Karl Fisch
I agree, we need much more imagery in our lessons, as well as much more directed inquiry on the parts of our students. I read a book this summer titled Brain Rules that really reinforced how important it is to include visuals in our instruction, so you're on the right track.
I think Dan Meyer (dy/dan) would suggest that you need to make sure your visuals are tied fairly close to your curriculum and what you are wanting your students to learn and understand. Your first example can be tied pretty closely to learning the scientific method, which I presume is something you'd like them to learn. The second example seemed a little more loose, so I would make sure you had something a little more definite in mind when using that - or other - images.
For all my railing against too much curriculum that has to be covered, you do want to make sure that there's a purpose behind each of these visuals. Dan is constantly looking at visuals and thinking about how they relate to his content and what he wants his students to understand. While I'm not quite as big on the content as he is, I still think that's important. Start looking at images and situations and see how they can relate to the essential learnings you want kids to get, and then I think they will connect nicely. Much like you've been seeing letters in images everywhere, I think you can begin to see Biology in images everywhere.
mc c1
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