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These resources have been reviewed and selected by STEM Learning’s team of education specialists for factual accuracy and relevance to teaching STEM subjects in UK schools.
Annotating pictures
Purpose: A rapid method of recording results of investigations or observations is to take a photograph using the camera built in to most mobile devices. The photograph then needs to be annotated to ensure important details are not forgotten or overlooked.
Teaching approach: An example of when this approach could be used is investigating the brightness of a bulb in different electrical circuits. Once the correct circuit has been constructed, move key components such as voltmeter, ammeter and light bulb into a position where a single image can capture key information. After capturing the image using the camera on the mobile device, save the image. Use markup software to annotate the image to highlight key features, and to note comparisons with similar images captured for different circuits. Students could use a similar approach but use annotation tools to draw a circuit diagram of their electrical circuit on the photograph of the equipment to become familiar with the conventions of constructing circuit diagrams in science.
Preparation: Simple markup tools, such as Skitch are free to download and easy to use as they have limited features but clear navigation.
The following link explains how to use markup software that is embedded in the native Photo app in iOS but may not be familiar to users.
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