Internet Integration: Expanding to a Global Perspective
Goal: To understand how geographical and cultural needs and challenges impact systems such as transportation.
Objectives
Students will be able to…
Objectives
Students will be able to…
- Compose a friendly letter
- Identify the most common geographical features located near major cities
- Indicate three common natural resources located near smaller towns and villages across the world
- Summarize the most common types of passenger and cargo transportation in rural and urban areas of at least 3 different countries
Part I: Establishing Connections (ePals)
In this activity, students will communicate with digital penpals in another country via the ePals website/email service. Students will write at least three letters:
1) In the first letter, students will describe what daily life in their community is like. Students will explain what goods and services are available, what residences are like, and what types of jobs people have (as well as how they get to those jobs.)
2) In the second letter, students will brainstorm ideas and predictions about how transportation will change in the future and why. In addition, each student should ask for his/her ePal's feedback about their thoughts -- whether the student in the other country agrees, and why or why not?
3) The last letter will be written at the end of this lesson after Part III. The foreign student will also share his/her ideas with the U.S. student; each student provides feedback on the other student's ideas for how to improve transportation, based on their own experiences as well as the shared learning and resources that have occurred.
1) In the first letter, students will describe what daily life in their community is like. Students will explain what goods and services are available, what residences are like, and what types of jobs people have (as well as how they get to those jobs.)
2) In the second letter, students will brainstorm ideas and predictions about how transportation will change in the future and why. In addition, each student should ask for his/her ePal's feedback about their thoughts -- whether the student in the other country agrees, and why or why not?
3) The last letter will be written at the end of this lesson after Part III. The foreign student will also share his/her ideas with the U.S. student; each student provides feedback on the other student's ideas for how to improve transportation, based on their own experiences as well as the shared learning and resources that have occurred.
Part II: Exploring the World -- A Virtual Global Field Trip (Google Earth)
In this part of the activity, students will use Google Earth to examine features, terrain, and distances between different areas in the world to get a better idea of why and how certain transportation systems are used. As students explore, they should answer the following questions in a journal which will then be entered into an online Wiki entry about their home town.
1) View your home address. Zoom out until you can see your town or city.
2) View the home town/city of your ePal. Your ePal should provide answers to these same questions in the Wiki.
3) Use the distance tool to determine the distance between your residence and your ePal's residence. What geographic obstacles must be crossed if you were to travel between these two sites?
4) Explore the features of the capital city and of a small rural town located in another country (on another continent.) Answer as many of the above questions as you can.
1) View your home address. Zoom out until you can see your town or city.
- What is the layout of the city like?
- What services are available?
- How far are these services from your home?
- What are the closest land and geography features (mountains, forests, deserts, rivers, lakes, oceans, etc)?
- What goods can you get in town?
- What goods are created in your town (or nearby)?
- Are those products only used locally, or are they sent to other places?
- What types of transportation are available? (cars, trucks, bicycles, train, subway, buses, airplanes, etc)
2) View the home town/city of your ePal. Your ePal should provide answers to these same questions in the Wiki.
3) Use the distance tool to determine the distance between your residence and your ePal's residence. What geographic obstacles must be crossed if you were to travel between these two sites?
4) Explore the features of the capital city and of a small rural town located in another country (on another continent.) Answer as many of the above questions as you can.
Part III: Create a "Telecollaboration" Wiki (PBWiki)
In this activity, students in the class will combine efforts with their ePals to create a wiki detailing the natural environments, infrastructure and civil planning, and goods and services of their home towns as well as other places on Earth.
1) Enter at least one new information about your home town which another student has not already entered into the Wiki. Your ePal class will do their same for their home town.
2) Create a Wiki entry for one capital city and one rural city in a country that has not yet been written about in the Wiki. Describe the same information you found for your home town. You may use Google Earth to see maps, terrain, and photos of the area.
1) Enter at least one new information about your home town which another student has not already entered into the Wiki. Your ePal class will do their same for their home town.
2) Create a Wiki entry for one capital city and one rural city in a country that has not yet been written about in the Wiki. Describe the same information you found for your home town. You may use Google Earth to see maps, terrain, and photos of the area.
Part IV: Summary and Conclusion
Based on the data in the wiki, summarize what transportation needs are likely to exist considering the following conditions:
a) Use of goods that are not produced locally.
b) Passenger vs. cargo
c) Rural vs. Urban
d) Affected by different climates and terrains
Write a letter to your ePal with your summary and see if they agree (they should be using the same collaborative Wiki for data.) Discuss back and forth until you've come to a joint agreement or conclusion about the transportation needs for different scenarios, and ideas for how those needs might be met.
a) Use of goods that are not produced locally.
b) Passenger vs. cargo
c) Rural vs. Urban
d) Affected by different climates and terrains
Write a letter to your ePal with your summary and see if they agree (they should be using the same collaborative Wiki for data.) Discuss back and forth until you've come to a joint agreement or conclusion about the transportation needs for different scenarios, and ideas for how those needs might be met.
