Starting the Project.. .Adding the Technology

So, anyone that has been reading my dribble here may have seen my comments on starting a project with my classes on finding water on Mars. We’re starting with learning about the Moon, the only planetary body in the solar system humans have visited.

Yesterday, we watched the History Channel episode “The Moon” from “The Universe” series and discussed the proposed permanent outpost NASA is considering. Today, we started preparing for a field trip to the local Challenger Learning Center, where we will be “mission specialists”, taking that return trip to the Moon. Team building, job interviews and vocabulary introduction for everyone!

The tools I’m using to get us started include the following:

Study Stack for the vocabulary

Scoop.It! for article Curation on the Moon

Youtube and Google to find images and video on the Moon as the students write blog articles on whether or not the Moon is really made of cheese (please see Planet Science) to see some of the articles.

Through the blogging, I”m teaching the children how to create digital stories. For this particular assignment, they had to add an image or video. The next assignment will require them to make the images and/or videos more personal. We’ll be tracking the Moon over about 18 days, and they will have to take pictures and/or video of what they see everyday. This should be interesting.

We will also be looking at the night sky and stars, with a lot activities that will integrate Language Arts, Social Studies and Math. (has anyone ever made a Martian calendar?)

After our trip to the Challenger Center, we will begin the water on Mars project. I can’t wait.

Anyone have ideas for me on how to add more technology to this experience?