Picmonic provides mnemonic illustrations

I’ve been busy gathering sponsors for our upcoming EdCamp Memphis and am pleased to list Picmonic among them. Before yesterday, didn’t about them and that’s a shame. Another sponsor, BirdBrain Science, shared a link with me to the article 7 EdTech Startups Revolutionizing STEM. Both Picmonic and BirdBrain Science are listed in the article and both deserve a moment of your time.

Picmonic is a web-based application that delivers audiovisual mnemonics designed to improve memory retention.

Homozygous vs. Heterozygous Picmonic
They offer lots of resources for medical students (by subscription) but are offering free resources as well. Right now they have picmonics covering topics in Inquiry as well as Reproduction & Heredity for 8th grade Science. Current picmonics include:

• Bias
• Experimental Group vs. Control Group
• Measurements and Tools
• Mice and Cheese Experiment
• Observation and Inference – Blue Hair
• Observation and Inference – Green Egg
• Observation and Inference – Green Stalk
• Plant Growth Experiment
• Quantitative vs. Qualitative
• Question and Hypothesis – Distance
• Question and Hypothesis – Heat
• Question and Hypothesis – Height
• Roller Coaster Cart Experiment
• Validity vs. Reliability
• Blood Types
• Cells and the Nucleus
• Charles Darwin
• Chromosome and DNA
• Dominant vs. Recessive
• Genes and Alleles
• Genotype vs. Phenotype
• Heredity
• Homozygous vs. Heterozygous
• Hybrid Punnett Square
• Purpose of Cell Division

This technique could certainly be used by teachers of other subjects. I can envision teachers utilizing blended learning creating their own mnemonic illustrations (maybe combined with the concept of sketchnoting) to help students with memory and making deeper connections with what they are learning.