Summary
This lesson focuses on the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay. Since the Chesapeake Bay is a crucial habitat for birds, students, working either independently or with 1 partner, are assigned a bird along with an “enemy” such as pollution, invasive species, etc. They conduct research on their bird and enemy, then create a stylized, cartoonish “angry bird” and villain. They then present their project to the class. Students in the audience use twiducate.com to “tweet” constructive feedback during others’ presentations. Finally, students print out their “angry birds” and “enemies” and help construct a class mural of everyone’s work.
TIPC Ratings
Developing. Students are provided with Chesapeakebay.net to do the research on their bird. However, they are not provided with any resources to research their enemy and must plan/conduct this research independently.
Approaching: Students pick their own partners or work independently if they prefer. The can choose whatever software (ActivInspire, photoshop, etc.) they want to design/modify their angry birds and enemies. They are encouraged to embed videos within their projects to receive extra credit. They also communicate reflectively during presentations using twiducate.com.
Approaching: Especially in the “enemy” portion of the project, students must research and ask themselves “why” their enemy is so destructive to the Chesapeake Bay. They are also encouraged to incorporate this information into the picture they create. They also must determine the effects of various factors for the class mural portion.
Ideal/Target. I believe this is the strength of the entire project. The teacher models examples of angry birds, speech balloons, and enemies in the introductory flipchart to help inspire students to push the envelope and inspire creativity. From there, students are free to decide how they want to create their images and what information to include. Students are free to use whatever digital tools they choose to help them in this process.
Student Artifact
