Animals of Florida

I teach math and science to Kindergarten, first, and second grade students. I have found that when children are actively involved in a project where they apply the content learned, they retain it. I would like to propose the following project for my 61 kindergarten through second grade students.

Days 1-5: Students would learn about animals and their habitats, their environments, their young, and their diets.

Days 6-10: Students would be more focused on animals in Florida, specifically manatees. They will also work through the student workbooks to learn how to use the digital cameras and take effective pictures.

Day 11: The students would go on a field trip to a local springs to take pictures of manatees and other native species. They will take pictures of the environment the animals live in, what they eat, and hopefully their young.

Day 12-17: Students will use their pictures and the Tool Factory program to create birthday cards and postcards with pictures of native wildlife pictures, specifically manatees, that they took. These cards will be later sold at the "Re-visit Florida" parent night. Students will also use this program to create brochures about manatees and how we can protect them. These will be used to be passed out on the parent night.

Day 18: Re-Visit Florida Parent Night. Students will use the Tool Factory software to print out invitations for their parents and other community members to come to the school to learn about various animals and ocean life that are native to Florida. Students will display their information using the multimedia lab in forms of games, slide shows, or video books. The cards will be on sale with the profits going to "Adopt a Manatee"

Day 19: We will adopt a manatee and send the money earned from the parent night to the foundation. Once a picture and more information is received students will build a web site which will be housed on the school web page and classroom web page. Students will use Home Page to build the websites about our adopted manatee.