This document describes a 4th grade science and language arts project in which students research and present on an animal of their choice. Students use the internet to research animals and record information in a grid. They then write a report in Microsoft Word and create a PowerPoint presentation to share with the class. The teacher found that students were motivated by using technology and took pride in their polished final projects. Some support issues included preparing for and troubleshooting the technology used. The project took approximately 5 hours to prepare and 18 class periods for students to complete.

1. Amazing AnimalsBy: David Harvey

3. Assignment Task: Explain/show how technology is used to support the curriculum in this lesson. Response: This project focuses on the integration of the Internet and PowerPoint® into the fourth grade science curriculum. The project consists of the development of a research report and a Power Point presentation on an animal of the student’s choice. The project was designed to integrate district software with current science curricula. Students will need to use higher-order thinking to synthesize, generalize, and explain the information they find through research. Students will research using the Internet and record information into a grid. They will then draft, edit, revise, and type their final draft as a Microsoft Word document. They will also create a PowerPoint® presentation to share with the class. It is hoped that students will learn important technological skills while expanding their understanding of science. Amazing Animals

4. Question: What differences has the educator seen in the learning of the students because of this integration? Answer: The animal research project proved to be motivating as well as challenging for the students. Students were able to use the Internet in a real- life way to find the needed information about their animal. The project provided a meaningful way to practice the organization of information necessary to present information to a group of peers. Valuable note taking skills were used to keep research organized. It was also necessary to utilize the outcomes we were studying in our science animal unit. Students demonstrated mastery of disciplinary content as they shared the information with others. Amazing Animals

5. Technology improved this lesson by giving students current information through the Internet. It also increased student motivation as they used technology to create clean, neat, and creative final products. The presentations were much more refined through the use of PowerPoint. The project required discipline, creativity, and elaborated written communication. Students took pride in their work and used the writing cycle to create a good, solid report. This project proved to be motivating and students were rewarded with polished final projects they could be proud of. Amazing Animals

6. Question: What sort of support issues has the educator experienced? (in-service, lack of software, equipment failure, maintenance, etc?) Answer: For the most part the lesson went off “without a hitch”. Hardware and software seemed to be working just fine. Amazing Animals

7. Timeline : It took the teacher approximately five hours to prepare for and work on the project. This project took about eighteen (45-60 minute) class periods for this particular teacher’s class. It is of course up to the teacher to determine the number of class periods he/she would like to devote to the project per day. Amazing Animals

8. Materials/Hardware/Software : Access to the Internet – Yahooligans is the recommended search engine. Microsoft™ PowerPoint® 2000 Microsoft™ Word® 2000 Draft books/pencils Computer projector to give student presentations Overhead projector to model process Informational books about the animals Amazing Animals

9. Activities/Procedures: Animal Research Report Objective: The learner will research and write a report about an animal. Rationale: Students need to learn to research a topic and efficiently organize that information to communicate it in writing. Students will need to problem solve and be self-directed along the way. One main goal is to use technology to become a quality producer. Amazing Animals

10. Anticipatory Set: I will show them three examples of quality reports that students in previous years have written. This will get them excited and give them a standard to shoot for. Input and Modeling: This will be done through several lessons. In the computer lab I will show them how to access the Internet sites to find information. I will also model how to organize information in my research grid. When my grid is complete, I will model a draft as well as the proofreading stages. We will return to the computer lab to publish on Microsoft™ Word®. Students need to see me think aloud each step so they will clearly know what is expected. Amazing Animals

11. Checking for Understanding: This will be done throughout the modeling stages through questions to clarify student understanding. Guided and Independent Practice: Students will have time after each lesson to work on their reports. As time progresses, students will be at various stages in the process. Many of them will need to use independent work times throughout the day to finish the paper on time. Closure: We will be sharing our reports through our PowerPoint® presentations. We will also display our published reports in the hall to share them with others in the building. Amazing Animals

12. http://www.remc11.k12.mi.us/bstpract/bpIII/054/054.PDF Source