Mission: Penguin? Lesson Ideas

Tips for Adapting Lessons for Distanced and Remote Learners!

Each week, we provide two new lesson opportunities.  Some will be very easy to adapt to a distanced classroom setting while others may require a bit more thinking.  We're here to help with that!  Remember, you can skip any lessons you choose and still provide your students with a great mission experience.  Even under normal conditions, it is rare that a class does EVERY lesson associated with a mission, so be kind to yourselves.  Less really can be more!

That being said, I'll add to this page weekly so you can find adaptation ideas for the lessons you DO choose to do. ​

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Day 1: To the Galapagos
In person with distancing: This lesson sets the stage for the mission with a mapping activity as well as setting up data collection protocols.  Your existing protocols for handling papers should be all the modification needed.
Remote learning:  Use tools like Google Maps to support your online discussion.  Share pdf maps, journal pages, and data collection pages through your learning management system so students can access them digitally!

Day 2: Sounds Different
​In person with distancing: For the opening demo, use the variation where you are the one touching the string.  Use gloved hands and/or sanitize between students.  Students will be able to work in socially distanced pairs by providing a longer length of string and taking turns attaching objects.  Each partner holds one end of the string to their ear.  They can swing the object to tap it against a desk or chair leg.
Remote:  This is a great raid the recycling bin sort of activity.  The materials, even for the bonus design challenge, are flexible and easily scavenged.  The only must have item is some sort of string or yarn.  After introducing the lesson during a class session or though your learning management system, have students complete the challenge and report out with videos  or during your next class session.

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Day 3: Beaks, Beaks, Beaks
​In person with distancing: Provide each student their own baggie of "food" to have at their designated workspace.  If possible gather enough "beaks" for each student to have one.  Have students work with gloved hands, or sanitize hands and "beaks" before trading them with a partner.
Remote:  Encourage students to gather their own materials at home!  Challenge them to get creative with the different types of "beaks" they gather or assemble.  Remind them to ask their adults before using any food or small objects for this activity.  After students explore independently at home, gather for a group discussion or share reflections on your LMS.  Be sure to talk about how the different "beaks" and "foods" they gathered may have produced different results!

Day 4: Same and Different
​In person with distancing: This lesson has students assemble and compare life-size animal posters.  Instead of working in collaborative groups, share page seven of the lesson with students so they can complete the Venn diagram portion of the activity by comparing the animal outlines.  If time and space permit, students can assemble their own six page life size penguin puzzles.

Remote:  If students are able to print at home, a life size animal poster could become a wonderful family project.  Share a link to download the posters!  Alternatively, have students use the images on page seven of the lesson as a reference as you collaboratively create your triple Venn diagrams.  The life-size animal posters are also visible in Mobile Headquarters and Virtual Mobile HQ slides so those images could also be used to complete the Venn diagrams.

Click to Access Virtual Mobile HQ slides

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Day 5: Blubber (La Loberia)

​In person with distancing: Have students sanitize their hands prior to trying the blubber glove.  Consider having students bring materials from home to construct their insulating alternative.  Provide a collection of additional materials for students who were not able to bring things from home.  If needed (to ensure social distancing) students can work independently rather in teams.

Remote:  Send the blubber glove assembly directions home to adults.  If they are unable to construct a glove, demonstrate the use of a blubber glove during your class meeting or with a video on your LMS.  Then challenge students to create two or more insulating designs as described in the lesson and compare them to find the most effective solution.  Encourage them to be creative in their materials choices and use what is on hand.  Remember to check the recycling bin too!

Day 6: Relative Abundance
(The Rookery)
In person with distancing: This card game can be modified to play at individual desks by splitting up the draw pile so each student has their own.  Instead of trading cards with one another, students can select from their face up discards or face down draw cards when they roll a “T.”  To simplify things further, have just one die and all students adapt their cards based on each roll of the die.
Remote:  To keep printing to a minimum, families who are able to print the game cards, boards, and die at home can print just a single game board.  If it is impossible to get game parts to students, focus on the ELA integration instead as this can be done without any special materials.  

