Fourth graders used the Internet to research a biome/habitat including animals, plants, endangered species, climate, location in the world, and other interesting facts. They practiced evaluating Websites and recording citations. Next, they wrote a descriptive paragraph of their biome/habitat and recorded it as a podcast in GarageBand. Students used the Flickr Creative Commons search feature as well as public domain photo sites to find pictures of plants and animals. Finally, ComicLife was used to create a poster of their research.

 

 

A treasure hunt. A world-wide game of hide and seek. An outdoor puzzle. No matter how it is defined, one thing is for sure, geocaching is so much fun! Fourth graders participated in their first geocache on Wednesday morning. Armed with handheld GPS receivers, students used the receiver's digital compass to navigate across campus in search of their elusive cache. This week's treasure, pictures of currency from around the world.

 

There are many benefits to including geocaching in the curriculum. First, students can apply principles of math, geography, science and logic to a real problem in a very hands-on way. Second, they develop an understanding of mapping systems, as well as the principles of direction, distance, and location. Finally, it serves as an extension to the classroom curriculum. The papers in this week's cache led students to research world currencies and use an online currency converter to better understand the value of foreign currency against the U.S. dollar.