You can make your study of penguins and animals more interesting by developing a Collaborative Project with other classrooms around the world. This is a suggested idea for a Collaborative Project that might be altered to fit your classroom's individual needs and curriculum. You may use the ideas presented here to develop a project to be posted on any educational mailing list services that sponsor Collaborative Projects.
Sample Posting:
Project Data: Animal Adaptations
Dates of Project: Give a starting and ending date of the
total project. You should submit your call for collaboration at least 5 to 6 weeks before the start of the project to give interested classrooms time to sign up for the project. If you don't get responses, then submit the project with other educational mailing lists.
Timeline of Project: Give a specific outline of steps with starting and ending dates of when projects should be completed and sent to the host classroom.
Project Description: Students will learn how animals in local native habitats have adapted to changes in their environment. One animal will be selected for the project from each participating classroom. Students will collect information about how this animal survives in its changing environment. The students will develop some kind of written report and a visual image to be sent to the host classroom. These individual projects will then be posted on the Penguin website as more examples of animal adaptations to their changing environments. (This should be a short summary of the project. It should be about 3 to 4 sentences long. You need to tell what the learning objective is for the project)
Subjects Areas: life science, research skills, communication skills, computer skills (List all content areas that might be involved.)
Grade level: Grades 3-5
Technologies Utilized: e-mail, Internet resources of research, word processing, final project could be produced using Powerpoint, HyperStuido, KidPix, or any kind of paint or draw program, local animals and habitats could be photographed using a digital camera (list all uses of technologies that might be used)
Brief Summary of Project: This project will ask students to find out how animals, native to their local area, have adapted to changes in their habitats. Each participating classroom will select one animal that is unique to their region, discover how this animal has had to adapted to changes in its environment. Some type of written description (report, any kind of poetry, song, etc.) and a visual image (photo, drawings, computer drawings, etc.) will be produced to represent their findings. These final projects will then be published on the Internet as part of the Penguins Around the World website. The classrooms involved in this project can send their projects electronically or through the mail. We are interested in creating a collaborative educational resource for students and teachers to use in their classrooms. Once the projects are online, then lessons will be designed to help teachers integrate the computer resource into their curriculum. (This should be a brief summary describing the project, be specific with details.
Number of classrooms participating: unlimited--we are looking for many classrooms in differing areas of North America and around the World. (This could be any number that you want to be apart of the project.)
Contact Person for the Project:
- Pat Hale
- Library/Media
- East/West Elementary Schools
- Grades K-6
- Loogootee, IN 47553
- 265-2633 ext. 107
- phale@loogootee.k12.in.us
Register for this project by sending the following information about your class:
- Your name:
- Your e-mail address: (it is important that you have e-mail available at school)
- Your school:
- Your school district:
- Your school address:
- Your school voice mail:
- Grade(s) taught:
- Subject(s):
- Name of local animal you are going to use for the project:
Once you have signed-up for the project you will receive additional ideas on developing the project in your classroom and safety tips for student projects that will be published on the WEB. It is important that you follow through with your commitment to participate in this project. If you sign-up it is a promise to follow through.
Detailed outline of project: The project will involve the participating classroom developing one written and visual project about a unique animal in their area. The project will focus on how this animal has adapted to the changes in its environment. Possible ideas to consider when selecting an animal:
- Has this animal been re-introduced into its native habitat?
- Have natural wildlife reserves or protection laws been established for this animal?
- How has this animal changed over time to become what it is today?
- What are the characteristics of the animal that helps it to live where it does?
Once the projects have been completed, they will be sent electronically or by mail to the host classroom. The projects will then be placed on the WEB as part of the Penguins Around the World web site. The goal of this project is to create an educational resource for students and teachers to used that was created by students. (This section gives specific details on what each participate in the project will be responsible for.)
When you have created a posting for a Collaborative Project you will need to send it to several educational mailing list services. These services send out project announcements to educators subscribing to educational e-mail listings. As you receive e-mails from classrooms that sign-up for your project you should reply to them letting them know if they have been selected to the project.
Following is a listing of educational mailing list services where you can post your request for
collaboration:
- Global Schoolhouse Project Registry--HILITES@gsn.org --one-stop posting address ensures that your project will receive the widest possible distribution around the world.
- NickNacks Tellcollaborate!--Lots of advice on planning, developing, and posting a collaborative project.
- Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections-- IECC (Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections) is a free service to help teachers link with classrooms around the world to develop collaborative project exchanges.
- Classroom Connect Mail List--Classroom Connect will post your project to their mailing list.
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