Ski to Sea Race

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Ski to Sea: Around the World

How are cultures shaped by geography?

Bellingham Schools Research Investigation

 

Teacher Tips for This Project

The following are possible suggestions to ensure that the research module runs smoothly.

Organizing

  • Before beginning this project with your students familiarize yourself with all aspects of the research module. It is important to remember that one purpose of this project is for students to learn the research cycle.  This is essential to the project.
  • This research module will take approximately 2-3 weeks.  Plan on spending at least two weeks in the computer lab gathering, sifting, sorting information and creating the PowerPoint presentation.
  • Decide on the place you want students to save their files. This should be on a shared drive where all team members can access the documents. Be prepared to instruct students in saving their files to the designated drive and folder. You may wish to have students save a backup file in their own h: drive as well.
  • Students should complete this project in groups of 2-4.
  • Assign each team a continent or geographic region to research.  Divisions might be 1) N. America 2) South America 3) Northern Europe 4) Southern Europe 5) Asia-continental 6) Asia-island nations 7) Australia/New Zealand 8) Africa
  • At several places throughout this project students will be asked to save their work. Decide, before you begin, which drive and folder you want their work saved in.  This may involve creating a new folder.  Give them instructions on how to save their work. (P drive, H drive, etc…) 

Resources

  • Print Atlases will be an important resource for this project.
  • The sixth grade geography text, Geography Tools and Concepts should be used to support student investigations.
  • It is highly recommended to have a cart of books and/or encyclopedias, which support the research of World geography and culture.

Techniques

  • It is suggested that you stop and discuss after students complete each step of the module. Possible topics include:
    • What are your experiences with Ski to Sea?
    • Why is Bellingham a good site for a festival?
    • What makes a good site for a festival?
    • What criteria are most important when choosing a location for a Ski to Sea Race and festival?
    • When you see a stop sign it is an indication that your student needs to print and turn in a hard copy of their work before continuing. This will allow you to continually monitor and give feedback on their progress.
    • You may wish to use the Checklist for Student Work to keep track of team progress.
    • You may use the MLA Citation format for use in crediting sources.
  • The Team Members Rubric can be completed by students at the end of each work period to develop better group work skills.

Support Lessons:

  • Using Graphics-Be prepared to teach a lesson on how to import maps as JPEGs into paint, draw on them and import them into PowerPoint. Your LMS may be able to assist you with these techniques.
  • Using PowerPoint-You may wish to require students to prepare a plan or storyboard for their presentation before opening PowerPoint. Be prepared to teach a lesson on the design elements of PowerPoint that you wish to see.
    • Stress readability, conventions, and clarity over animations and sound effects.
    • Use keywords, brief text on slide.
    • If teams work independently on portions of the presentation, you may need to teach students how to combine slides to form one finished presentation.
    • Show students how to print their project notes and use them as speaker's notes for their oral presentation. For every slide, they should have additional information to add to what appears on the slide.
    • Pass out and use the PowerPoint Guidelines to support students in this step.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Copyright Notice: No materials on any of the Bellingham Schools' WWW pages may be copied without express written permission unless permission is clearly stated on the page.
Based on original project by: Stephanie George, Kimberly Wichers, Peggy Zehnder, Marion Hiller.
Edited by: Linda St. Andre and Eileen Andersen.
Research modules based on use of the Research Cycle, Module Maker, and ideas in Beyond Technology by Jamie McKenzie.