Project-Pathfinder

Project-Pathfinder
Unit project: A 5th grade teacher wants the students to pick one planet from the Solar System and write an expository paper. The final product will be for the students to record a podcast of them reading their paper. The teacher has asked the LMS to help the students find credible Web site resources the students can use for their expository research paper/podcast.

Missouri 5th Grade Level Expectations: @http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/GLE/ Science:
 * 6.1.A.a.**- Recognize the Earth is one of several planets within a solar system that orbits the Sun.
 * 6.1.B.a**.- Describe the physical features of the planet Earth that allows life to exist (e.g. air, water, temperature) and compare these to the physical features of the Sun, the moon, and other planets.

Writing:
 * 1.A.a-e**.- Follow a writing process to use a prewriting strategy, generate a draft, reread, revise for audience and purpose, ideas and content, organization and sentence structure, word choice, edit for conventions, and share writing.

Reading:
 * 1.D.a.** - Read grade-level instructional text with fluency, accuracy, and expression.
 * 1.D.a**.- Read grade-level instructional text adjusting reading rate to difficulty and type of text

Listening and Speaking:
 * 2.A.b**. - In discussions and presentations select and use appropriate public speaking techniques such as rate, pace and enunciation.

ISTE- NETS Student Standards 2007 : http://www.iste.org/standards.aspx
 * Number 3.** Research and Information Fluency- Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.

Web Sites to add to the Pathfinder eThemes Overall Search List: @https://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/554?locale=en Recommended for Pathfinder: > This site provides an introduction to each planet. This would be a good place to start. > @http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/planets.html > This site has details on each planet and offers two different reading levels. (eThemes description) > This site has pictures of the planets. Click on the planet you want and discover lots of interesting information. The reading level is for older students. NOTE: The site includes ads and pop-up ads. (eThemes description)
 * 1) @http://www.dustbunny.com/afk/planets/
 * 1) @http://www.solarviews.com/eng/homepage.htm

ipl2

Overall Search List:@http://www.ipl.org/IPL/Finding?Key=planets&collection=youth Recommended for Pathfinder: > A multimedia tour of the solar system. Contains photos, information and data for not only the planets, but their moons and other astronomical bodies, such as comets and asteroids. (ipl2 description) > This is a great Web site to collect details on a planet's temperature, density, mass, and gravity to name a few. Be sure to check out the graphs; they are extremely helpful. > Explore the Solar System... through your computer! From fun facts to cool games, from pictures and models to create, you'll find everything you're looking for about the solar system at this cool website! (ipl2 description) This Web Site is very kid friendly!
 * 1) @http://nineplanets.org/
 * 1) @http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/index.shtml
 * 1) @http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/index.cfm

Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators Overall Search List: @http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/sci-tech/scisp.html Recommended for Pathfinder: > Lots of in depth information about planets. Maybe a little hard for 5th grade students but you could probably use this Web site for extra information. > Click on The Solar System link. This link will take you to a list of thirteen Web Sites. Some are repeats to this pathfinder, but many are new. Be sure to check out the Web sites that have the 'hot' button next to them. > This Web site has great pictures located with each link. You even have the option to listen to an audio file where the words are read to you! > netTrekker Overall Search List: @http://school.nettrekker.com.cyrano.ucmo.edu:2048/goSubject?np=/subjectresults.ftl&nodeIDs=66657&nodeID=66657&al=Elementary&maxLevels=3&maxSites=8&allWords=Planets&HOMEPAGE=E Recommended for Pathfinder: > or > @http://school.nettrekker.com.cyrano.ucmo.edu:2048/goExternal?np=/external.ftl&pp=/error.ftl&evlCode=217598441514718986zoKOz&productName=school&HOMEPAGE=E > Click on either one of these fun links to 'play' and learn about the solar system and planets. This is an interactive learning game that is fun to do! Don't miss out on these! > Another great Web Site where you learn about individual planets as well as test your knowledge to see if you can put the planets of our Solar System in the correct order. Have fun! > Read scientific articles about your planet then click on the other 6 to 8 sites that are provided for your planet! This is a great place to get credible information about your planet! > Reflection:
 * 1) http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/topics/Planets.html
 * 1) @http://www.seasky.org/links/skylink05.html
 * 1) @http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/
 * 1) @http://school.nettrekker.com.cyrano.ucmo.edu:2048/goExternal?np=/external.ftl&pp=/error.ftl&evlCode=21757881923882458JeR5vU&productName=school&HOMEPAGE=E
 * 1) @http://school.nettrekker.com.cyrano.ucmo.edu:2048/goExternal?np=/external.ftl&pp=/error.ftl&evlCode=11331130133407772UXOIye&productName=school&HOMEPAGE=E
 * 1) @http://school.nettrekker.com.cyrano.ucmo.edu:2048/goSubject?np=/subjectresults.ftl&nodeIDs=66657&nodeID=66657&al=Elementary&maxLevels=3&maxSites=8&allWords=Planets&HOMEPAGE=E
 * **eThemes** is an overall favorite for free Web site resources. I found it to have a user friendly interface. I liked their description they provided for each Web Site and how all of the links worked. The best part about eThemes is all the links are for students- not teacher resources mixed in. I can confidently give students this Web site as a starting place for any of their research projects. Overall rating: 5 out of 5.
 * **ipl2** has a positive feature where all sites are previewed by a librarian before it added to ipl2. However as a user, I found it to be frustrating. When I clicked on "An Inquirer's Guide to the Universe", I was taken to The Franklin Institute's Resources for Science Learning homepage. This wasn't what the description said the link was about. After I searched for universe and planets, I was never able to find what ipl2's posted. I found myself searching through information as if I were on Google. Another negative was this site was it gave many teacher resources and just a few student resources. It would be better for this Web site to separate student and teacher resources. I was able to find Web sites for the student project, but it took some work. Overall rating: 2 out of 5.
 * **Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators** right away turned me off of her site because all the links were not taken to a new window. It can be frustrating to loose the original Web site as you are searching through a link. Besides that, I had to do some digging. After some searching I was able to find nice Web sites for the students. Kathy also had teacher information mixed in with student resources. Her sites were nice and they had that Discovery Education feel to them. That is a good thing. Overall rating: 3 out of 5.
 * **netTrekker** is a new favorite for databases! I absolutely loved the interactive educational games the students could do. I found myself just wanting to play the 'games'. I can definitively see my students going home and 'playing' on this Web site. I really liked how students could click on a planet, read information about their planet and then given 6 to 8 other suggested Web Sites, specifically on their planet, not the Solar System in general. When I go back to school I'm going to be begging the librarian to give me access to this database! Overall rating: 6 out of 5 (just kidding, 5 out of 5!)