Online

 Projects,  Collaboration  Sites  and  Publishing  Opportunities  

Lesson  Idea  Name:      What  Can  the  Sun  Tell  Us?  
Content  Area:    Science  
Grade  Level(s):      4th  grade  

Content Standard Addressed: S4E4. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to

predict weather events and infer weather patterns using weather charts/maps and collected
weather data.

Technology  Standard  Addressed:      Knowledge  Constructor  

 
Selected  Online  Project/Collaboration  Site/Publishing  Opportunity:      Journey  North  
 
URL(s)  to  support  the  lesson:      https://journeynorth.org/sunlight-­‐seasons  
 
Describe  how  you  would  incorporate  an  Online  Project/Collaboration  Site/Publishing  Opportunity  in  your  
classroom:  
 
 Starting  at  the  beginning  of  the  year,  students  and  teacher  will  take  pictures  of  where  the  sun’s  location  is.  
The  class  will  continue  doing  this  and  recording  data  (time  of  day,  date,  and  drawings  of  where  the  sun’s  
relative  location  is),  and  report  it  to  Journey  North  on  their  online  profile  weekly  during  science.  In  this,  we  
include  other  signs  of  weather  change:  leaf  color  and  foliage  amount  on  trees,  weather  changes  and  
temperature  on  day  of  reporting.      
 
What  technologies  would  be  required  to  implement  this  proposed  learning  activity  in  a  classroom?        
 
Camera,  computer  with  internet  access,  thermometer  
 
Describe  how  the  following  features  are  addressed  in  this  learning  experience  (note:  all  of  them  may  not  be  
addressed  in  the  project,  but  most  should  be  if  you  are  reaching  a  high  LoTi  Level).  
a.   Collaboration  with  peers,  near-­‐peers,  mentors  outside  their  classroom  and  often  beyond  their  
school:  Students  will  be  able  to  collaborate  with  other  students  their  age,  many  will  not  be  from  the  
same  school,  and  professionals/scientists  in  their  field    
 
b.   Student-­‐centered  learning  and  knowledge  creation  (creating  original  data  and  or  producing  original  
products  as  a  result  of  engaging  in  a  project):  Students  are  able  to  report  data.  They  will  understand  
how  to  read  temperature  and  take  pictures  from  same  location  during  same  time  of  the  day.  They  will  
be  responsible  for  inputting  data  and  records  into  Journey  North  
 
c.   Higher-­‐order  thinking:  Students  will  begin  to  think  about  how  the  signs  that  we  are  recording  correlate  
to  the  differences  in  season.  Students  will  respond  to  questions  presented  by  Journey  North  and  
teacher.  
d.   Students  publishing  their  original  work  to  others  who  will  use/care  about  their  product:  Students  
have  the  ability  to  publish  their  findings  after  two  season  changes.  Students  will  write  a  report  on  the  
correlation  of  season  changes  to  sun  placement  and  other  items  such  as  temperature.  
 
 
Bloom’s  Taxonomy  Level(s):        
 

☐    Remembering            ☐    Understanding            ☐    Applying              ☒    Analyzing                ☐    Evaluating              ☐    Creating  

 

Spring  2018_SJB  
 Online  Projects,  Collaboration  Sites  and  Publishing  Opportunities  
Levels  of  Technology  Integration  (LoTi  Level):    (Select  the  best  level)  
 

☐    Level  1:  Awareness                ☐    Level  2:  Exploration                  ☐    Level  3:  Infusion                ☐    Level  4:  Integration  
 

☒    Level  5:  Expansion                  ☐    Level  6:  Refinement            

 
Universal  Design  for  Learning  (UDL):  Students  are  using  a  variety  of  technology,  and  have  the  ability  to  do  
research,  reporting,  and  collaboration  with  a  multitude  of  others.  
 
Lesson  idea  implementation  and  Internet  Safety  Policies:  Students  will  report  under  the  name  of  the  
instructor,  and  will  be  guided  by  teacher  to  get  to  Journey  North  website.  Students  will  not  be  required  to  do  
any  open  searches  online  or  report  any  personal  information,  which  will  all  comply  with  CERPA  and  other  
student  privacy  laws.  
 
Reflective  Practice:    
 
Students  have  the  chance  to  learn  about  the  weather,  patterns,  and  seasonal  changes  in  our  area  in  addition  
to  learning  about  other  areas  around  the  country.  Students  will  see  that  depending  on  where  they  are,  the  
seasonal  changes  and  sun  changes  are  different.  I  think  overall,  students  will  highly  benefit  from  this  project,  
and  they  will  have  the  ability  to  learn  the  process  of  collecting  and  inputting  data.  
 
     

Spring  2018_SJB