Webcams in Education

"Can we watch Dave? Pleeeease?" my fifth grade students can't get enough of the Giraffe Barn Cam at the Woodland Park Zoo. I have to admit, it's pretty thrilling. You never know what Dave the giraffe is going to do. Suddenly walk in view? Walk up close and past the camera? Turn around so that we can see his fancy tail?

Not the Barn Cam--but my students could tell you which one is Dave. 

(He's the giraffe that is approaching the trees on the left of the screen)

Using webcams in the classroom means I can talk with my students about the animals and their behavior in a learning environment with limited distractions. We can "visit" the animal exhibits as often as we want to, and develop a deeper understanding of the animals. Although I still believe they don't completely take place of a field trip to the zoo, they're an important component of my science curriculum. 

Asian Small Clawed Otters

(can be used to discuss research methods)

I found some resources to share for those of you who also want to use webcams and/or include animal behavior as part of your life sciences units:

• Gaston Public Schools--4th Grade Animal Behavior Project  (check out the seagull video!)
• Smithsonian National Zoological Park--AnimalCams
• The Nuffield Foundation--Studying animal behaviour lesson plan
• National Geographic--WildCam Observation Activity

 My school community is invested in Dave's well-being because of our ongoing visit to the WPZ website, and I'd expect this to be the case for others. Citizen science has really taken off in recent years--with much of the work done using webcams. For more on this, check out the page on Webcams as Monitoring Tools.