EXPLORER LESSON

Cindy Sommers & Tanya Richardson
EDEX 750
Technology Integration

I. LESSON THEME Explorers

II. TARGET AUDIENCE 5th grade and up

III. OBJECTIVES

TSWBAT put information about an explorer into a database.

TSWBAT write an essay about the explorer he chose.

TSWBAT make a globe showing the path of his explorer.

IV. INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

A. Web Site

<A HREF= "gopher://ericir.syr.edu:70/00/Lesson/SocialStudies/cecsst.134>Globe making lesson on ERIC

B. Clarisworks

V. TYPE OF CLASSROOM ACTIVITY

A. Students will work with partners. Each set of partners will be assigned one of the explores in the database. The partners will be required to locate the following information about their explorers.

1. Full name

2. Date of birth

3. Place of birth

4. Socioeconomic class

5. Education

6. Occupation

7. Sponsor country

8. Date of first exploration

9. Date of last exploration

10. Land discovered

11. Importance of discovery

12. Date of death

B. Once each group has located the information on their explorer, they will enter it into the database.

C. Each student will individually write an essay about an explorer in the database. Each essay will consist of three paragraphs. The following outline will be used to guide the students when they are writing their essays.

1. Paragraph 1 - Tell where your explorer is from. Tell what your explorer discovered. Give all information from the database.

3. Paragraph 3 - Tell what you would have done differently if you were the explorer. Explain how that would have changed history. If you would have done nothing differently, then explain your reasoning.

D. The Web Site lesson is a lesson on making globes. This lesson will be used to help each student make a globe. On the globe, the student will chart where his explorer traveled. The globe will also include the names of oceans, continents and the dates of the explorations.

VI. PREREQUISITE SKILLS:

A. The student will understand the importance of explorers.

B. The student will have general knowledge about all explorers listed in the attached database.

C. The student will be able to write a paragraph using complete sentences.

D. The student will be able to label all oceans and continents.

VII. INSTRUCTIONAL EVENTS:

A. Students will divide into pairs.

B. Each pair of students will be assigned an explorer. Students will be given library time to find out the required information about their assigned explorer.

C. Students will enter the required information into the database.

D. Using the database, students may choose any explorer to do their project on.

E. Once each student has chosen their explorer, they will use the information given to them in the database, as well as information they discover in their own additional research, to write a three paragraph essay about their explorer.

F. Each student will make a globe. On this globe he will chart the path of his explorer. Students will be responsible for naming continents, oceans, having a map key, and giving dates of explorations.

VIII. ASSESSMENT

A. Database information entered into the computer by partners will be graded based upon accuracy.

B. Essays will be graded on content, grammar and creativity.

C. Globes will be grades on the accuracy of the information placed on them.

IX. EXTENDED ACTIVITY

The database feature can be used to compare and contrast the following

1. relative ages of explorers

2. socioeconomic class of each explorers

3. different sponsor countries