Exploring Animals,
Glossopedia Style
Third-grade students learn about animals and develop technology
skills using a free, online multimedia science encyclopedia.
R
By Lois Leveen
achel has her neck jutted out, and she’s swinging her head from side to side. She peeks at the
screen of her laptop periodically, to see if she’s imitating the Siebenrock snake-necked turtle
correctly. Next to Rachel, Madison is looking at her own laptop.
“Why is that fish swimming with its mouth open?” she asks. I offer a question of my own:
“When do you open your mouth?”
“To talk. Or to take a drink or eat something,” Madison answers.
“So if that fish is part of the food chain . . .” I prompt.
“Maybe it’s eating plankton while it swims!” Madison finishes.
It’s the first day of the “Animals” unit for Tami Brester’s third-grade class and the first day her students are using Glossopedia, a free online multimedia science encyclopedia. But you wouldn’t know
that from observing the kids, who are excitedly researching animals on the internet.
This is inquiry-based learning of a special kind, incorporating the best of the internet to support
science learning and technology instruction. For this third-grade class, that means learning about living things and how they exist and depend on each other, from food webs to human impact on ecosystems—while also mastering skills to do online research and create multimedia presentations.
48 Science and Children
Exploring Animals, Glossopedia Style
About Glossopedia
The students are new to Glossopedia, but their teacher isn’t. Ms. Brester uses it each year as part of the
animals unit. As she explained to me (an educational
consultant observing the class as she field-tested
a multimedia lesson I developed), “It’s important
that my students learn how to use the internet as a
resource—it will only become more and more a part
of their daily life. But teaching third grade, it can be
difficult to guide children to appropriate and useful
websites that really contribute to their research.”
Glossopedia is one such resource.
Glossopedia, created by GLOBIO, a nonprofit science and environmental education organization, is a
website designed specifically for kids ages 7–12—and
it’s free for kids, educators, and families to use in
school, at home, or any place with internet access.
Each article contains text, photo galleries, video
clips, audio files (vocabulary pronunciation guides,
recorded animal sounds, etc.), maps, interactive features, and content-related vocabulary lessons. Educators can use the image-rich content to inspire visual
learners, while the pronunciation guides, vocabulary
lessons, and clickable definitions support both struggling and advanced readers. (Glossopedia works best
on computers with a broadband connection and Flash
player version 7 or higher and Javascript enabled. Users with dial-up connections have to wait longer for
videos and for the Geosearch map to load).
Glossopedia in Action
The lesson these third-graders are field testing uses
Glossopedia to extend textbook-based science instruction. Students begin the lesson by reading a
chapter entitled “How Do Organisms Live Together?”
in the life sciences section of their textbook. The
teacher stops the reading periodically to have them
define vocabulary words, such as predator, prey, food
chains, and food webs. Once the reading is complete,
she asks students to apply the ideas from the textbook
to where they live. “What other living things do you
see near your house, besides humans?”
Students at their school draw from both rural forest
and new suburban areas, and their answers—from
deer, coyotes, and snakes to plants, birds, cats, and
dogs—reflect different experiences of the natural
world. The teacher has students think about what happens to animals when new neighborhoods get built so
they understand how human activity affects animal
communities. She tells the class that what they’re
starting to talk about is called biodiversity. She puts
the word on the board and has students guess at what
it might mean. Crystal says it has to do with animals,
and Nathan thinks it has to do with habitats. No one
Tips for Working Online
If your school has a technology instructor or librarian/
media specialist, ask that person to join the class the
first one or two times the students use a new website
so that you can work together to give students any
help they need logging in and using any multimedia
features. Explore the resource and familiarize yourself
with its features before you use it with students.
If you have time, start students off with a treasure
hunt or similar exploring activity to introduce them to
the features, navigation, etc., before you ask them to
focus intensely on the content for research. Devoting
a class period to exploring the technology on its own
can help students feel confident and focused when
using the technology later.
If you are working in the school’s computer lab and
have only limited time there, do as much of the preparation in your classroom as you can. Let students
know in advance what activities they will be doing
on the computers, how much time they will have for
each activity, and what the goals for each activity are.
When they are in the lab, give them regular reminders
of time. “You’ll have five minutes to look at the video,”
“You have two minutes to finish taking notes on the
video,” “One more minute until we start reporting on
what we saw in the video,” etc. Use the time in your
classroom afterward to follow up on connecting the
computer work to other readings and discussions.
