On-The-Go Animal Guides

TIPC Ratings

The students were working in the Ideal range for Resarch and Information Fluency. This project was a culmination of our animal studies unit so students were already familiar with terms and megafauna. They were challenged to put their knowledge of animal relationships and adaptations to use in a relevant way so that others could benefit from their learning. Students were given a guide sheet and worked in groups to research the animal. They chose their own groups based on what animal they were interested in researching. The students used books from the library and Internet search sites such as OneSearch, DuckDuckGo and Pebble Go to find information about their animals. Because students were already familiar with content vocabulary and concepts from learning about the world’s various environments, they were able to hit the ground running. Most groups finished the required research and continued to find additional facts beyond the requirements. The facts that came from their own curiosity proved to be the most interesting for them and the ones they highlighted the most in their final product. One group, for example, learned that the large mouth bass has an amazing sense of smell. They were so proud of this fact in their video that their enthusiasm seemed to better engage the rest of the class when they watched the video. Groups also did some field research when they visited Three Lakes Park to view the animals up close and figure out where the best place was to put their QR codes.

Students worked in the Ideal range of Communication & Collaboration as they took on new roles in this activity. They became the experts and needed to create an interesting site to engage community members and encourage them to learn more about the animals in their back yards. Students were asked to teach about their animals in the most interactive way that they could using a blog which could be accessed by visitors to Three Lakes Park via a QR code. With that goal in mind, some groups worked on a video, others created “fact or fiction” games that reflected a fun way that they like to learn, and others created pixie pictures to illustrate life cycles. Many groups delegated tasks and were able to create more than one technology project to enhance their site. They used what they liked from their favorite websites to make their blog more interesting for others. Because they had the editing link, their sites would often look different in the morning. This was because students were going over to each others’ houses and working on their sites at home. They continue to make edits to improve their sites and better serve the community!

Students worked in the Ideal range of Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. With so many choices regarding their information and how to present it, students had to decide which facts were best to include and how to effectively communicate those ideas to the public. As they worked on their projects, the students needed less and less teacher assistance. They were taking advantage of shortcuts on the keyboard, dropping photos and videos into their folders for future use, and applying their knowledge from former Keynote lessons to perform advanced skills, like transitions and builds, on their own. They gained a better understanding of the pros and cons of each type of digital tool and made decisions based upon those insights. One of the goals of the project was to persuade visitors to protect the animals and preserve their environment, so students had think of ways to do that as well. This challenged them to apply the facts they learned to a new and specific situation at Three Lakes Park. Students also had the chance to help design the QR code poster that was displayed at the park. As a class they named important elements to include on the sign. Since they wanted to get people’s attention and make it easy to read, they realized the importance of font and color choice. Each group worked on a design and voted on the final poster as a class. Throughout the project, students were presented with challenges that had more than one solution. At the end of the project, they evaluated how well they performed each step of the process using a rubric.

Students worked in the Ideal range of Creativity and Innovation. They enjoyed making things that were different from their classmates and that would “WOW” their audience. One student really wanted to make a game. Each day he would ask how to make a game, so the teacher introduced him to Quia and gave him a brief overview of how to program the game. He produced an amazing game and the questions reflected a strong understanding and ability to extend the knowledge. He created “distractor” choices that were tricky, unless you read his group’s site. That’s just one example of how students went beyond the basic requirements for the assignment and took risks. It was exciting to see what they came up with. Everything was left up to individual groups and each page reflects the diverse ideas in the class.