Unit of Practice
The
GeoBear Project
Mission: To boldly go where no bear has gone before.
Students send small stuffed animals (bears and other
critters) on journeys all over
the United States and the world. Students follow
their traveling
friends’ adventures for up to six months, then share
their critters’ stories
with each other and the community through final
projects which include HyperStudio
presentations, web
sites, and more traditional tri-fold
poster displays. A team of students called GeoBear
Trackers work from
early October to June maintaining an AppleWorks
database and
computer map using 3-D
Atlas ‘98 to document GeoBears’ journeys.
Invitation
Students travel the world vicariously as they follow
the journeys of
stuffed animals who are helped along by human traveling
companions,
most of them strangers. GeoBears lead students along
paths to fascinating
places, paths which are spontaneously chosen as
GeoBears are handed
from one traveler to another. The GeoBear Project
brings the world into
the classroom in unpredictable and exciting ways
revealing the diversity
of the natural and cultural worlds and demonstrating
how very small
the world is becoming.
Unit Details
Subjects: Social Studies/Geography,
English/Language Arts,
Technology
Learning Level: Intermediate, Middle
School
Author: Reginald A. Hollinger,
John C. Dempsey Middle School, Delaware, Ohio
Standards
Geography: Geography
for Life: National Geography Standards
http://www.teentalk.com/geo/standard/standard.html
- use maps and other geographic representations,
tools, and technologies
to acquire, process, and
report information from a spatial perspective.
- use mental maps to organize information about
people, places, and
environments in a spatial
context.
- know and understand the physical and human characteristics
of places.
- know and understand that people create regions
to interpret Earth's complexity.
- know and understand the characteristics, distribution,
and complexity of Earth's
cultural mosaics.
Language Arts: National
Language Arts Standards
http://www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks/standardslib/langarts.html
- Demonstrates competence in the general skills
and strategies of the writing process.
- Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in
written compositions.
- Demonstrates competence in the general skills
and strategies of the reading process
- Gathers and uses information for research purposes
- Demonstrates competence in speaking and listening
as tools for learning.
Technology: Technology
Foundation Standards for Students
http://cnets.iste.org/sfors.htm
- Students are proficient in the use of technology.
- Students practice responsible use of technology
systems, information, and software.
- Students develop positive attitudes toward technology
uses that support lifelong learning,
collaboration, personal
pursuits, and productivity.
- Students use technology tools to enhance learning,
increase productivity, and promote
creativity.
- Students use productivity tools to collaborate
in constructing technology- enhanced models,
prepare publications, and
produce other creativeworks.
- 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.
- Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and
collect information from a variety of sources.
- Students use technology tools to process data
and report results.
- Students evaluate and select new information resources
and technological innovations based
on the appropriateness for
specific tasks.
Situations
Most work is done in the classroom which is equipped
with traditional classroom
resources as well as three computers and a scanner.
A self-selected team of volunteer
GeoBear Trackers work after school daily
to up-date the database and computer map.
Occasional GeoBear contacts lead students out of
the classroom to distant sites. More
often GeoBear contacts result in visits to the classroom
by people GeoBears have met.
Final project work is done in the classroom, the
school’s media center, and in students’ homes.
Tasks
1. In September students prepare GeoBears for launch.
They select a small stuffed animal
and make a tag to tie around
GeoBear’s neck. The tag includes a
photo of the class and instructions
for GeoBear traveling companions.
2. About October 1, students begin launching GeoBears.
Individual students are responsible
for finding a human traveling
companion for their GeoBears, but sometimes the teacher
finds opportunities or members
of the community ask for GeoBears. The goal is to have all
GeoBears “on the road” by
Thanksgiving.
3. As GeoBears begin to check in by e-mail, snail
mail, fax, and telephone the teacher
takes a few minutes daily
to share mail with all students.
4. Volunteer student GeoBear Trackers report
after school Monday through Friday
to maintain the database
and computer map using the mail received from GeoBears as their
primary source of data.
5. Steps 3 and 4 continue throughout the year as
teacher and students work through the geography
course of study. Connections
are made between the course of study and spontaneous
GeoBear travel experiences
where appropriate.
6. Occasionally a GeoBear will meet someone or go
some place which creates an opportunity
for in-depth study. Mini-units
of study are developed by the teacher to take advantage of
these opportunities.
7. Sometimes GeoBear traveling companions will arrange
to visit the school to share their
experiences with the GeoBears
“up close and personally.”
8. GeoBears begin to return home around mid March.
By May 1, between 40 and 50% of
GeoBears have found their
way home. Some of them return with souvenirs and artifacts
collected during their travels.
9. In late April student begin work on final projects.
Projects will be shared with
classmates and the community
at the annual GeoBear Expo which is held
one evening in late May
or early June at the school.
10. Students have the option of creating a HyperStudio
project, a web
site, or a
tri-fold poster presentation
as their final project.
11. Student’s whose GeoBears NEVER checked in create
maps and graphs which
summarize the whole year
of GeoBear travels. These students also create a computer
generated time line using
a computer application called TimeLiner
4.0 .
12. Students write notes of thanks to all their
GeoBears’ human traveling
companions for whom they
have return addresses.
13. Students try to track down GeoBears which did
not return home by contacting
the last known human traveling
companion if a return address is known.
14. Select students, particularly from the GeoBear
Tracker team, help the teacher
maintain the official GeoBear
Project web site at https://www.angelfire.com/oh/geobear
.
Interactions
- Students work individually interacting with a
variety of media and technology as they prepare
GeoBears for launch and
create their final projects.
- Students interact with human traveling companions
all over the world by mail, e- mail,
fax, telephone, and occasional
face to face meetings.
- Students working as GeoBear Trackers interact
as a team to maintain the AppleWorks
database and the 3-D
Atlas map. They mentor one another as they grow more proficient
using these tools.
- Students mentor one another in the final project
phase. Students who are proficient with
HyperStudioand
web
site creation share their skills with other students.
- Students publish their final projects in presentations
to classmates and the community at the
GeoBear Expo. Web
sites are published on the world wide web.
Assessment
Assessment is done at all stages and ranges from
debriefing and processing to the use of
check lists and simple rubrics. Much of the work
is never translated into a grade. The GeoBear
Project’s purpose is to enrich and extend the geography
curriculum and experience and seeks
to engage students at a level that transcends daily
graded school work.
Tools
Small stuffed animals (supplied by student), camera,
oak tag, copy machine, laminating
material, nylon twine, computers, internet access,
computer applications including AppleWorks,
3-D Atlas ‘98,
an internet browser, TimeLiner
4.0, internet based web page hosting site
(e.g. Angelfire.com or Geocities.com), other miscellaneous
materials
Projects
Students have the option of producing either a HyperStudio
stack, a web
site,
or a more traditional tri-fold poster presentation.
The purpose of the final project is for
each student to tell his/her GeoBear’s story.
For More Information
Visit the official Willis
Middle School GeoBear Project web site at
https://www.angelfire.com/oh/geobear
.
