Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities

Lesson Idea Name: Tracking the Changes in Our Day

Content Area: Science
Grade Level(s): Second Grade
Content Standard Addressed: S2E2. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to develop an
understanding of the patterns of the sun and the moon and the sun’s effect on Earth. (Represent data in
tables and/or graphs of the length of the day and night to recognize the change in seasons.)

Technology Standard Addressed: Standard 3- Knowledge Constructor

Selected Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity: Journey North

URL(s) to support the lesson: https://journeynorth.org/sunlight/tm/photoperiod_report.html

Describe how you would incorporate an Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity in your
classroom:
When incorporating an Online Project into my classroom, I would want to be able to use multiple different
resources of technologies with my students. This would allow for my students to experience new resources
and help them to become experts at these tools we would be using in class. For this particular lesson and
activity, the students will be using a website called Journey North to report the daylight they observe over the
span of a month. When the students have collected all their data, they will input it into the website link and
compare their findings to other’s data from all across the nation. They will also be provided with guiding
questions that will help them in their data collecting.

When using different sites and publishing opportunities with my students, my hope that this would mostly be
student directed and problem based. I would want my students to explore these options as they direct
themselves in their learnings. I will be there to guide them as needed and give them the resources they need
in order to succeed, but the end goal is to have my students confident in what they are learning enough so
that they are able to take the information they had learned and be able to teach it to others. With this online
project I am doing with my class, I would love for the end results to allow us to share our results with others
and compare with other classes what we learned about the changes in our day based on the revolution of the
Earth around the Sun.
What technologies would be required to implement this proposed learning activity in a classroom?
To implement this learning activity in my classroom, I would need access to a device that has Internet
capabilities to access the website, such as a computer or tablet. I would only need one device that is able to
access the website Journey North because we could do this learning activity as a whole class activity. The
students will also be doing their own research observing the lengths of different days with the sunlight we
have to allow the students to understand how the Earth revolves around the Sun.
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: With this particular activity, students are actually able to share their data collected and view
other data, as well. They will get to compare their findings to others from all over the nation. As this
lesson is more student directed, all the students in my class will get to share their findings with one
another and compare how similar their result will be, assuming they are all getting their data from
around the same areas.

b. Student-centered learning and knowledge creation (creating original data and or producing original
products as a result of engaging in a project): The students will be collecting their own data for this
online project. By having the lesson set up this way, the students will learn how to collect data on their

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 Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities
own and how to use that data appropriately for graphing and displaying what information they have
found. By adding the data the students collect to Journey North, the students will be able to share
their information with others and crate their own source of how they are displaying the data they have
gathered themselves.

c. Higher-order thinking: The higher-order thinking can be given to my student through the guiding
questions they will have to answer as they collect their own data. The higher- order questions I will be
using are provide for us on the website. Using these specific questions will allow for the student to
think further as to what data they are collecting and what other purposes it can serve. These guiding
questions will allow my students to really think through the data they have collected and gain a better
understanding as to how they can use the information they collect in multiple ways.

d. Students publishing their original work to others who will use/care about their product: With
Journey North, the students will be able to publish their data they have collected with their own
personal accounts. All the information that is posted on this website can be anonymous, which would
protect the privacy of every student while still allowing them to input their information onto the
website. The data can also be shared with their classmates, which can be used to compare our findings
and open up group discussions in a student directed way.
Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):
☐ Remembering ☐ Understanding ☒ Applying ☒ Analyzing ☒ Evaluating ☐ Creating

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level):

☐ Level 1: Awareness ☐ Level 2: Exploration ☐ Level 3: Infusion ☐ Level 4: Integration
☒ Level 5: Expansion ☐ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL):

The activity I have planned for my lesson uses a website called Journey North. Journey North is a site where
students are able to input their data for different content into this website for research purposes. This
website also teaches students how to organized the data they collect and how they can use that information
to gain more knowledge about a certain subject. The sites main purpose is to give students a place to input
their scientific research and data. Some of the specific content areas on Journey North include sunlight and
seasons, weather and migration, hummingbirds, bald eagles, and so many more topics that refer back to
nature. It is a great way for teachers to allow students to practice collecting their own data while still being in
control over the main content area. Journey North can be accessed from any device that has Internet access,
so it is very user friendly for students to access at school.

This site can be ideal for differentiation among different learners. For those students who may need a little
extra support, I could give more guidance towards those students and lead them in the right direction as to
how they can collect their own data. For my more advanced students, I could pair them up with student who
might need a little more assistance in this area, allowing both students to work together in order to collect
the data they need. This website is great for all learners because there are so many tools and resources for
students and teachers to access, making learning more of an overall greater experience for everyone.
Lesson idea implementation and Internet Safety Policies:
With my classroom, I will always practice Internet safety with my students so they are knowledgeable on how
to be safe with their information online. This can include not giving out personal information (like their last
name or the school they attend), keeping their password only for themselves, and choosing safe websites to
use online. With Journey North, the students are not even able to input any data without an account. This
account is password protected and allows for the information the put to be their own. Even with the account
information, the data the students put on the website is all anonymous, granting further privacy and
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protection of the students. Internet safety is a big deal in the classroom and at home, so I want to practice
this as much as I can with my students when using any technology device.
Reflective Practice:
After this lesson, the students can do a written self-reflection as to what the learned through this activity.
Through this I could learn if the students liked using Journey North and if they enjoyed collecting their own
data individually. This project is already at a LoTi Level 5 with this being student directed and the students
being able to share their data with others. I could share the data the students collected on a classroom blog
for their parents and guardians to see. If the students enjoyed using Journey North to display their research, I
could allow them to choose what topic on the website they would want to do their own research on to give
them more independence.

To further this lesson plan and get students thinking about this topic outside of school, I could have students
look at different ways we can evaluate the Sun’s effects on the Earth, furthering the standard we are working
with. This can be through collecting data on the placements of shadows made by the Sun over time or
learning about how the moon can affect the times of daylight we see. If the students have access to a
computer outside of school, they could do their own research on another topic on Journey North with a
parent or guardian. If this technology tool is not available for everyone outside of the classroom, I could have
my students work with another topic on Journey North in class again.

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