| Kathy M. Filipiak | ||||||
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| Introduction | 
Overview 
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Narratives | Exhibits | Reflection | ||
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Thanks to the generous donation of
a Grow Your Own Triops kit from one of our parents, our curiosity
was aroused and our semester long project was born. This project was particularly
exciting because, like the children, I too was unsure of what a
triops really was. Our quest began on the Internet, gathering information
to guide the children in their discoveries. Using the Google search
engine, we learned that a triops is a member of the crustacean family
that has survived since the Triassic period. We were able to 'grow'
them because they exist in a state of suspended animation for periods
of fifteen years or more. This allowed them to survive their desert like
environment and provided us with the opportunity to "just add water"
and observe what happened next. The digital camera allowed us to
visually record the hatching and growth of our triops and to revisit this
process throughout the semester.
Unfortunately, our triops only lived for about
20 days, but during that time, the children also became very excited about
the fact that the triops were descendants from the time of the dinosaurs.
Video taped brainstorming sessions revealed the children's interest in
answering the question of why dinosaurs were extinct while the triops
survived. This question quickly turned into a curiosity about dinosaur
extinction and the theories behind it. Another videotaped discussion
led me to create a
Power Point Presentation
to allow for a visual, more concrete representation of the children's
ideas. Again, searching the Internet provided me a vast resource
of pictures to add to the activity.
By this time, the children were fascinated
with all aspects of the dinosaur, including fossils and eggs.
We used Kid Pix software as one means of allowing the children
to represent their learning. We also took advantage of this interest
and provided software with a dinosaur theme, CD-ROMs that touched
on a wide variety of learning skills- from informational text to
phonemic awareness.
We again turned to the Internet to provide the children with a virtual museum tour of dinosaur exhibits from all around the world. We scanned photos from the University of Michigan- Ann Arbor exhibit to include as well . Technology allowed us not only to retrieve information, but to facilitate, record, and document children's learning throughout this semester long project.
Questions or Comments:
kmfilipiak@umd.umich.edu
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