This past week while teaching veterinary science about parasites I had to find a way to teach how to make a fecal smear without using real stool. While talking about what to do with my cop. teacher I blurted out pudding. I decided to make chocolate pudding with sugar crystals in it. I brought it to class in a glass bowl. Right away the students were able to see the crystals in it. I started off by going over gross examination. Students then took some of the pudding and made a fecal smear. I let the students try to make the smear first without telling them how. After awhile, I had to show them how to do it. I explained how you want a small amount that way you can see through it with the microscope. Students were then able to see the crystals under the scope.
After the activity was done, I asked the students how they would like to do it differently next time. I was given suggestions like: have different colors of pudding to represent different problems. Have spaghetti and rice in the pudding. Over all though the students liked this idea. I am going to write it up and post to communities of practices.
This sounds like a great activity Val. How could this activity be improved? I liked how you took suggestions on how to make the activity better. However, what about the overall lesson? What can you do to make the activity even more applicable and relevant? I encourage you to dig a little deeper into your reflections and talk more about the WHY and HOW instead of just regurgitating what you did in class.
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