Project URL: www.teachersnetwork.org/teachnetusa/dmaggio/greatlakes.htm

How it works:
These activities use real-time online information to solve simulated "crimes."  Students look up data that includes ship tracking via GPS information, lake conditions (water currents and temperature),  and weather systems. For one module, the students find  information about different invasive plant and animal species and then create a brochure about the plant or animal they choose, including how it got here, where it is found today, and how it is harmful to native plant and animal species.

Standards addressed:
Students learn about the composition and structure of the Earth's atmosphere (e.g., temperature and pressure in different layers of the atmosphere, circulation of air masses);
factors that affect the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support (e.g., available resources such as quantity of light and water, range of temperature, and soil composition; disease; competition from other organisms within the ecosystem; predation);
ways in which organisms interact and depend on one another through food chains and food webs in an ecosystem (e.g., producer/consumer, predator/prey, parasite/host-- relationships that are mutually beneficial or competitive); and concepts such as axis, major parallels, seasons, rotation, revolution, and principal lines of latitude and longitude.

Materials used:
A computer with Internet connection, and various maps are needed.

The students:
Crimes on the Great Lakes is designed for students in seventh through twelfth grade. Students need to be able to interpret data found on the Internet and put the data into another usable form.

Overall value:
This program places the information that is being looked for into a simulated situation where the data is needed. It also utilizes the students imaginations to make the situations "real." The students gain valuable knowledge that meets State standards while actively enjoying themselves
 
Tips: 
Teachers must do some preparation of materials and familiarize themselves with the data required. Some of the situations require teacher input because of the real-time nature of the program.

About the teacher:
David Maggio is an eighth-grade science teacher in the Cleveland Municipal School District. He has worked with the Alliance Project, is a Master Teacher for the National Teacher Training Institute, and has a Master's Degree in Instructional Technology.

E-mail: 
mr_maggio@yahoo.com

Subject Areas:  
Science 
English 
Technology                         

Grade Levels: 
7-12