From the Classroom - Lisa Orenstein

In a hands-on science class, like Lisa Orenstein’s AP Biology, teaching and learning remotely can be challenging. But as you’ll discover, sometimes sharing material virtually is the better way to showcase learning.

Orenstein’s class had been working on investigating evolutionary relationships between organisms. “The students dropped their projects off at school and I picked them up and brought them home to assess. Bottom line – they were so good,” exclaims Orenstein. “Then, I felt so badly that the kids wouldn’t be able to see what their classmates did so that is when I came up with the idea of a virtual museum.”

She created an interactive powerpoint slideshow that takes viewers into various “exhibits” where the students’ work is showcased. We took the powerpoint and made it a pdf so that you can easily see the museum. But for the full interactive experience, feel free to download the virtual museum in powerpoint.

“My hope is that as individuals, each student takes a lot of pride in the work they did. They all applied the biology in accurate and creative ways that would be interesting to anyone viewing the exhibit,” explains Orenstein. “As a class, my hope is the students recognize the unique perspectives each of them brings to the study of biology and how collectively our understanding is more complete as a class.”