Archy the Arch – 4601

Summary

Students will be guided by Archy the Arch as he searches for his ancestors from long ago. Applying math, map, and data collection skills, students will become investigators discovering which of the 7 arch structures from Ancient Rome to which he is most closely related. Using Google Earth, Google Sketchup, Google Doc, and graphic organizers, students will first be directed by their teacher, and then will move into small groups in a project based learning activity. Later they will reconvene as a class to share their findings and find the best match for Archy.

TIPC Ratings

The teacher models strategies to guide student investigation using Google Earth. The teacher has designed a challenge that promotes synthesis of resources to have the students address an authentic task. The teacher will support students as they acquire, evaluate, and apply information.

The students assemble and synthesize information to address an authentic task. They will use tools to powerfully display and interact with information.

The teacher will facilitate and formatively assess an authentic task where students are engaged in meaningful communication and purposeful collaboration.
The students will establish group norms and organize roles to address an authentic task. They will also, use appropriate digital tools to facilitate collaboration.

The teacher will facilitate and formatively assess authentic tasks
where students are engaged in meaningful questioning, critical thinking, and problem solving.
The students will generate and respond to purposeful questions. As they are working and in their final write up they will justify their decision-making and/or problem-solving practices. To complete this task the students must apply digital tools to think critically and work on this open-ended authentic tasks that requires many higher order thinking skills

The teacher has designed an opportunity for students to synthesize research, communicate and collaborate, and apply critical thinking skills to address an authentic task. The students will work on this class assignment that blends technology and limited aspects of personal choice. They will generate new ideas relating to arch construction. As they are working on this activity students will question, summarize and make predictions on existing knowledge using Google Earth and a Google Form.