Weekly App Practical- Global communicators

"Biomes Around the World" Lesson Brainstorm

I would like to incorporate the apps Google Earth and ePals into the unit that I teach on Biomes at the end of the school year. Students learn about the different biomes on the earth such as the desert, grasslands, tundra etc. My idea for this unit is to connect with teacher on ePals from countries that represent these different biomes. I would then like to work on a join project with those classes, if they are agreeable, to have our students "report" on the biome that they live in. This could take whatever form the class chooses. They can write a brochure for our biomes, make a video report, or write a paper detailing the important characteristics of the different biomes in North America. We would then share our reports with the classes in the other countries and hopefully receive their reports back on the biomes that they live in. I have sent collaboration requests through the ePals site to a number of different teachers all over the globe. Uganda, Italy, Mexico, and Spain are just a few of the places that I am looking to connect with someone. Make your own account and check out my ePals profile here. 

Google Earth will come into play as I am introducing the different biomes to my students. Once we
have made a connection with another school, we can explore what their country looks like with the app. 

I would like for this to be a student driven endeavor and I would like to experiment with not grading my students on this assignment. I think that the curiosity of what it is like in another country and the chance to represent what it is like where they live will motivate them more than a grade. 

Stay tuned for how this goes! I will report back probably sometime in June as this is usually our last unit!