5 Creative Ways to Use Flip Cameras in Science and Math

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The Flip camera is great for all types of projects in science and math – at any grade level. Flip cameras are small handheld video cameras that can record 30 or 60 minutes worth of video. They connect to a computer with a USB plug that “flips” out from the side of the camera.

The benefits of these cameras include another means for assessing students understanding of concepts beyond worksheets and tests. Besides a teacher’s record, the videos provide a digital record for parents and administrators to show a student’s successes or areas which need improvement.

Teaching Strategies: Integration within Lessons and Projects

The following five creative strategies provide a catalyst for integrating flip cameras in science and math. These techniques also offer an alternative digital assessment of students’ prior knowledge and experiences, understanding of concepts, and ability to make connections between concepts.

Digital Twist on a Book Report – create a video cast of a trade book to explain the concept or concepts embedded within the book. This technique offers another strategy for determining a student’s true understanding of concepts and embedded misconceptions.

• Science example – The Magic School Bus Hops Home students learn about animal habitats

• Math example – The Grapes of Math students learn riddles, patterns, and problem solving

Concept Challenge – make a digital visual representation of a specific science or math concept. It also is a means to discover students’ misconceptions related to the concept.

• Science example – create a video to analyze motion of a roller coaster

• Math example – estimation of how fast a roller coaster travels compared with actual measurement

Digital Demonstrations – flip camera videos are uploaded to VoiceThread and used to share “how to’s” and seek student comments on the” how to.”

• Science example – students demonstrate how they conducted a science experiment, along with sharing their findings and conclusions

• Math example – students demonstrate how to solve specific math problems or explain a math concept

Concepts Without Walls – record observations of events or phenomena related to specific concepts taught in class. You can also slow the video down using QuickTime Player to provide the ability to analyze and demonstrate facts related to the concept being presented.

• Science example – a lightning strike to demonstrate different types of lightning and their paths

• Math example – linear patterns everyday objects found within a neighborhood or community

Digital Story Telling – students use flip cameras to record artifacts related to a project based learning activity such as interviews with experts and data collection techniques.

• Science example – students record their modeling the composition of the earth’s atmosphere project.

• Math example – students record all the problem solving steps they used in completing a tessellations project.

Educational Benefits: Flip Cameras in the Classroom

Benefits for using a Flip Camera in the classroom include being a creative outlet for students. Students can express themselves by creating projects, ads, movies, trailers, virtual field trips, and many more video projects for class.

These cameras also encourage collaboration among students as they share their ideas and solutions to a wide range of science and math problems. The cameras are supportive with helping ESL students learn new words, ideas, and more related to science and math.

There are so many ways a flip camera can be integrated into classroom learning activities, because of their portability and ease of use from recording to downloading.