Online

Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities

Lesson Idea Name: Plants!
Content Area: Science
Grade Level(s): 3rd
Content Standard Addressed:
S3L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the similarities and differences between plants,
animals, and habitats found within geographic regions (Blue Ridge Mountains, Piedmont, Coastal Plains,
Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau) of Georgia.
2. Construct an explanation of how external features and adaptations (camouflage, hibernation, migration,
mimicry) of animals allow them to survive in their habitat.

Technology Standard Addressed: 6. Creative Communicator: Students communicate clearly and express
themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media
appropriate to their goals.
Selected Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity: Journey North
URL(s) to support the lesson: This is the URL for the example projects on Monarch Butterflies:
http://journeynorth.org/monarch/
Describe how you would incorporate an Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity in your
classroom (Minimum 2 paragraph overview):
I would love to incorporate this particular project into my classroom because it will give my students a chance
to go do research on their own and find creative ways to present their findings. While the goal of this lesson is
to track the migration of certain animal groups, using the online project will also give the students the
opportunity to view the animals in real-time online, then showcase their work and make it their own. Rather
than have a strict grading rubric for the project, the students will be graded on their use of technology and
the facts they report.

The students will be able to view example projects before the activity to gage an idea of what they want their
presentation to look like. They will be allowed to use any type of technology they choose to record their initial
findings before posting them into their final project. While completing the project, they can also compare
their facts and findings to those of students from years before. This will help the students engage in
arguments or creative discussions on the topic with the class.
What technologies would be required to implement this proposed learning activity in a classroom?
Access to the internet, a basic productivity tool of the students choosing to record their initial data, and the
Journey North website itself
Describe how the following features are addressed in this learning experience (note: all of them may not be
addressed in the project, but most should be if you are reaching a high LoTi Level).
a. Collaboration with peers, near-peers, mentors outside their classroom and often beyond their
school: The students will be able to view previous students data to compare/ contrast with their own.
They will also gain ideas from these previous projects to use in their final presentation.
b. Student-centered learning and knowledge creation (creating original data and or producing original
products as a result of engaging in a project): The students will research the migration on their own
and will create their own graphs to present in their final project.
c. Higher-order thinking: They students will have to think specifically about the different factors that
they might need to discuss in their presentation that could affect this migration, as this will not be
given in the instructions.
d. Students publishing their original work to others who will use/care about their product: They will
publish their projects on the classroom blog to showcase for future classes.
Blooms Taxonomy Level(s):

Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating

Summer 2017_SJB
 Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level):

Level 1: Awareness Level 2: Exploration Level 3: Infusion Level 4: Integration

Level 5: Expansion Level 6: Refinement

Lesson idea implementation and Internet Safety Policies: How could you implement this proposed learning
experience and still comply with your districts Internet Safety and Student Privacy policies? To protect the
students, after submitting their completed projects to the teacher, the class will compile all their data
together and the teacher will post the final project to the classroom blog, and the schools website. This way,
while the students will be given due credit, and since they will be under 18, the teacher is the publisher and
responsible for any copyright or privacy issues that arise.

Summer 2017_SJB