Twitter Pages Followed:

1. National Geographic (https://twitter.com/NatGeo)

What better way to take the magazine’s we read as children in class and revamp it with modern-day technology? National Geographic posts more than once daily, linking all their tweets to articles, games, and videos from the National Geographic Website. An example of an interesting and effective tweet was:

Once you clicked on the link, took you to a page where you could vote on the option you thought best to make cities sustainable. Sustainability fits into both the grade 7 and 8 curriculum.

In a classroom setting, you could follow National Geographic as a class and have a student check their twitter feed throughout the day and briefly report on an interesting tweet at the end of the day. This allows students to use technology in the classroom, as well as see how it can be used for learning purposes.

2. Geography Week (https://twitter.com/lovegeography)

The third week in November is Geography Awareness Week and this twitter account is dedicated to it. Although their account is most active during that week, they also post throughout the year with links to various articles. However, it would seem that teachers from around the world find this account to be most helpful during that week and have integrated it into their teaching schedule. One example is:

Clicking on the link sends you to a video with some geography questions and answers. Although some of the questions may not be common knowledge, this particular video would be fun in a grade 7 and 8 classroom to engage students. Perhaps you could even make it into a competition with prizes.

Geography week would be a really exciting and fun integration into the school year and has potential to go school wide. Using the Geography Week twitter account would allow the school community to come up with daily participation from all grade levels and have class prizes. Some ideas for a school wide geography week would be: door decorating, daily trivia questions, picture taking contest and even an assembly where students are encouraged to present interesting findings regarding a specific theme.

3. Geographical Association (https://twitter.com/The_GA)

The Geographical Association may be based out of the UK, but many of their tweets can apply to teaching in the Canadian grade 7 and 8 classrooms. They promote and plan various days (ex. Climate Day) and encourage both students and teachers to tweet them what they’re doing in their classrooms. They also provide interactive opportunities such as the one below:

This opportunity would allow students to ask questions to experts and get an answer in real time. It would be a great way to have students think of questions and write their own answers once they get responses. Perhaps it could even be considered to pose 2 or 3 questions as a class and have students write a research style paper on the answers the class receives.

4. BBC Travel (https://twitter.com/BBC_Travel)

BBC is known for their documentaries, but their twitter account is just as resourceful. It has updates regarding current events (ex. the Malaysia Airlines missing flight) but also posts regarding vacation destinations, geography games, and gorgeous photos that are sure to capture student’s attentions and imaginations. For example the following post could be used in a grade 7 and 8 classroom in order to discuss waves and what causes them as well as the dangers they can pose if they become too big.

The BBC Travel twitter account could be used to have students write a report on a great vacation spot but also have them investigate deeper and describe possible natural threats that might be found there.

5. Discovery (https://twitter.com/Discovery)

Discovery’s twitter feed is packed with interesting links to various articles. Many of these are related to geography like images from the Hubble Telescope and questions regarding rare species. It also includes thought-provoking articles such as how to survive in the dessert:

Students in grades 7 and 8 could keep daily journals in relation to the information posted on Discovery’s twitter feed. At the end of each unit they could be asked to provide the tweet they found most interesting and relate it to what they have learned.

Grade/Subject: 7 Geography: Physical Patterns in a Changing WorldDate: March 2, 2014

Analyzing Vacation Spots in Regards to Human Impact

Curriculum Expectations:

Overall: A1. Application: analyse some challenges and opportunities presented by the physical

environment and ways in which people have responded to them (FOCUS ON: Spatial

Significance; Interrelationships)

A2. Inquiry: use the geographic inquiry process to investigate the impact of natural

events and/or human activities that change the physical environment, exploring the

impact from a geographic perspective (FOCUS ON: Geographic Perspective)

A3. Understanding Geographic Context: demonstrate an understanding of significant

patterns in Earth’s physical features and of some natural processes and human activities

that create and change those features (FOCUS ON: Patterns and Trends; Spatial

Significance)

Specific: A1.1 describe various ways in which people have responded to challenges and

opportunities presented by the physical environment

A2.2 gather and organize data and information from a variety of sources, and using

various technologies, on the impact of natural events and/or human activities that change

the physical environment, ensuring that their sources reflect more than one perspective

Learning Goals:

Be able to identify a vacation spot and relate it to what has been learned through the unit.

Success Criteria:

1. Use of key terms from the unit

2. Identification of how humans have impacted the area

3. Explanation of possible dangers in the area

4. Good summary of the assignment in the presentation

Teaching Resources:

Geography Textbook

iPads

Access to Twitter

Lesson Sequence:

Students have been learning about physical patterns left by humans on the earth. Today

they will be introduced to a summative assessment that will encompass the unit as a whole and

be given time to work on it in class with the school iPads.

Students have been told in advance that they need access to Twitter and understand that

while working on the assignment in class their activity on the site and the iPads is being strictly

monitored.

The assignment is to choose a vacation spot and use 2 out of the following five twitter

accounts to research the spot. Their assignment must reference both of the twitter accounts and

include some dangers they may face there, as well as how the area has been impact due to human

involvement. The instructions are outlined on their assignment sheet.