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Day 7: Buoyancy (Kicker Rock)
In person with distancing: Instead of having students work collaboratively, give them small set of materials and small containers of water to create and test their own designs.  Have students share their successes and struggles and then redesign their own small, neutrally buoyant objects. 
Remote:  This lesson offers another opportunity for creative scavenging!  Encourage students to share their collections of materials as well as their design attempts through your learning management system.  Direct the adults at home to cut the top off of a water or soft drink bottle so students have a deeper water column in which to test their designs.

Day 8: Blue-Footed Booby
​(Punta Pitt)
In person with distancing: This lesson can be completed with only slight modifications in your classroom using any art supplies you wish.  They will decorate their own “foot” as per the lesson, but instead of working directly on the “foot” of a classmate, flip each student’s second foot template over and color the back with the side of a crayon.  Each student should use a unique color.  Cut that foot into pieces to create a puzzle for each student.  Distribute these puzzle pieces to classmates making sure they know who each piece belongs to.  Alternately, cut the pieces and write that student’s name on the back of each piece.  Once students have decorated their classmates’ foot puzzle pieces, those pieces should be retuned to their “owner” who will re-assemble the foot for display.  This activity can happen throughout the week so papers have time to sit between students. 

Remote: Begin the lesson by brainstorming positive attributes about one another during a class meeting or through your learning management system.  Students can use their classmates ideas to decorate their own “feet” at home.  Encourage students to get creative with art supplies, try cutting up old magazines for collage or creating mixed-media feet using whatever is on hand! ​

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Day 9: Tortoise Special

​In person with distancing:  Have students work independently rather than in groups.  Share work by projecting photos or using a document camera so that students can get a closer look without getting closer to one another!
Remote: Once again, encourage families to use materials they have on hand for this activity.  Empty cereal or shipping boxes make great raw materials.  Share student work in your LMS or the Go2Science Publish It page!  Also, share the arts integration with families as it makes a great family craft activity.

Day: 10 Ocean Currents: Go with the Flow (Santa Cruz)
In person with distancing:  If at all possible, take this active game outdoors.  Note that two long lengths of rope are optional materials for this activity.  To ensure distancing, use the rope variation and make knots or tape marks at socially distanced intervals.  Then, have fun modeling and discussing currents!
Remote: During your class meeting or in a short video talk about or demonstrate mixing hot and cold water in a bathtub as described in “Setting the Stage.”  Instead of adapting the active group game, focus on the arts integration.  It is a perfect activity to do at home under close adult supervision.  Have students show the representations of currents they create.  Discuss how,  like the wax, water of differing temperatures can flow past each other without completely mixing.

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Day :11 Rafting North Seymour)

​In person with distancing:  Instead of working in teams, pair students so that one records results and the other manipulates the model.  If needed, have each pair test just some of the animals so that you can alternate groups at a limited number of water tubs.  Compare results across groups to build consensus about the likely outcomes.
Remote: Share page five of the lesson pdf with the adults at home.  If they do not have any styrofoam trays available, encourage them to test alternative materials.  Craft foam, lids from small plastic containers, or a square piece of plastic from a lettuce box are all possibilities.  Be sure the adults understand that the raft should not support the penny collection for all of the animals.  Only some animals will be successful. 

Day 12: Publishing
In person with distancing: After a group planning session determine which students will make which elements for the final display.  Students can complete components individually, then add them to the group display.  Remember to share your results on the Publish It! page.  We’d love to see what you create.
Remote: Instead of creating a physical poster, try creating a slide show or even a BitMoji style poster session.  Students can take screen shots of the evidence or write and draw about it in their journals.  Have students determine which elements they will contribute to the collective final display.  Remember to include a statement of the hypothesis, a description of the testing method, the evidence collected, analysis of that evidence, and conclusions!  We can’t wait to see what you create!