mentioned that a particular line looked like someone else's line. I began a discussion about replicating the line again. I used a dry erase marker on the SMARTboard's whiteboard to trace the line. Then I reset the program and had a student come up and try to replicate the line. It was tricky. Several students tried to do it. Then, one girl began to "catch on". She came up and tried. She didn't trace it exactly, but had the idea. It was now my turn again. I stood still for a while and then moved backwards slowly. The students compared my line to the "mountains" earlier. I had another student come up and try to replicate my line again. Then, I had someone stand far away to start, then walk slowly forward and stop. (This was the opposite of what I had done) Was anyone ready to make a prediction about what a line would look like given certain directional commands? I asked them. Many hands went up to answer. Many were wrong, but several had the general idea. One little girl had it right immediately. She wanted to be the person who modeled for us. Since she made the prediction, she would be the model too. From this type of conversation, we went back to the pen and paper activity. (see activity paper attached). It was time to draw and write about their experience. (#1 on the paper). Next, were the controlled experiments. With a partner, they would observe me as I moved in front of the motion detector. One person would watch me while the other person would watch the line as it was being created on the SMARTboard. After that, they discussed it with each other and then with the entire class. I walked around to listen to their conversations. While quite a few still did not "have it right", many were gaining understanding. With more observations and discussions (without me just telling them the answers), I felt that more students would eventually "get it". They observed again, this time someone else rather than me. When I felt that most students had an understanding of the correlation between the movement and the way the line looked, we went back to the paper. Next, they were to draw and write about what the students thought the line would look like if a person stood still, moved towards, moved away, moved to and from within the given two minutes. They had space to draw and were given sentence starters to help them write, as well as blank lines to generate their own complete sentences. It was difficult for some of the students to make predictions, often 1st graders don't want to be "wrong" and they wait to "see" what the answer is before they write anything. I strongly encourage my class to try all the time. Afterall, that is why they are at school. I always tell them, "If you already knew everything there would be no need to come to 1st grade. You can do it!" They are all used to hearing me say "try". They will hopefully grow to realize that their trying is all I am ever asking for. Most students tried. I told them if they really had to, they could work in pairs, but I wanted this activity to be their own thoughts. I allowed a few students to help others with the writing-but the prediction had to be that student's idea. The few who didn't write were still focused on the observations and wanted to contribute. This is typical in any 1st grade classroom. My thoughts were to do this activity using a SMARTboard interactively. I used it as a whiteboard only. A SMARTboard resembles a mobile chalkboard or dry-erase board. It is used with a projector to project the computer screen's image onto it-like an overhead projector. When used with Smart Notebook, software specifically for the SMARTboard, it becomes "smart". There is no longer the need to type right at the computer's keyboard because now the SMARTboard is touch sensitive. I would be able to press the button that starts each test from the SMARTboard rather than going to the computer to click on it. Likewise, I could have the students "draw" on the SMARTboard using one of its special pens. However, due to technical difficulties I was unable to do this. (There weren't enough ports at the back of my computer to plug in the SMARTboard and all of the parts.) This was a big disappointment, but hopefully some time in the future I will be able to do this activity using the SMARTboard interactively as planned. I will continue to work with my students using the motion detector. I plan on letting them continue to work through their own thoughts and questions as they learn through observations, conversations, and experimentation as they move in front of the motion detector. No doubt, more learning will occur in front of the motion detector. * For more information about the motion detector used go to www.venier.com Using Motion Detectors In The Classroom
Kathleen Hogan Khogan1234@aol.com Hyattsville Elementary School Fall 1999