Grant Request

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Grant Proposal for Brain & Behavior

Proposed Activities:  After initially seeing no reason whatsoever to have or use video cameras, I have come to see how useful they would be in involving the students in their own learning.  There are a number of laboratory techniques and safety procedures that I demonstrate for the students at the beginning of the year and sporadically during the year.  There is no reason that the students should not produce a video of these procedures for the record.  In that way they will be available to students transferring into the class, to students in other classes, and to my own students for review as needed.  I will even be able to post the winning entries on my website so that anyone can make use of them.  In this way the students will become deeply involved in practicing the techniques and in understanding the reasons they were developed.  There is no better way to instill understanding and compliance.

Further, by having more than one student “production team” produce a video of each technique, we can have a “People’s Choice Awards” ceremony in which the students choose the version that will displayed on the website.  Viewing the presentations once again by all the students and having them comment on them will further instill proper lab procedures.

Objectives:  1. To have the students fully internalize lab techniques and safety procedures for activities in the high school chemistry laboratory.

                1a. To have the students produce videos of these techniques and procedures.

                1b. To archive these products and make them available on the Web.

                2. To produce videos of chemical demonstrations, especially the more dangerous and the more expensive and time-consuming ones, so that they, too, might be available for repeated viewing on the Web.

                3. For the second year:  If this works as well as I envision, the following year I will have the students produce “The Science Minute,” short segments that cover some form of cutting edge technology, discovery, or invention that could be shown on our school closed-circuit network.  If that is successful, the pieces could be used by the entire district.

Sample Topics: 

1. What to do on entering the lab

2. Transferring liquids and solids

3. Cutting and heating and bending  glass

4. Testing for odors

5. Weighing techniques

6. Reading instruments and glassware

7. Safely working with a Bunsen burner

8. Filtering techniques

9. In case of an accident . . .

10. Titration

 

Equipment: (2 of each)

Pure Digital Flip Mino 60 Minute Compact Video White Camera @ $169.00

Soft Case @ $14.99

Tripod @ $14.99

Power Adapter @ $14.99

USB Cables @ $14.99

The justification for two cameras is so that students can get multiple angles (e.g. a full length shot and a close-up) and edit them together.  I expect to get one camera from the available funds from each of the 2 institutes.  Further, as I think this through, I will be facing major timing problems with multiple student groups and only 2 cameras.  Soooo, I am using this as a launching pad for a grant request to Best Buy for an additional 14 cameras, which is within their parameters.