Love them or hate them, smart phones are here to stay. Students start twitching when they go minutes without checking their messages. I have found three useful ways to have students collect real data using their phones. These don't require new apps, or downloads, or sensors.
Slow Motion Video
When teaching classes like physical science, students are often in need of watching things move. I have found it useful to have the students use the slow motion setting on their cameras to capture real data. This could range from a ball bouncing up in front of a meter stick, bubbles being released from elodea, or the swing of a pendulum. Students can quickly scan through these videos to find minimum or maximum points. Plus, you are letting them use their phones so you become slightly cooler.
Our physics teacher was even using those new splatter guns that claim to shoot at 160 feet per second, to test their skills in determining kinetic energy. They were shooting hanging targets with a known mass and watching the slow motion videos to see how high the target swung. It made the data collection more engaging and the kids loved shooting splatter guns in class (duh).
Video to Excel
Near the end of the semester, I decided to create my own mini-lab concerning intermolecular forces. The students dipped the tip of digital thermometer into one of four unknown solution including three alcohols and water (methanol, ethanol, n-propanol and water). They then recorded the screen of the thermometer as the alcohol evaporated. They were able to quickly scan the video using the time stamp to transfer the data from the video to excel, recording the temperatures every three seconds. They put all four graphs on a single axis and got to talk about the rate at which liquids evaporates and what that means about intermolecular forces. (And no, I don't have a write-up as I was just testing the lab before I publish it. And I will.)
Using their phone increased the participation and the effectiveness of getting the data to excel. Yes, I know we could use Vernier sensors to accomplish this, and I am totally open to your donations to my school to buy them! Until I have lots of sensors, the phones became a great stop gap.
Create Interactive Notebooks
Using cellphones, students can very quickly add photos, videos, and drawings to digital lab books. Rather than describing their apparatus, they can quickly snap a photo, and reference it in their methods.
I have a couple of prototyping and engineering classes that I will be teaching next year. One of my goals is to use a video logbook of their iteration process as they design, build and test prototypes. Can't wait to see what they can produce. Below is a snapshot of an apparatus in an AP chemistry lab from this past year. It's quick and effective. And the kids think you are the hero because they are using their phones.
Looking for more ways to engage students in chemistry? Check out Up & Atom the card game that helps students compare atoms, grams, and moles in a strategic trick-taking game for the classroom.
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