So Much Footage!Our mission to Thailand is incredible adventure made even better because our friends Jan, Tu, and Laimek could join us. Not only can they act as translators and guides but the are ALSO super generous and are sharing all of their photos and videos with us! This presents a new problem...what do we leave behind? We work hard to ensure that our field mission videos are developmentally appropriate, tell an interesting and cohesive story, and present evidence students need to evaluate the hypothesis. That means not every amazing moment makes it into the videos. We're sharing some of those photos and videos on our social media feeds so be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! We are also posting some here. We had some of our Super Teachers ask for bonus photos to use to for practicing "productive talk" with their students! Take a look at one of the photos with your students then try one or more of the productive talk moves as your students describe or explain what they see. I love this list:
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Literacy tips for this week's comic!This week Data Dog uses his Photon Collar to make a hard light copy and brings something amazing back to the house! What would your students bring to class if they had a Photon Collar? I wish I could hear THAT discussion! PreK: Focus on feelings!
Kindergarten: Focus on medial sounds.
Grades 1 and 2: Focus on multiple modalities.
Low Tech meets High Tech!
I love, love, LOVE using play dough in combination with 3D printing. Both reinforce learning in three dimensions but in such different ways!
Banteng and elephant, and water buffalo! Oh my!We've added a few new files to the 3D printed wonders collection for Mission: Tigers! We found a cool collection of realistic, life-size animal sculptures and Curtis was able to scan them. Just like the tiger we shared last week, these files seem to print best with linear supports. We recommend using a raft when printing the banteng. The models look a bit angular in our slicer, but printed smoothly.
Evaluating, tracking, and organizing!We'll be searching for many types of evidence on Mission: Tigers! This field research adventure will require students to think not only about the quantity of evidence but also the quality. Unlike calculating a relative abundance ratio as we did with kangaroos in Australia or carnivores and herbivores in Namibia, this hypothesis leaves a bit more room for interpretation. The answer may not be clear cut and we think that's AWESOME! This mission will push students to talk to each other and explain their reasoning. What evidence supports their position? Why might they consider some evidence more significant? Students can record individual thoughts and observations in their journals through writing, drawing and dictation. They might make short videos on classroom tablets. Ultimately, however, the group will need to come to a consensus. One student might be convinced that seeing scratch marks in one place means tigers are making HKK their home. A classmate might point out that one set of scratch marks could be made by a tiger passing though, but if there are scratch marks AND spray it could be stronger evidence. Conversations like these are essential to the process of science! Your students will essentially be engaged in peer review.
Oddball Materials for Mission: Tigers!We work hard to keep materials as simple as possible, but there are a few oddball items you may not have on hand. Remember, you do not need to do every lesson! Below, we've broken materials down by lesson to help you streamline your prep time! K-2 lessons are listed first and I've bolded items I think are likely to be oddballs!
Most of our PreK lessons utilize typical dramatic play props. Most of the materials below are suggested play props. We urge you to customize and make these lessons your own!
There is also a Bird Survey so students can track all the birds they spot as they participate in this mission. Dr. Goodrich wants to know how diverse the bird population is so he's asked us to do a bird survey as we search for signs of a resident tiger population!
Mission Thailand is Live! |
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Meet Beth and Curtis!Presidential Award-Winning teacher and hula hoop fanatic, Beth loves bringing real world science to kids! Beth is fascinated by engineering challenges, technology, and outdoor learning spaces. After 25 years teaching kindergarten, she’s excited to share her passion and experience on-line with classrooms from around the world! Archives
May 2021
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