Lesson 3 – Sea-Life/Environmental Issues and the Internet as a Research Tool: (Three sessions)

Objectives:

·        To have students become aware of the impact of sea-life on our environment.

·        To have students become aware of the impact of our environment on sea-life.

·        To have students become aware of the Internet as a research tool.

·        To have students become familiar with basic Internet research skills.

Materials:

·        Literary books related to sea-life/ocean animals (see attached Suggested Book List.)

·        Videotapes relating to sea-life/ocean animals (see attached Suggested Video List.)

·        A list of useful sea-life/ocean animal Web-site addresses (see attached Suggested Website List.)

·        Computer(s) with Internet access.

·        A projector (to project computer screen images for presentation of Web-sites and demonstration of Internet navigation.)

Procedures:

Session 1 –

·        Review books/videos used in previous session and/or introduce new books/videos to discuss the environmental implications related to sea-life in these books/videos.

·        Have the students discuss and record their concerns related to sea-life/ocean animals and the environment.

·        Point out and demonstrate that the “Internet” can be used as another way to obtain information about sea-life/ocean animals, or any other study subjects.  Do this by presenting a sea-life related Web site with an environmental emphasis.

Sessions 2 & 3 –

·        Introduce Internet terminology such as search engines, keywords, hyperlinks, bookmarks, Web-sites, etc.

·        Demonstrate the use of search engines, keywords, and hyperlinks by navigating several sea-life related Internet sites using the projector.

·        Demonstrate some basic Internet navigation skills.

·        Provide hands-on opportunities for students to navigate a few bookmarked sea-life Web-sites.  Allow them to experiment using search engines and/or keywords to do site search as well.

·        While some students are working on the computers, engage other students by having small group discussions concerning specific sea-life interests.  These discussions will be a base for future project groupings.

·        Have students start a journal to record what their specific interest area will be in their study of Animal Life in the Ocean, what they have learned, and what they think about the use of computers and the Internet in their study.

Competency/Evaluation:

·        Students will be able to identify some environmental issues and concerns.

·        Students will be able to discuss how sea-life/ocean animals affect the environment.

·        Students will begin to focus on some specific environmental concerns they have related to sea-life/ocean animals.

·        Students will have the understanding of the use of keywords, search engines and hyperlinks to do research on the Internet.

·        Students will have the basic knowledge and beginning skills to navigate the Internet.

·        Students will have navigated several sea-life related Web-sites.

·        Students will be able to record sea-life learnings, concerns, and questions in a journal format.  These writings will reflect learnings from literature sources, and from the use of computer and the Internet.