Photo of the Month: Why Stripes?
Most students will easily recognize this zebra by its stripes. But why stripes? That question has interested scientists for a long time. And, no doubt, will interest your students as well. Too often students (and adults as well) expect all science to be...
Photo of the Month: Bonsai – Art, Social Studies, Science
This is a photo of a fig bonsai tree taken at the Morikami Japanese Garden in Delray Beach, FL. This area was once home to the Yamato Colony, a Japanese settlement in Florida during the early twentieth century. The photo raises many questions that overlap science,...
Photo of the Month: What is this bird doing?
This month’s photo is a mystery for your students to solve. It’s actually an anhinga drying its wings because it swims underwater to find food. Unlike other bird species, its wings become waterlogged so it can stay underwater completely and for longer than...
Photo of the Month: A Story in Stone
This month’s photo is of Trajan’s Column in Rome. It commemorates Emperor Trajan’s victory in the Dacian Wars. Completed over nineteen centuries ago, the column is an amazing engineering and artistic work. Including the pedestal, the monument is 115...
Photos of the Month: When Blurry’s Better
Both of the photos for this month show movement. Give your students a few moments to list what is the same and what is different about the two photos. After they have shared their ideas, ask which part of each photo is in focus and which part is blurred. Also ask...
Photo of the Month: Controlled Burn
A photo of a burned forest may seem an odd choice as photo of the month since we are also celebrating Arbor Day in April. I remember how disturbed my fourth-graders were when we went on a field trip to a park that had recently conducted a controlled burn. At first, it...
Photo of the Month: Asking Why?
Nature photos can be great jumping-off points for exploration. I enjoy being outdoors. I always find the patterns in nature intriguing and often ask myself, “Why?” as I’m walking along. Why are those clouds shaped as they are? Why do these leaves...
Photo of the Month: Guess Who?
Here is an interesting photo to show your students to see if they can guess who the sculpture represents. Don’t be surprised if they guess an ancient Roman emperor or perhaps even Zeus. Those really aren’t bad guesses, especially if they’ve noticed...
Photos of the Month: Two Libraries
International Holocaust Remembrance Day falls on January 27. Over the past several decades, I’ve taken thousands of photos of Holocaust-related monuments across Europe for one of our projects. Most such monuments, of course, are intended to memorialize the...
Photo of the Month: A Tree in Winter
This is a photo of a tree in winter in Western Pennsylvania. Depending on the age level and background knowledge of your students, this photo can be a springboard into understanding something that at first seems pretty mysterious. How does a tree survive a cold...
Photo of the Month: Council House at Mission San Luis de Apalachee
I took this photo about 20 years ago at Mission San Luis de Apalachee in Tallahassee, Florida. The structure on the left is a reconstruction of the Council House. The one on the right is a reconstruction of the Chief’s House. The Council House was the center of...
NASA Mobile Quarantine Facility
This mobile quarantine facility (MQF) was one of four built by NASA for astronauts returning from the Moon. A converted Airstream trailer, the MQF contained living and sleeping quarters, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Quarantine was assured by keeping the air pressure...
Photo of the Month: Espada Aqueduct
The Espada Aqueduct is a part of the irrigation system that supplied water to the Spanish Mission Espada in San Antonio, Texas. The aqueduct was built in the mid-1700s to carry water over Piedras Creek. The Espada acequia fell into disuse in the 1880s, but was...
Photo of the Month: Sunflowers
Sunflowers always fascinated me as a child. I’d try to trace a spiral of florets (or seeds if later in the summer) outward from the center, but then suddenly the spirals would all seem to go in the other direction. And then, for a moment, I could see both...
Photo of the Month: Skew Arch Bridge
This bridge is less than 200 years old, but it isn’t substantially different from bridges built 2,000 years ago. The arch bridge is one of the earliest forms of bridges. I am fascinated by bridges because they often combine both engineering and aesthetics. The...
Photos of the Month: The Great Outdoors
With many people sheltering inside and many great national parks closed to visitors this month, instead of a single photo of the month, I selected 20 photos of the great outdoors just to enjoy. Sit back, relax, and imagine the call of birds or the thundering of a...
Photo of the Month: All Eggs in One Basket
I took this photo nearly ten years ago for the ClipPix ETC website. At the time, I had intentions to create a whole series of photos illustrating various proverbs, aphorisms, and idioms.Well, the series never happened, but the first image is still a good one for class...
Photo of the Month: Jefferson Memorial
For the many new subscribers in the past month, this post is one in a series that each feature a photo from FCIT’s ClipPix ETC website. Each month I select one photo and provide various classroom connections, discussion questions, or related content. I took this...
Photo of the Month: Boats on a Train?
This is a model of something that existed in Pennsylvania between 1834 and 1854. So that you can better see the details, here are several additional views. Click on any photo to enlarge it. This is a great photo for a class discussion. What is a boat doing on a train?...
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Using Digital Content
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