WHY "SOAR"?
After coming across a very useful
industrial video instrument in 1992, LSU educators and scientists began testing it and
other similar devices with local teachers to evaluate its value in a classroom setting. We
gave it the name Scope-On-A-Rope so that teachers and others would know what we were
talking about. The acronym is appropriate, because teachers and students can easily
SOAR through hands-on activities that have been very difficult in the past. The SCALAR
CORPORATION has been incorporating our suggestions and those of our test teachers into
what we believe to be an exceptional teaching tool. Through an informal lending
program we have begun introducing this completely new prototype SCOPE-ON-A-ROPE (SOAR) to
selected teachers in Louisiana and Tennessee during the last 2 years. It is proving to be
an invaluable aid to K-12 classroom teachers in all disciplines.
Back to FAQ list above.WHAT DOES IT DO?
The Scalar SOAR can be used for exciting
classroom demonstrations that would normally require a microscope and other sophisticated
equipment. It is extremely easy to use in the normal classroom setting, but can
perform advanced microscopy functions as well. It is hand-held and can even be used
by a five-year-old to provide instant, excellent, in-focus images magnified up to 200X on
a regular classroom TV. Its "real time" video camera provides
normal-appearing motion essential for viewing living, moving specimens. And the
whole class can see the fingerprint, insect egg, rotifer, prepared slide, or butterfly
wing scales - all at the same time!
Back to FAQ list above.
WHAT
EXACTLY IS IT?
The Scalar™ VL-7 EX SOAR consists of
a miniature, self-lighted video camera with interchangeable magnifying
“objective” lenses. Each magnifying lens has a “contact tip”
which is at the focal plane of the lens; therefore, simply by touching the SOAR tip to the
sample, a teacher or student automatically produces an in-focus image on the TV screen.
It can function both as a compound and as a dissecting microscope, and can be used to
examine traditional slides and samples. Since the sample does not have to be placed
on a microscope stage, however, a sample of any size can be viewed. Little if any
preparation of the specimen is necessary.
Back to FAQ list above.
WHY WOULD A
TEACHER WANT ONE IN THE CLASS?
Instant intellectual gratification
provided by a SOAR frees the teacher from the kind of technical difficulties normally
encountered with school microscopes and video equipment. The teacher does not need
to assist students individually. But most important, students are instantly
interested!
Back to FAQ list above.
WHY WOULD
STUDENTS WANT ONE IN THE CLASS?
Extremely enthusiastic students can see
their own samples immediately shown on TV. A student can temporarily capture
“freeze frames” on the monitor by pushing a button. Instant discoveries
are made: the visibly active sweat glands in their own fingerprints, sophisticated
observations of micro-ecosystems in drops of pond water or in flower centers, tiny fossils
in rocks and sand, form and function in natural and man-made objects of all kinds.
Back to FAQ list above.
HOW DIFFICULT
IS IT TO USE?
This SOAR is very portable and easy to
hook up to the TV in 5 minutes or less. It requires very little space, and is ready
for use without any other accessories. A teacher may need 5 or 10 minutes to figure
out how it works the first time, but students seem to know instinctively!
Maintenance is minimal, often completely unnecessary. With a little additional
effort SOAR can also perform more sophisticated functions, such as dark-field or
polarizing microscopy applications.
Back to FAQ list above.
WHAT WOULD A TEACHER DO WITH IT IN THE CLASSROOM?
Use it to help teach science, math, art, and
other subjects!
The SOAR is a powerful tool for any subject
where observation is important. Communication is enhanced by images; TV images are
comfortable for classroom learning, and realtime display makes observation of living
samples easy and relates form and function. Meeting curriculum standards can be
greatly facilitated with this student-engaging classroom aid.
Watch students discover a
whole new world!
The SOAR is probably best utilized if left set up in the classroom,
always available for spontaneous use by students. The 30X and 200X objective lenses
open new windows for observation and appreciation of the world around us, and students
literally cannot avoid formulating inquiry concepts when they use them.
"Televise"
students or classroom demonstrations!
Also supplied with this SOAR is a
regular “1X” or infinity lens which can be interchanged with the magnifying
lenses. This lens allows the handset to be used like a regular video camerawhich can
focus at infinity and also up close.
Make videotapes!
Images produced on the TV may be videotaped by VCR in the normal
way, so that the third period class can see what the first period students brought in!
Teachers can easily make study films for the class and students can produce science
project videos. At LSU, TV/VCR combination units are routinely used with the SOAR to
simplify video recording of the unexpectedly exciting samples that always turn up!
SOAR also can be used easily to document longer term projects of various types, even
non-science ones!
Make photos and prints!
An easy-to-use videoprinter can be
plugged into the SOAR to produce instant photo-quality prints for exhibits and science
fair projects. A computer programmed for video-capture may also be used with
the unit in order to obtain computer printouts or digital files of TV images.
Back to FAQ list above.
HOW DO REGULAR TEACHERS
FEEL ABOUT IT?
Teachers at all grade levels who have
participated in LSU’s lending program report unqualified success with the hands-on
classroom use of the SOAR. Its images captivate students of all ages.
Life science teachers are impressed by the increased interest that students show in the
complexities of our environment after they have seen details they never suspected to
exist. High school students try harder to use their regular microscopes after
they've seen the possibilities introduced by the SOAR. Teachers in art,
communications, earth science, chemistry, special ed, home ec, and other disciplines also
find this SOAR to be a versatile and exciting classroom partner.
Back to FAQ list above.
WHY IS LSU
PROMOTING THE SOAR?
In 1992 the first industrial model was
obtained with funding from an NSF joint grant to Dr. Jim Wandersee
and others in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Cindy Henk and
others in the Life Sciences Microscopy Facility in the
College of Basic Sciences. The enormous educational
potential of this instrument became apparent, and when the grant’s work was
completed, Cindy began lending it to local teachers.
Their response was so overwhelmingly positive
that Dr. Harold Silverman, currently Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences
and interim Dean of the College of Basic Sciences, also
became a staunch advocate of SOAR. Subsequently he
established an extensive lending program with the support of his broad-based science education grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Dr. Sheri Wischusen coordinates this
program, which has made the expensive industrial models available at no charge to thousands of appreciative teachers and students annually.
Meanwhile, with the encouragement of Dr.
Silverman, Cindy Henk, currently Director of the Socolofsky
Microscopy Center in the Department of Biological Sciences, has been working closely with teachers, students, and now with design engineers at
Scalar Corporation to optimize the SOAR for easiest and
best classroom applications. This improved lower cost SOAR has been used extensively in workshops and programs for students,
teachers, and others supported by education outreach
grants from Howard Hughes Medical Institute and The National Faculty. Dr. Pam Blanchard, Louisiana Sea Grant Education Coordinator, has
conducted many aquatic biology and geology education
projects and workshops with the Scalar SOAR, and is leading an effort to produce self-guiding lesson plans in these areas. Many other current LSU faculty in science and art education,
including Dr. Catherine Cummins, Dr. Jennifer Chidsey,
Dr. Jim Wandersee, Dr. Leslie Koptcho, and Kathy Thompson have also introduced and
utilized the Scalar SOAR in assorted education venues. All of these LSU personnel
continue to be impressed by the enthusiasm of teachers and
students who have used the new SOAR.
LSU therefore hopes to promote this novel technology so that all classrooms may SOAR with Scalar’s Scope-On-A-Rope!
Back to FAQ list above.
WHERE CAN I GET INFORMATION ABOUT VENDORS?
For information about suppliers of the SOAR,
you may contact Mitch Axsom at (225)334-6446 or support@scalarscopes.com.
Back to FAQ list above. |
