Diffentiating Instruction using Video Clips in Science

Differentiating instruction in the classroom is based upon student readiness, student interest, and/or student learning profiles. Differentiation occurs in three areas:

• content = change in the material being learned by a student but not the objectives
• process = the way in which a student accesses material
• product = the way in which a student shows what he or she has learned

Sometimes the material in a science textbook is not at the reading level of the student and alternative texts cannot be found that covers the content that a student is expected to learn. However, many video clips are available online that when incorporated with reading strategies in the text can provide the differentiation of content necessary for the student to be successful.

One such site is PBS. In the PBS site, teachers can search for specific video clips based on subject, topic and grade level. As I was going over a unit on evolution, a very controversial issue with lots of new vocabulary (homologous, vestigial) and concepts (natural selection, descent with modification), I found a series of online video clips that previously had only been available on VHS or DVD. Each clip is 5 to 8 minutes long and has a specific purpose. For example, one clip discusses the time period in which Charles Darwin lived and how this made it very difficult for him to speak about and publish his ideas on the theory of evolution. Another video clip really hit home with my students, "Why Does Evolution Matter Now?" Students were shocked about the threat of resistant strains of Tuberculosis which is becoming a serious problem in Russia and has the potential of becoming a global epidemic. By watching these videos in concert with their textbook readings, students not only understand the material better, but they also have a frame of reference to say why learning the material matters to them.