The Ocean

4th Grade Unit

Thomas Dextradeur

Spring 2015

Technology Integration Rationale

• The ocean is something that surrounds the majority of the world, and is also one of the more mysterious topics students can learn about. Technology is used to see what is really happening below the surface, and can also be essential in educating students. Collaborating with experts, finding pictures, video and research are all valuable tools that aid in learning about the ocean.

• The technology in this presentation will show teachers valuable ways to integrate technology into their lessons on the ocean including activities, videos, blogs, and podcasts to further students skills with technology.

Blog

• The Ocean Research Project is an organization that collects data on the oceans and researches problems, educates through blog and video, and documents all throughout their experiments on the water.

• http://oceanresearchproject.org/categorybiotelemetry/

Ocean Gazing Podcast

• This site offers various audio pieces “that tracks the real-time swirl of creatures, chemicals and currents of our seas.” It also offers lesson plans that align with Common Core standards necessary to teaching requirements

• http://coseenow.net/podcast/

Banana Slug String Band makes music about science and ocean conservation

YouTube Resources

• The Kids Animal Channel offers a long video that teaches students about Marine Mammals and the different types-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjUYEj78RIk

• The Kids Video Show answers a question in this video about plants in the ocean, which can be played after the teacher proposes the question first-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjzuLyVe8r0

Internet Resources

• Teach Ocean Science- This website offers a place to gather and share the many ocean educational resources on the internet. The resources were jointly developed and reviewed by teachers and scientists.

• Education World- An Ocean of Activities- A vast amount of lessons and activities exploring the bodies of water and ocean life lies within this site.

• PBS Teachers- This organization offers numerous lesson plans for various grade levels about the ocean while incorporating science, math, language arts, reading, writing, and more.

KidspirationThe

Ocean

What do you know about the ocean? What do you want to know? What did you learn?

Ocean App

• Explorium is an app that students can use to explore an array of different aspects about the ocean. They can play mini educational game that allow them to have fun and learn at the same time! Click the picture to go to the site!

Ocean Wordsearch!

• There are a multitude of different sites that offer word searches including vocabulary words about the ocean including fish, animals, and other sea aspects. There are even sites that create word searches using the words a teacher chooses. Click the word search to go to the site.

Ocean Worksheets

• This worksheet offers a lesson that provides background information then assesses the students on their understanding of the reading immediately after. Using facts about whales, the teacher is able to see each student’s comprehension through the checking off of boxes for answers.

Ocean Lesson Plans

• Teachervision.com offers an entire website full of lesson plans for teachers to use with their students using themes. In this lesson plan, students learn about ocean currents and how the wind and land masses effect them using manipulatives to aid.

Subject-Specific Website

• Science NetLinks is a wonderful resource for teachers to find lesson plans that are science specific, as well as pertaining to the ocean. Often times there is difficulty finding sufficient lesson plans that are sufficient to teach science lessons, but this website offers a large variety by grade level while using technology.

Uses of the Internet

• National Geographic has been a valuable information source for decades about various aspects of the world. They also offer a wealth of information for students of all age levels about the ocean and also provide activities to further students learning.

• Ocean Portal is a run by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and allows students to research any aspect of the ocean they could ever think of.

Web 2.0

• Ed Tech Teacher is a website that allows teachers and students to collaborate over a multitude of different topics, including the ocean. Professional development tools are offered, as well as many resources that help teachers incorporate technology into their lessons.

Slideshare

• You can also view this presentation on Slideshare!