Development Strategies:

As students move through the assignment they are expected to relate the information they

find to what they have learned through the unit. As their assignments are completed they will be

asked to peer edit in partners assigned by the teacher. When peer editing students are looking for

spelling and grammatical errors and will make comments about how the student could make the

project more interesting.

Differentiated Instruction:

These students will only have to use one twitter account and relate their vacation spot to

one thing they learned in the unit with regards to human imprints on the earth. They will have

time to work with the LST and be given extra time to complete the assignment if need be.

Culminating Activity:

Students will briefly present their findings to the class stating: the vacation spot, why

they chose it, an interesting fact they found out, and how humans have influences the

development. They will be given the option of presenting in class, through a PowerPoint

presentation, or a video. Some students may ask to present during lunch or recess and will be

granted this permission should the teacher deem it appropriate.

On-going Assessment and Evaluation:

Use the Google Doc to mark participation and understanding based on how often and

well students respond to questions posed in class. During class time the teacher will also

circulate the room and ask questions to students who do not participate during class discussions

in order to ensure they understand the content of the unit. Use the rubric attached to mark their

projects.

Reflection/Self-Evaluation:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Name: ______________________ Date: ___________________

Physical Patterns in a Changing WorldSummative Assessment: Analyzing Vacation Spots

1. Choose a Vacation Spot (any place of your choice). Some examples could be: Disney

World, Hawaii, Rome, etc. Why did you choose this spot? (Have you ever been there?)

2. Use two of the following twitter accounts to do research on your spot of choice:

a. National Geographic (https://twitter.com/NatGeo)b. Geography Week (https://twitter.com/lovegeography)c. Geographical Association (https://twitter.com/The_GA)d. BBC Travel (https://twitter.com/BBC_Travel)e. Discovery (https://twitter.com/Discovery)f. An appropriate twitter account of your choice (must be approved by

teacher):i. Try the following:

#geography #geography teacher

Think about the following questions: Are there problems with expansion? What kind of tourism do they have there and is it affecting the earth? Did you find any awesome or really cool pictures? What about interesting facts?

3. You must use Twitter, but you can also use other forms of research to answer the following questions:

a. What are some dangers you might encounter while on vacation there?b. How has the area been influenced by humans? (What damages have they

done to the earth?)c. How does the information you found relate to the topics and issues we have

been studying?

4. Present the following findings to the class:a. The Vacation Spotb. Why did you choose it?c. An interesting factd. One way humans have influenced the development

The rubric on the following page will be used to mark your projects.

Categories & Expectations Criteria Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDINGKnowledge of content

The student demonstrates knowledge of content (e.g. facts)

The student demonstrates limited knowledge of the content.

The student demonstrates some knowledge of content

The student demonstrates good knowledge of content

The student demonstrates thorough knowledge of content

Understanding of content

The student demonstrates understanding of content (e.g. significance of concepts, ideas, theories)

The student shows limited understanding of the content.

The student shows some understanding of content

The student shows good understanding of content

The student shows insightful understanding of content

THINKINGUse of creative/critical thinking processes

The student uses creative/critical thinking processes with effectiveness to create a new product and reflect on the learning

The student uses creative/critical thinking processes to create final product and reflect on their learning with limited effectiveness

The student uses creative/critical thinking processes to create final product and to reflect on their learning with some effectiveness

The student uses creative/critical thinking processes to create final product and to reflect on their learning with limited effectiveness

The student uses creative/critical thinking processes to create final product and reflect on their learning with limited effectiveness

COMMUNICATIONExpression and organization of ideas and information in oral, written, and visual forms

The student expresses and organizes ideas and information with effectiveness

The student effectively organizes ideas in presenting results of inquiry with limited effectiveness

The student organizes ideas in presenting results of inquiry with some effectiveness

The student organizes ideas in presenting results of inquiry with considerable effectiveness

The student organizes ideas in presenting results of inquiry with a high degree of effectiveness

Communication for different audiences and purposes

The student communicates for different audiences and purposes with effectiveness

The student presents findings of inquiry for different audiences with limited effectiveness

The student presents findings of inquiry for different audiences with some effectiveness

The student presents findings of inquiry for different audiences with considerable effectiveness

The student presents findings of inquiry for different audiences with a high degree of effectiveness

Use of conventions, vocabulary, and terminology

The student uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology

The student uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology related to making and presenting products for inquiry with limited effectiveness

The student uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology related to making and presenting products for inquiry with some effectiveness

The student uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology related to making and presenting products for inquiry with considerable effectiveness

The student uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology related to making and presenting products for inquiry with a high degree of effectiveness

APPLICATIONMaking connections within and between contexts

The student makes connections between project and the unit

The student makes a limited number of connections between the project and the unit

The student makes some connections between project and the unit

The student makes a variety of connections between project and the unit

The student makes a wide variety of connections between project work and the unit

Rubric for Physical Patterns in a Changing World: Analyzing Vacation SpotsName: ___________________________ Date: _______________________