The purpose of this project is to give students an understanding that matter is all around us, and help them to learn how to describe matter based on physical properties. This projects calls for students to choose any object that tells something about themselves, their family or their culture. They will describe their “secret” object based on its physical properties. They will communicate with students around the globe by having those students try to guess their object. They will also have their own opportunity to guess someone else’s secret objects. Students describe their object through a web-based questionnaire. The questionnaire is set up in a “Twenty-Questions” format where the student would answer yes and no questions. There are also short answer questions where each student weighs their object and posts the answer onto the questionnaire. Students then submit their questionnaire for other students around the globe to read in order to guess what the object is.
This project would align great with my fourth grade unit on "matter". Students are required to explore and describe the physical properties of many different objects. This telecollaborative project would give students an opportunity to communicate with students from all over the world. It would help them develop their describing skills as well as communication skills. I don’t believe this project would fulfill my requirements better than a non-computer project, but I do believe it would enhance the unit. This would be a great opportunity to teach my students how to blog in an educational format and review our “netiquette” skills. While students are learning how to describe their objects, they are being introduced to different adjectives which will help them in language arts with their writing skills.
This project runs from July 07 to December 08. I would choose to participate for one month in November when we are beginning our science units. This would allow the students to have ample time choosing an object and describing it via the web.