Video Sharing Assignment For Fourth Graders

Here's an assignment I'm considering giving my students in the Spring when we study Habitats and Communities. I'd love to hear anyone's comments.

Animal Habitats and Adaptations Inquiry and Video Assignment

Your assignment is to choose an animal from the Greater Vancouver Zoo and complete an inquiry project on that animal, including video uploaded to our class blog. You can view a list of animals at our zoo by going to http://www.gvzoo.com/node/14 and scrolling to the list at the bottom of the page.

Inquiry projects start with questions that need to be answered. Normally, I let you come up with your own questions, however, this time I have questions for you. The first 2 questions that must be answered with this project are:

• What is your animal’s natural habitat?
• What adaptations has your animal developed to make it suited to this habitat?

Step 1:

• Prepare a list of questions that you will need to answer within these main two. For example, under the first question, I might write, “Where in the world does this animal live?” and under the second question “Why can’t this animal live outside the water?” if the animal I chose was a salmon.
• Decide where you are going to look for the answers to these questions. Fill out an inquiry research plan and discuss it with me.
• Gather your materials and begin your research. Remember to:
• use one of the note taking organization sheets you’ve found useful in the past
• record where you found your information
• consult at least 3 (but likely more) sites for information.

Step 2:

• When you have completed the research, you need to decide how to display your findings. Your final product needs to clearly show the 2 main questions, your sub-questions and your answers. The sources you consulted for information can be recorded on a separate sheet and submitted. You may consult our poster on ways to show what you know for ideas. I suggest you consider creating a:
• poster using paper or Glogster
• booklet
• power point presentation

Step 3:

• The third question you need to answer with this assignment is, “What is your animal’s habitat at the zoo like and why do you think the staff created the habitat in this way?”
• During our field trip to the zoo, you will record a video (under 5 minutes) of your animal in its habitat.
• Once we are back at school, you will use your footage to create a video that compares your animal’s artificial zoo habitat to the animal’s natural habitat. You will:
• view your raw footage
• write out a script that outlines the similarities and differences between the real habitat and the artificial habitat, as well as how the animal’s adaptations make it suitable for both
• record audio based on your script
• use Jaycut.com to edit together the video and audio, as well as any text you might like to add
• upload the video to the class blog

* I will show you an example of a video before the trip to the zoo, so that you will have a better idea of what’s expected in this assignment.

The following rubric outlines how you will be marked.

Inquiry Skills:

1	2	3	4
·          student is unable to come up with questions and relies on the teacher to do this ·          student can not identify sources of information and has to be given information by the teacher ·          student does not know how to read the information and record important facts ·          student doesn’t bother to record bibliographic information ·          final product doesn’t contain the student’s questions ·          many answers are incorrect because the student made them up; others are correct but lack details, are vague or contain only one word ·          final product has so many errors that the entire product is difficult to understand ·          final product is messy and looks thrown together at the last minute	·          student asks basic questions ·          student can identify limited sources of information for his or her topic ·          student need assistance performing research ·          student forgets to records bibliographic information and needs to return to sources to record it after the product is done ·          final product is missing some of the student’s questions ·          some answers are incorrect because they have not been researched; others are correct but answered with few details ·          final product has errors that make it difficult to understand at parts or appears hastily thrown together	·          student asks logical questions that show some prior knowledge of animal habitats and adaptations ·          student can identify some sources of information for his or her topic and is beginning to see how some sources are better than others ·          student performs research well, but may need help to finding some information in books or online ·          student usually records bibliographic information as he or she is researching but is still unsure why this is important ·          final product outlines the student’s questions ·          answers are correct ·          final product has only minor errors or lapses in aesthetic appeal	·          student asks logical, deep questions that show prior knowledge of animal habitats and adaptations ·          student can identify the best sources of information for his or her topic and can clearly state why these are the best sources ·          student performs research efficiently, making full use of text or online aids such as links or indices, in order to find relevant information ·          student records bibliographic information as he or she is researching and can explain why this is important ·          final product effectively illustrates the student’s questions ·          answers are correct and show depth and original thought ·          final product is free of errors, interesting and aesthetically pleasing

video:

1	2	3	4
·          footage of animal and habitat is short or unfocused and contains inappropriate elements ·          similarities and differences between the artificial and natural habitats are not discussed; neither are the animal’s adaptations ·          voice on audio is impossible to understand	·          footage of animal and habitat is short or unfocused (i.e., video of friends or other items is included) ·          few similarities and differences between the artificial and natural habitats described and few or no links to the animal’s adaptations ·          voice on audio is difficult to understand or contains significant pauses or errors due to lack of rehearsal	·          well shot and edited footage of animal and habitat that shows some adaptations or important parts of the habitat ·          some description of the similarities and differences between the artificial and natural habitats and links to the animal’s adaptations ·          some effort is made to make the audio recording easy to understand	·          well shot and edited footage of animal and habitat that highlights animal’s adaptations and key elements of the animal’s habitat ·          clear, concise description of the similarities and differences between the artificial and natural habitats and links to the animal’s adaptations ·          voice on audio is appropriate in volume, tone and pacing, making it easy for the viewer to understand