The+Fantastic+Four+Task


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Authentic Learning: Frog Race! Follow the steps below to complete this task in your classroom. Please see the Resources page of this wiki for links to electronic whiteboard software, worksheets, videos and any other resources that you will need. Please also see the Teacher Information page for a suggested timetable and more helpful information. The children will require the use of the internet and PC computers, movie-making equipment such as a video camera or iPad, digital cameras or equivalent for taking photographs, and the equipment to set up terrariums to house their tadpoles.


 * 1.** The teacher obtains tadpoles from the FrogWatch tadpole exchange program which is run by the West Australian Museum.

(Image from http://frogwatch.museum.wa.gov.au/ )


 * 2.** The students create a Twiducate account. The teacher will need to guide the kids in setting up this account using an electronic blackboard with an instructional video or by doing it themselves in front of the class (please see the Resources page of this wiki for electronic blackboard software and for instructional videos).



(Image from www.twiducate.com)


 * 3**. The students use the 'Explore' page on Twiducate to research frog habitats and life cycles. The explore page on Twiducate consists of lots of kid-friendly search engines, including KerPoof, Discovery Channel Education, and Ask Kids. They should take notes of what they have discovered so that they can use that information later.


 * 4**. The students use the website [|www.kerpoof.com] to make a picture of the lifecycle of a frog. This can be done individually and is printable also so it can be assessed.

(Image from http://www.kerpoof.com)


 * 5.** The students work in groups to set up terrariums. For a class of twenty there should be around five kids to a group and four terrariums, depending on your classroom's resources and number of children. The students create a movie/presentation using Movie Maker or iMovie. Their movie/presentation will be a how-to guide for setting up a frog habitat, describing the tadpole's needs and the way that they change throughout the life-cycle. To make the video they could use iPods, iPads or video cameras. Please see the Resources page of this wiki for an example video.


 * 6**. Every day the children photograph their tadpoles and post the photos to their Twiducate account along with any observations they have made. They can be as creative as they like; they might wish to give their tadpoles names and let them post in the first person about how life as a tadpole is going each day.


 * 7.** The team that has a tadpole turn into a frog the fastest wins the Frog Race! The teacher can decide on an appropriate prize, whether it be a certificate, trophy or some other reward. Teachers, please be aware that the shallower the water, the faster the tadpoles will metamorphose into frogs. If the tank is filled with water the tadpoles may take months to change.


 * 8.** Once tadpoles turn into frogs they must be released quickly, unless you want to feed them live bugs. As soon as there is a frog, the teacher takes the children on an excursion to release the frogs and tadpoles into an appropriate habitat (the FrogWatch tadpole exchange program will notify the teacher of the appropriate habitat for the particular breed of frog).

(Image from http://frogwatch.museum.wa.gov.au/Southwest/SwanCoastalPlain/default.aspx)
 * 9**. On the excursion, the children make observations about the habitat and how it is similar or different to the classroom terrariums. What are the advantages of both? What are the disadvantages? What are the conservation challenges facing frog populations? The children take notes for future use. Please see the Resources page for an example excursion worksheet. The children take photographs of the habitat.


 * 10**. The children use Artskills, a free online poster-making program, to create a poster to raise awareness about the conservation issues facing frogs and their habitats. They can use the photos that they took while on the excursion and the pictures that they took in class while monitoring their terrariums. The teacher will need to give a brief instruction on how to use Artskills using the electronic blackboard, though it is a very easy and child-friendly program to use and the kids should be able to figure much of it out by themselves. The posters that the students create will be printed out by the teacher and put up around the school and on community notice-boards, and even in some shop windows if the proprietors agree. In this way the children's work can benefit the community.