If your students are sharing computers, use the
same approach to working in groups that you use
with other activities. If students take turns with different roles during reading circles or other group activities, tell them they will be following the same steps
when working on the computers: One student will be
the note taker, one will be the reporter who shares
with the rest of the class, one will be the person who
types on the computer. Make the roles as similar as
possible to what they’re already used to and have
students switch frequently so that everyone gets
hands-on experience with the computers.
has exactly the right answer, and some guesses are sillier than others (“Is that when animals get divorced?”
Jack jokes), but everyone’s curiosity is piqued.
That curiosity is matched by excitement about
using laptops in the classroom. A stack of laptops
are ready for students to borrow from the school’s
portable cart. For ideas on working in a computer lab,
see “Tips for Working Online.”
The third graders all know how to login to the computers, and while some are more adept than others at
scrolling, clicking, and typing website addresses, evSeptember 2007 49
Exploring Animals, Glossopedia Style
eryone is eager to help each other. The teacher has the
address for the Glossopedia home page (Figure 1) written on the board, and she tells students they are to use
the site to investigate three characteristics of a wetland.
Once the students are all on the website, she uses the
instructor’s computer—which projects onto a screen
at the front of the room—to show them where to type
“Wetlands” into the text search feature to find the article
they need. Pretty soon, the clicking quiets down and the
kids are all reading the online “Wetlands” article.
Before long, Ted has discovered the rollover feature
on the schematic diagram in the wetlands article, and
Brock has played the Bald Eagle video. Observing
them, I remember that Glossopedia’s multiple links
and multimedia features encourage kids to explore
connections and pursue their own interests—which
doesn’t mean they’re wasting time or getting sidetracked. It means they’re enjoying learning, developing online research skills, and applying what they’re
discovering to their own experience.
It also means the teacher needs to be ready to
respond to all of their questions and comments by
helping them tie the information they’re exploring
into the bigger concept: understanding how the parts
of an ecosystem interact. Mrs. Brester continually en-
Figure 1.
Glossopedia homepage.
50 Science and Children
courages students to make connections between the
material and their own town, and she’s understanding
when some kids jump ahead of the lesson plan—even
as she guides the class as a whole to answer the questions they set out to investigate.
“Mrs. Brester, there’s a wetland in my neighborhood,” Madeline reports as she reads the wetlands
entry. “It’s near the big water tower.”
“My house is near it, too. I go there all the time,”
Jack says.
While Madeline and Jack are connecting the reading to their own explorations of nature, Crystal notices that the article highlights the word biodiversity,
which the class was discussing earlier. She clicks on
the word and a definition and pronunciation guide
pop up. “Mrs. Brester, I was right! It does have to do
with animals.”
She nods and asks the class to report back on what
they’ve learned about the characteristics of wetlands.
They talk about the geographic location of wetlands,
the size range of different wetlands, and the process
through which wetlands are formed. But the kids are
most excited about the species that live in wetlands.
They list off species by name, checking their notes to
jog their memories. Some of the students notice the
Exploring Animals, Glossopedia Style
categories of species listed in the article: “aquatic species,” “terrestrial species,” “migratory species,” and
“endangered species,” and Mrs. Brester helps them
understand these concepts.
She asks, “What does aquatic mean?” and hands
shoot up—lots of kids know it has to do with water.
But terrestrial is a less familiar term, and it takes more
prompting. “Where else besides water can animals
and plants live?” she asks.
“Plants live in the ground,” Nathan answers.
“That’s right—in the ground, or we might say, ‘on
land.’ What other species are terrestrial, meaning they
live on land?” More hands get raised, as students think
of species from the wetlands article and from their
own observations.
When the class moves on to migratory species, the
teacher uses prior knowledge to help the students.
“Migratory—does that look like another word we
talked about, at the beginning of the school year? Do
you remember our butterfly unit?”
“We talked about butterfly migration,” Elly remembers.
“What did we say that meant?” Mrs. Brester asks.
“It means they travel from one place to another.”
“Right. So migratory species are species like the
butterfly that travel from one place to another.”
