Global Connections
By Joseph, Linda C
There are many mentored and data-entry activities that allow your students to participate with classrooms across the country and around the world. FINDING safe, engaging collaborative projects for your classroom doesn’t have to be a challenge. There are many mentored and data-entry activities that allow your students to participate with classrooms across the country and around the world. Many of the Internet projects have been around for years with proven track records. Others have the backing of nonprofit foundations. Browse through these sites to find a project that is just right for your classroom.
BIRDSLEUTH
Introduce your students to inquiry through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Citizen Science program. Most Wanted Birds is the first of a series of modules being developed with major backing from the National Science Foundation. By using this curriculum, kids learn how to identify birds, keep investigative journals, and submit data. Information from the database is then used for further exploration. Resources that support these lessons include a Teacher’s Guide, Reference Guide, Investigator’s Journal, and resource kit materials, including the Focus Bird Cards and Bird ID CD-ROM. To participate in the program you will need to order the curriculum kit for $69.95 plus $5.00 shipping, which entitles you to free online access to module two, Investigating Evidence.
THE CENTER FOR INNOVATION IN ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE EDUCATION
Founded in 1988, CIESE became part of the Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in 2004. Its interdisciplinary projects focus on collaboration and realtime data from the Internet. Down the Drain, Bucket Buddies, and Human Genetics are representative of collaborative projects conducted during the spring and fall each year. Examples of ongoing projects that use real-time data are Musical Plates, Weather Scope, and Navigational Vectors. Each project is linked to the National Science Standards and NCTM math standards. Rounding out the site are more projects on primary sources and links to partner projects.
GLOBAL GROCERY LIST PROJECT
Don’t have a clue about how much food costs in your town? What about in other towns around the world? Have no idea? Then go on a shopping spree with the Global Grocery List Project. The grocery challenge began in December 1987. Since then, data has been collected and examined by classes all over the world.
GLOBAL SCHOOLNET
The Global SchoolNet Foundation organizes, manages, and facilitates projects for schools. Its HILITES archives and mailing list keeps educators up-to-date on project ideas. The project registry allows schools to register upcoming events in which others might want to participate. Projects range from videoconferencing to electronic publishing. In addition, its Global Schoolhouse supports a virtual community where educators, students, and parents can collaborate through projects such as GeoGame, Letters to Santa, and Doors to Diplomacy.
THE GLOBE PROGRAM
Inspire your students to be environmental scientists and learn about the scientific process. Through a scientifically rigorous program of Earth observations, students will aid research scientists in their study of the global environment. In addition, The GLOBE Program links students with these research scientists and students in more than 100 countries via forums. The protocols or measurement activities include the following categories: atmosphere/climate, soil, hydrology, land cover/biology, phenology, and GPS. Before participating in The GLOBE Program, teachers must attend a workshop. Some equipment is also necessary and should be factored into the school budget. GLOBE, established in 1995, is managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and Colorado State University (UCAR/CSU) with support from NASA, NSF, and the U.S. Department of State.
IEARN
This nonprofit organization creates structured projects that facilitate engaged learning and youth making a difference on an International scale. Projects are initiated and designed by students and teachers to develop cultural awareness, literacy, critical thinking skills, and involvement in community issues. More than 100 projects are offered, such as Books Mark The World, the Daffodil and Tulip Project, and Connecting Cultures: Understanding Our Connected Past, to Build on a United Future. Be sure to visit the Web site for a complete list.
IECC: INTERCULTURAL E-MAIL CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS
IECC is a free service designed to assist teachers in finding other classrooms to connect with for email and projects. Since its inception in 1992, it has distributed more than 28,000 requests for email partnerships. A new feature, IECC-INTERGEN, helps teachers and their classrooms create intergenerational partnerships with volunteers who are more than 50 years of age.
THE JASON PROJECT
The JASON Project, founded in 1989 by Robert D. Ballard, Ph.D., emphasizes real science, real time, real learning. Its mission is to inspire in students a life-long passion for learning in science, math, and technology through hands-on, real-world scientific discovery. Students in grades 4-9 embark on expeditions led by scientists that allow for all sorts of interaction. Recent expeditions include Operation: Monster Storms, Geometry and Return to Titanic, and Mysteries of Earth and Mars. There is a nominal cost for the curriculum.
JOURNEY NORTH
Each year, students and teachers follow wildlife migrations and participate in a variety of activities during Journey North. Of particular interest is watching the migration of the monarch butterfly. Have you ever observed a ravenous caterpillar consume a bunch of leaves? Have you ever watched a butterfly emerge from a chrysalis? On the resource page at Journey North for Kids, there is a series of movies about monarch biology with discussion questions to pose before viewing. These visual presentations are great introductions to the life cycle process. In addition, you can track hummingbirds, gray whales, whooping cranes, bald eagles, robins, and even tulip gardens. Journey North is a free online educational service supported by the Annenberg Media.
