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| ------------------------------------------------------------ A Whale of a Newsletter Welcome to INNOVA Multimedia's Online Educational Community. Next month marks our fortieth issue and to celebrate INNOVA's team will be making some changes to your monthly newsletter. We'll scour the web for useful and fun stuff that teachers, parents and students can enjoy and continue to bring you the informative articles we have taken pride in preparing month after month. Stay Tuned! October 2002 Issue #39 Austin Simms, Editor, mailto:editor@innovamultimedia.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Welcome to the thirty-ninth issue of "An Online Educational Community". To read past issues of our newsletter, visit http://www.innovamultimedia.com/archive.htm or to learn more about us, check out our website at http://www.innovamultimedia.com If you think a friend might be interested in reading this newsletter, pass it along in whole or in part. You are receiving this newsletter because you requested a subscription. To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, fill out the form at http://www.innovamultimedia.com/newsletr.htm Each month we will focus on a different educational theme and base our feature article and learning tips around that particular theme. ------------------------------------------------------------ IN THIS ISSUE ------------------------------------------------------------ => Feature => Contest - Win a Whale => This Month's Free Lesson Plans => More Great Education Web Sites => Whale Links for Whale Lovers => Whale Trivia => Feedback ------------------------------------------------------------ Feature ------------------------------------------------------------ The Virtual Field Trip The 2002-2003 school year is well under way and some classes have probably already embarked on their first field trip. Maybe your class has visited the annual fall agricultural fair in your area, where they viewed the livestock, farm produce, and local crafts exhibition. Perhaps your class has visited the local hospital where they observed medical personnel dispensing tender, loving care to their patients. Or maybe your class outing involved a nature walk to the boreal forest to learn about the flora and fauna that live there. But what if your school is located in an area that does not have an agricultural fair, a hospital, or a boreal forest; yet, you are required to cover curriculum objectives pertinent to these topics? The answer: take your students on a Virtual Field Trip. Nowadays the majority of schools have high speed internet access to the information superhighway allowing teachers and students to travel through space and time to places that otherwise would be unattainable. Children around the world can take a virtual field trip to Antarctica, visit the natural wonders of the world, experience a South American rainforest; or learn about such things as volcanoes, deserts, and oceans by checking out web sites such as: http://www.field-trips.org/trips.htm This site features objectives, teacher resources, and a 'Start the Field Trip' button enabling the students to access a specific site and experience the thrill of virtually 'being there'. Those who wish to learn about the Seven Wonders of the World can take a virtual field trip to: http://ce.eng.usf.edu/pharos/wonders/ Perhaps your class is studying frog dissection. Have the students take a virtual interactive field trip to: http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/frog/intro.html where they can view video clips of a step-by-step procedure that will assist them in dissecting their own frog. The students can take a virtual tour of the Louvre to learn about paintings, sculptures, as well as various art forms and architectures of the past: http://www.louvre.fr/louvrea.htm The web site: http://www.uen.org/utahlink/tours/teacher_tips.htm provides tips so that teachers can create their own virtual field trip web sites enabling students and teachers in other parts of the world to experience the thrill of 'being there' when taking a virtual field trip to your community. Suggestions for locating a virtual field trip web site: 1. For primary and lower elementary school children: · the teacher can choose her favorite search engine (e.g., Yahoo, Alta Vista, Google) and type the keyword(s) to initiate the search · she should preview a number of the web sites and bookmark those sites that are both user-friendly for the students and best achieve the instructional objectives · have the students visit the bookmarked virtual field trip web sites 2. For choosing virtual field trips for upper elementary and junior\senior high school students: · teach the children how to pinpoint the appropriate keyword(s) when using the search engine so that they will encounter successful web searches and avoid frustration · have the students bookmark their sites; especially, if they are unable to complete a tour during the session. · pair off the students so that they can take the virtual field trip together ------------------------------------------------------------ Contest - Win a Whale ------------------------------------------------------------ INNOVA Multimedia Ltd. is giving away TEN of our "A Whale of a Tale" educational software lessons and the latest version of LessonBuilder, a custom course-creation utility, as a FREE DOWNLOAD on our website! Visit http://www.innovamultimedia.com/lbuilder.htm to download your free copy. When you download LessonBuilder you are automatically entered in our contest to win a free CD-ROM from our "A Whale of a Tale" series. Good Luck! ------------------------------------------------------------ This Month's Free Lesson Plans ------------------------------------------------------------ Teachers, check out free "A Whale of a Tale" lesson plans on our website at http://www.innovamultimedia.com/lp_index.htm Surf into Science 1 - "Structures: Man-Made or Natural" at http://www.innovamultimedia.com/sci1g.htm teaches students to distinguish between man-made structures and structures found in nature. Dive into Math 2 - "Reading a Fahrenheit Thermometer" at http://www.innovamultimedia.com/math2j.htm teaches children to read a Fahrenheit thermometer. ------------------------------------------------------------ More Great Education Web Sites ------------------------------------------------------------ Check out these INNOVA recommended resource sites: Teaching Tips & Strategies: FALL http://www.umkc.edu/imc/tips4.htm Fall brings plenty of seasonal possibilities to the classroom: the changing of leaves and the coming of winter, apples, Halloween, pumpkins, football, turkeys, Sukkot, the Pilgrims, elections, and Thanksgiving. This site contains classroom activities, songs, poetry, and trivia for the Fall season. Report Card Comments That Make the Grade http://www.creativeclassroom.org/nd00ttt/index3.html This site is a handy guide for teachers especially those encountering difficulty devising comments for progress reports or report cards. Topics include: Words That Keep It Positive; When Assessing Work Habits; Appreciating a Child's Unique Qualities; Phrases That Build Bridges to Parents; and When a Child Needs Extra Help. Monthly Activity Calendar: October 2002 http://www.enchantedlearning.com/activitycalendars/2002/oct.shtml This site contains a calendar of suggested activities for each day of the month of October. Simply click on the activity to go to crafts, printouts, Label Me! quizzes, and other activities. Calendars are also available for each month of the year. ------------------------------------------------------------ Whale Links for Whale Lovers ------------------------------------------------------------ Check out these INNOVA recommended whale sites! 1. Learn http://www.seaworld.org/teacherguides/index.html At the Internet home of SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, teachers and parents can access guides to help teach children about Marine life. 2. Look http://www.earthwindow.com/blue.html Photographer Mike Johnson's underwater and aerial whale photography from Southern California. 3. Listen http://www.whalecenter.org/audioarchive.htm The Whale Center of New England's Humpback and Minke whale audio samples. ------------------------------------------------------------ Whale Trivia ------------------------------------------------------------ A humpback whale's breath rushes out of its blowhole at speeds of up to 450 kph and can go up to a height of 5 metres. Animals commonly called dolphins and porpoises are simply small toothed whales. Whales are warm blooded and maintain an average body temperature of about 96.8 degrees. The human body's temperature is at 96-97 degrees early in the morning after waking. The blue whale is the biggest animal living on earth. The record length for a blue whale is 110 feet. The humpback's large flippers are nearly one-third as long as its body. ------------------------------------------------------------ Feedback ------------------------------------------------------------ If you have comments or suggestions concerning our online newsletter or website, please direct them to mailto:editor@innovamultimedia.com Your comments and suggestions will be published in the feedback section of future issues. Past Online issues can be found at http://www.innovamultimedia.com/archive.htm ------------------------------------------------------------ English Resources Newsletter for teachers and parents. Free opt-in monthly newsletter with free units and puzzles. To subscribe visit http://www.ies.tradeplaza.co.nz or email ies@tradeplaza.co.nz and write subscribe in the subject box. ------------------------------------------------------------ NEW! Buy INNOVA's products online with delivery via Internet or CD-Rom. For more info visit: http://www.innovamultimedia.com/software.htm ------------------------------------------------------------ "An Online Educational Community" may only be redistributed in whole or in part in its unedited form. Written permission from the editor must be obtained to reprint or cite the information contained within this newsletter. ------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 2002 INNOVA Multimedia Ltd. ------------------------------------------------------------ |