The students are already familiar with the fourth
category from the article, endangered species. Life
Science study in this class emphasizes understanding
how species are interdependent and how one species’
actions can affect the habitat for other species. The
teacher asks students which species in the wetlands
are endangered and has them guess at what might
cause wetlands species to become endangered. Then
she guides them to make connections to biodiversity,
the concept that was new at the beginning of the lesson. It’s an idea the class will return to throughout
the Animals Unit, as they build understanding about
shared habitats. For now, it’s the perfect segue to
watching the videos for the wetlands entry, which allow students to observe the movements of fish, birds,
and animals that all live in wetlands habitats.
PowerPoint Projects
Over the next few weeks, students continue to use
Glossopedia along with their textbook and nonfiction
books from the school library to learn more about other
habitats (deserts, coral reefs, oceans, and the Arctic)
and to research their animal projects. Each student has
to create a written report, a PowerPoint slide show, and
an oral presentation on their chosen animal, its habitat,
its predators and food sources, the impact of humans
on its habitat, and any other facts they learn about
the animals that intrigue them. The teacher designs
Connecting to the Standards
This article relates to the following National Science
Education Standards (NRC 1996):
Content Standards
Grades K–4
Standard C: Life Science
•The characteristics of organisms
•Organisms and environments
the assignment to integrate language arts with science
and technology, and she scaffolds the learning by providing students with helpful worksheets that explain
the expectations for the project and guide students
through the writing and incorporation of multimedia
elements (see NSTA Connection).
The worksheets, written reports, oral reports,
and PowerPoint presentations will all be part of the
assessment. The teacher evaluates how well each
student follows the worksheet directions; how creative they are in using pictures, video, and sound
files in their presentations; and how well they share
their new knowledge when their fellow students ask
them questions at the end of the presentation. But
the classroom conversations and teacher observations as students use the website provide important
formative feedback on student learning throughout
the unit. And while Rachel and her classmates won’t
be graded on how well they imitate the motility of
the Siebenrock snake-necked turtle, anyone who’s
watching can see how well they’re using technology
to learn more about animals and nature. n
Lois Leveen ([email protected]) is an educational consultant in Portland, Oregon.
Resource
National Research Council (NRC). 1996. National science
education standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Internet
Glossopedia
www.globio.org/glossopedia
NSTA Connection
Download project worksheets and a sample
lesson plan to accompany this article at
http://www.nsta.org/SC0709.
September 2007 51
Animal Report Planner/Writing Guide
Name:___________
Animal:___________
Introduction Paragraph
This animal report is about a _______________________. In this report I will discuss
the habitat, food chain, interesting facts about and human impact on ______________.
Second Paragraph
What does your animal look like?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
What is the habitat of your animal?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Where in the world can your animal be found?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Third Paragraph
Where is your animal in the animal kingdom?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
What does your animal eat?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Is it a carnivore, herbivore or omnivore?
______________________________________________________
What are the predators of your animal?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Fourth Paragraph
Interesting facts about your animal (give at least three)
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Fifth Paragraph
How have humans impacted your animal?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Conclusion Paragraph
This report was about a ________________ included was information about the habitat,
food chain, interesting facts about and human impact on ______________.
Sources:
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Editing List (check off each thing you have completed)
_____ Does every paragraph include all the needed information?
_____ Did you indent every paragraph?
_____ Do you have a capital letter and end mark for every sentence?
_____ Did you check your paper for accurate spelling?
_____ Did you read your paper out loud to someone or have another student read
it to make sure it made sense?
_____ Did you have the teacher help edit your paper (this is done last)?
Name: _____________
Power Point Planner
In order for to meet the expectations for this project this presentation must include
the following:
____ One picture of your animal (from clip art or the internet)
6 slides that contain all the necessary information as indicated below for each slide:
Be sure to fill out the information for each slide first (on the attached sheets) then create
your slide show.
_____ Slide One
-Title (animal name), your name, date and a picture of an animal (from
clipart or the internet)
_____ Slide Two
-Title (habitat of your animal), describe the habitat and where in the
world it can be found
_____ Slide Three
-Title (predators and food sources for your animal), is your animal an
omnivore, herbivore, or carnivore, what your animal eats, the predators of
your animal
_____ Slide Four
-Title (how humans have impacted the habitat of your animal),
describe how humans have impacted your animal’s habitat
_____ Slide Five
-Title (interesting facts about your animal), list interesting facts about
your animal.
