Choose Your View	10 Big Ideas

  An HTML white paper on "Why." Electronic field trips address some educational issues while raising others; the issues raised in the context of the electronic field trip should be considered challenges that teachers and students can face together.

  An introduction to two teachers currently using technology in their classrooms. Learn about the challenges and opportunities they and their students experienced using the Internet.

1. Ellis Island

   Includes a detailed description of the unit. Students will conduct primary and secondary research to learn more about their cultural and ethnic heritage.

   • Lesson One: Introduction to Immigration. Read and discuss selected resources about children and immigration. Children develop an understanding of the concept of immigration and reasons why people immigrate.

   • Lesson Two: Immigration Explorations, Part 1. Form students into research groups to visit sites on immigration that were created by other children. These sites will provide models for students to complete their own research.

   • Lesson Three: Oral Histories. Using the criteria they developed earlier, students begin to conduct oral histories of family members to learn about their cultural and ethnic heritage. Prior to starting, students and teachers together develop a list of questions that students will use in their interviews and research.

   • Lesson Four: Immigration Explorations, Part 2. After they've completed their oral histories, students conduct secondary source research using the internet and library resources to learn more about the backgrounds of their family's cultural and ethnic heritages.

   • Lesson Five: Creative Writing/Historical Journals. Having finished their primary and secondary research, students write a series of journal entries, from the perspective of one of their ancestors, on what life was like in that time period.

   • Lesson Six: Final Reports. Students write up reports, including a summary of their research findings and their historical journal entries, to be shared with friends and families. Students should draw on the criteria developed during their initial explorations to guide the format of their reports.

2. The Hispanic World

   Includes a detailed description of the unit. Students will conduct primary and secondary research to know the "Hispanohablantes" in the world. These explorations will serve as windows for these Spanish-speaking countries for students to acquire information and impression from different perspectives.

   • Lesson One: Hispanic World. Whole group discuss the Spanish-speaking countries in the world. Students will develop general knowledge about the cultural background of these countries, ancient cultures in Mexico, Central America, and Peru, Spanish conquistadors in 16th, the independence, and current development.

   • Lesson Two: Spain Field Trip. Whole group discuss the original Spanish-speaking country. Form students into research groups to search different topics like art, cities, museums, universities, musics, dance, and other related sites. They will structure their research with information and graphics for their presentation.

   • Lesson Three: Mexico Field Trip. Whole group discuss the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. From library or WWW resources in team work, students will get general/profound knowledge about this country. Also they will specially develop insight into our own language and culture while know Mexico, the neighbor of the United States.

   • Lesson Four: Central America & the Caribbean. Whole group discusses the Spanish-speaking countries in Central America and the Caribbean. Form students into research groups to choose one country in each group as research topic. They structure the exploration as presentation form with interesting information and graphics.

   • Lesson Five: South America. Whole group discusses the Spanish-speaking countries in this area. Notice the historical background here that Brazil is not a Spanish-speaking country but Portuguese-speaking country. Form students into research groups to pick up one country as research topic in each group. They will struture their research as presentation form with interesting information and graphics.

   • Lesson Six: Reflection on the Hispanic World Field Trip. Students write up reports, including their general impression about these Spanish-speaking countries and special impression about certain country, their feeling about these countries associated with learning Spanish, and their expectation for further learning.

3. Comparing Landscapes

   Students will visit two on-line art museums to view and analyze several landscapes from both Asian and European-Impressionist painters. Students will also create landscape paintings of their own in the style of the two genres.

   • Lesson One: Exploring Asian Landscapes. Students visit an on-line Asian art museum, analyze several landscapes, and explore the painting techniques.

   • Lesson Two: Exploring Impressionist Landscapes. Students visit an on-line art museum in Paris, analyze several landscapes, and explore Impressionist painting techniques.

   • Lesson Three: Comparing Asian and Impressionist Landscapes. Students draw on the knowledge of Asian and Impressionist landscapes they have gained during the previous two lessons.

4. Dinosaurs and Us

   Students will visit several on-line museums with dinosaur exhibits. While at the sites students will gather information about dinosaurs' habitats and survival needs and ways in which dinosaurs met these needs. This information will serve as the basis for a discussion of adaptation. In this discussion a comparison will be made between adaptation of species including humans.

   • Lesson One: Visiting Museums. Students will visit museums and gather information about dinosaur habitats, survival needs, and how they met these needs.

   • Lesson Two: Discussion of Adaptation. Students will synthesize the information they gathered at the museum to discuss ways in which dinosaurs adapted to their environments. Students will also apply the same logic to an analysis of human habitat, survival needs, and need fulfillment to understand how people have adapted to their environment.

1. Plimouth Plantation
   Students will visit the Plimoth Plantation web site to learn more about how people lived in this country during the 17th century.

2. Bon Voyage
   Students will use the Internet to tour places such as the medieval lands of Europe or the mystical world of Asia. Students will experience authentic learning while exploring actual sites, manipulating real data, creating mathematical functions and planning budgets.

3. Midwest 16,000 Years Ago
   Students will visit a natural history web site to learn about life in the midwest 16,000 years ago and draw conclusions about the effects of glaciers on topography.

  Tips & Techniques. Research findings have shaped this list of tips and techniques for conducting electronic field trips, as has an understanding of the Internet environment.

  Related Resources provides teachers with places to visit to enhance the activities and units available at this site.

Choose Your View	10 Big Ideas