Faculty Member: David M. Stone, Teaching Associate, Biology

Brief Description of Use of Funds:
Support from the Stoddard Faculty Support Endowment will provide me support to explore new dimensions in technology, leading to incorporation of digital macrophotography into the field biology class, incorporation of time lapse photography into introductory and organismal biology labs and demonstrations, and allow for student production and use of short web-ready movies in all of the biology classes.

Narrative Description of Use of Funds:
I first became involved in digital photography as a result of attending an animal behavior seminar that was supported by 2002 Stoddard funds. This led to the development of a digital photographed-based arthropod collection option in the field biology class (http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~dstone/dig_bio_proj_fieldbio.html) during Fall, 2002, Uni High involvement in the Illinois Schools' Flora and Fauna Online Project (http://www.siue.edu/OSME/river/Descriptionofprogram.htm), and development of the Spring, 2003 Organismal Biology Digital Plant Project (http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~dstone/dig_bio_proj_orgbio.html). These projects were presented at a biology teacher meeting during June, 2003.

Should this proposal be accepted, Stoddard funds will pay for the purchase of a Nikon Coolpix 5400 digital camera. This camera is capable of producing extremely high quality macrophotographic images, accepting a variety of different type of lenses including connection to a microscope, and recording short movies (including time lapse movies) with sound. This will provide for incorporation of digital macrophotography into the field biology classes, incorporation of time lapse photography into labs and demonstrations in the introductory and organismal biology classes, and allow for student production and use of short web-ready movies in all of the biology classes.

This summer research opportunity meets the third goal of the Stoddard Faculty Support Endowment Fund. Funding of this proposal will provide me with the opportunity to explore new dimensions in technology, with the added bonus of providing technology that can be incorporated broadly into the biology classes beginning Fall, 2004.

Funding Sought:
$890 ($750 for the Nikon Coolpix 5400 digital camera, $100 for a case and high capacity memory card, $40 for an adjustable tripod)

Time Frame:
I will spend part of the summer working with the camera and developing materials for various activities that will use the camera in recording images and time-lapse sequences. These will be incorporated into the introductory biology and field biology classes during Fall, 2004, and will be incorporated into the organismal biology and genetics classes during Spring, 2005.