_____ Slide Six
-Title (Bibliography), document the sources that you used for your report.
Editing List (check each item you have completed)
_____ Does every slide include all the needed information?
_____ Did you put a title on every slide?
_____ Did you use correct spelling and punctuation on each slide?
_____ Did you show your slide show to a classmate?
_____ Did you have the teacher help edit your slide show (this is done last)?
Slide One:
Animal Name
Picture of animal here. This picture can be
from clipart or the internet.
By,
Your Name
Date
Slide Two:
Slide Two:
Habitat of a _________________
Describe the habitat of your animal and where in the world it can be found.
Slide Three:
Predators and Food Sources for a ________________
Describe if your animal is an omnivore, herbivore, or carnivore. Describe what your animal eats and
what it’s predators are.
Slide Four:
How Humans Have Changed or Impacted the Habitat of a ____________________
Describe what humans have done to change our impact the habitat of your animal.
Slide Five:
Slide Five:
Interesting Facts About a __________________
Describe any interesting facts about your animal.
Slide 6:
Bibliography
Document the sources that you used for your report in correct form (see attached form).
Glossopedia Sample Lesson Plan
This lesson was designed to connect textbook readings to use of the free online resource
Glossopedia. It supports student learning in conjunction with reading EITHER Life
Science Lesson 4, “How do organisms live together?” or Earth Science Lesson 2, “What
Happens to Water in Clouds?” in Scott Foresman Science Grade Three (Cooney, T., and
M.A. DiSpezio. 2006. Scott Foresman Science Grade 3. Boston, MA: Scott Foresman.).
Teachers can adapt it to use with any appropriate reading from whatever science
textbooks or other instructional materials they use, or they can teach only the Glossopedia
sections of the lesson plan. If the textbook portion is included, the lesson plan will take 23 class periods.
1. After completing the textbook reading, ask students to define biodiversity. If they don’t
know the word, invite them to guess what they think it means and describe why they
think that. If they do know the word, ask them for examples of places where biodiversity
exists.
2. Have students read the Wetlands entry
(http://globio.org/glossopedia/wetland/index.htm) in Glossopedia. Have each student list
three characteristics of wetlands she or he learned from the reading.
3. Have students explore the schematic diagram in the “Anatomy of a Wetland” section
of the wetlands article. Show them how to roll over the different sections of the picture to
learn more. As they explore, have students answer the following questions:
• What type of plants live in a wetland?
• Where do they live?
• What type of animals, birds, and fish live in a wetland?
• Where do they live?
4. Divide the students into three groups. Show students how to click on the movie camera
icon to access the videos in the green media viewer on the lefthand side of the screen.
Have the students in the first group watch the “River otters swimming” video. Have the
students in the second group watch the “Rainbow trout” video. Have the students in the
third group watch the “Siebenrock snake-necked turtle” video. Ask each student to write
a brief description of how the animal or fish in their video moves. Be creative and have
them write down directions that will help their classmates move like that animal or fish.
Ask students from each group to read their descriptions aloud. Can their classmates
imitate the motion without watching the video?
After students listen to all three descriptions, have the class, as a group, list what
similarities and differences there are between the way the river otter, rainbow trout, and
Siebenrock snake-necked turtle move. Then have the class watch all three videos
together. Ask them to review the list of similarities and differences—what else did they
notice in the videos that should be added to the lists? What did they observe that might
explain why these wetland inhabitants move similarly or differently?
5. Optional: have students choose one link to click from text of wetlands article. Ask
students why they chose that particular link: What do they expect to learn? Have students
click the link and then report back to the class or do a write up on what they learn. Were
their expectations met?
6. Ask students to review their earlier definition of biodiversity, expanding it to
incorporate information from Glossopedia. Ask them how biodiversity relates to the
topics they read about in the textbook.
7. If your students began by reading Lesson 4, “How do organisms live together?” have
them turn to the Review Questions on p. A76. Have them review their earlier answers to
questions 1, 2, and 3. What did they learn from Glossopedia that they can add to these
answers?
If your students began by reading Lesson 2, “What Happens to Water in Clouds?”
ask them which parts of the water cycle (condensation, evaporation, precipation) affect
wetlands and how. Then ask what elements of a wetland environment are affected by the
water cycle and how.