KIDLINK
Kidlink is owned by a Norwegian nonprofit organization named the Kidlink Society and is aimed at getting as many youth as possible involved in a global dialogue. Several languages are supported. Check out the Kidlink faces page to view self-portraits. Participate in one of the discussion boards such as Making Our World Better. Contribute art to KidArt. These examples are only a fraction of the activities that abound on Kidlink, a great gathering place for kids around the world.
MIDLINK MAGAZINE
Are you ready to publish student writing on the Web? MidLink is an award-winning magazine supported by North Carolina State University and the University of Central Florida with a mission to highlight exemplary work from the most creative classrooms around the globe. Select one of its projects such as Hidden Stories or submit your own. Read the guidelines, and post the work on your school Web page. MidLink editors will then review submissions and select articles to feature in the coming months.
MY HERO
Families, schools, and organizations are encouraged to publicly honor heroes who have made a difference through words, images, and short films. On the teacher page there are lessons, resources, and a calendar with hero stories for each day. The eCreate tool allows teachers to create an index of student stories so students can view each other’s work and share stories with their parents. Students are provided a stepby-step tutorial for creating a MY HERO Web page. This site offers a wealth of material for learning, thinking, and writing about heroes.
NASA QUEST
NASA offers several initiatives for educators and students. Challenges are free, Web-based, interactive explorations designed to engage students in authentic scientific and engineering processes. Past challenges include Design a Planet, Spaceward Bound, and Design a Mars Airplane. In addition, there are free online tools and resources such as Moon Math, Virtual Skies, and Wings over Mars. These various software and simulation programs will engage students of all ages.
POSTCARD GEOGRAPHY
The Postcard Geography project is a really easy, fun activity to do with students. You exchange purchased or handmade cards with other classrooms. Your students describe information about the geography of your area on the back of the cards. There are all sorts of tie-in activities you can do with the project.
WESTWARD HO!
Load those wagons. Kiss the kin goodbye. You’ve decided to embark on an extraordinary adventure that will take you and your family across miles of dangerous, unfamiliar territory. You’ve gathered with other pioneers in Independence, Mo. Everything that will fit inside is packed into your Prairie Schooner. You are as ready as you can be for the journey of nearly 2,000 miles. This popular project has been leading wagons west for more than 15 years through interactive forums, chats, and emails.
Be sure to visit the MultiMedia & Internet@Schools home page (www.rnrnischools.corn) with CyberBee’s biweekly Web Pick. Then fly over to CyberBee (www.cyberbee.com) for more curriculum ideas, research tools, and activities to use with your students and staff. STANDARDS
NATIONAL CONTENT STANDARDS
Below is a selected list of subject-area content standards that generally encompass Internet collaborative projects. More specific standards can be applied depending on the project and its curriculum.
Technology Standard
Technology Communications Tools
Students use telecommunications to collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and other audiences.
Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences.
English Language Arts Standard
Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
Geography Standard
The World in Spatial Terms
How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information.
Mathematics Standard
Data Analysis and Probability
Formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect, organize, and display relevant data to answer them.
Select and use appropriate statistical methods to analyze data.
Develop and evaluate inferences and predictions that are based on data.
Understand and apply basic concepts of probability.
Science Standard
Science in Personal and Social Perspective
Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges.
Social Studies Standard
Global Connections
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of global connections and interdependence.
RESOURCES
BirdSleuth
www.birds.cornell.edu/birdsleuth
The Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education
www.kl2science.org/collabprojs.html
Global Grocery List Project
http://landmark-project.com/ggl
Global SchoolNet
www.globalschoolnet.org
The GLOBE Program
www.globe.gov/globe_flash.html
iEARN
www.iearn.org
IECC: lntercultural E-mail Classroom Connections
www.iecc.org
The JASON Project
http://pilot.jason.org/preview/home.aspx
Journey North
www.learner.org/jnorth
Kidlink
www.kidlink.org
MidLink Magazine
www.ncsu.edu/midlink
MY HERO
www.myhero.com/myhero
NASA Quest
http://quest.nasa.gov
Postcard Geography
http://pcg.cyberbee.com
Westward HO!
www.cyberbee.com/wwho
by Linda C.Joseph
Columbus Public Schools
Library of Congress
Linda Joseph is the author of Net Curriculum: An Educator’s Guide to Using the Internet, published by CyberAge Books. The recipient of numerous awards, in addition to her work in the Columbus Public Schools and the Library of Congress, Linda is currently a part-time instructor for Ohio State University. Communications to the author may be addressed to her at ljoseph@iwaynet.net.
Copyright Information Today, Inc. Sep/Oct 2007
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