Online

Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities

Lesson Idea Name: The Monarch Butterfly Journey
Content Area: Science – Life Science
Grade Level(s): 2nd

Content Standard Addressed: S2L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the life
cycles of different living organisms.


Technology Standard Addressed: Digital Citizen

Selected Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity: Journey North

URL(s) to support the lesson: https://journeynorth.org/monarchs


Describe how you would incorporate an Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity in your
classroom:
I would incorporate an online project in my classroom through the Journey North website. This particular
project focuses on the observing, tracking, and exploration of Monarch Butterflies’ migrations from Mexico.
The website guides teachers and students through the necessary steps and resources to explore the
migration. Initially, the students will play the role of citizen scientist to assist this company with keeping track
of all the data. Students will go out and observe what they can about monarch butterflies throughout the
year. The website provides resources for students to explore and predict the path that the butterflies will
travel. There is an interactive map that goes along with this part of the project. As a class, we will report any
sightings we see of the butterflies and where. We will report this information to the website to be used in
their database. It is here that you can track all of the sightings that other students around the world have
found on the migration map.

Since this project takes place over a couple of months, I would be sure to incorporate time into to work on
the project at least once a week. The website offers resources for educators to implement the project into the
classroom. One of them is an interactive Journal that students will use to keep track of their work and data
during the project. The website offers downloadable pages to incorporate into the journal, which cover many
other subjects besides science. There are even math graphs and charts to implement during math time. I also
plan to incorporate many lesson plans for students to research and learn about the butterflies themselves.
The students will be able to work with their peers inside the classroom to discuss their acquired knowledge
and plan how to use this knowledge to enhance their online project and better help the scientists.

What technologies would be required to implement this proposed learning activity in a classroom?
The students will need access to devices that can connect to the internet and allow for web-access use.

Describe how the following features are addressed in this learning experience (note: all of them may not be
addressed in the project, but most should be if you are reaching a high LoTi Level).
a. Collaboration with peers, near-peers, mentors outside their classroom and often beyond their
school: The students will be engaging with actual scientists as mentors online through the Journey
North Website. They will also get to view the findings of peers outside of their classroom. Lastly, I
intend for collaboration with peers inside the classroom to happen during group activities and
discussions.

Spring 2018_SJB
 Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities
b. Student-centered learning and knowledge creation (creating original data and or producing original
products as a result of engaging in a project): The students will be going outside to collect original
data on Monarch Butterfly observations.

c. Higher-order thinking: The students will illicit higher-order thinking by uploading their own data
analyzations and evaluating their peers’ work online.

d. Students publishing their original work to others who will use/care about their product: The students
are going to publish their sighting reports on the Journey North website. All of the other students using
this project and scientists will see their work.


Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):

☒ Remembering ☒ Understanding ☒ Applying ☒ Analyzing ☒ Evaluating ☐ Creating

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level):

☐ Level 1: Awareness ☐ Level 2: Exploration ☐ Level 3: Infusion ☐ Level 4: Integration

☒ Level 5: Expansion ☐ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL):
Representation- The Journey North website offers multiple representations of student data. There are maps
showing where the data was collected and it also has a corresponding image of the finding. They also have an
option to view the data as a chart with the longitude and latitude written for each finding. This allows
students to see the data in two different ways.
Expression- The students will get the opportunity to go out into the environment to actively participate in
collecting real data. This project also varies typical methods of response and assessments, because they are
expressing their understanding through an interactive online database.
Engagement- The students will feel a sense of purpose as they get the chance to act as scientists and help out
real-life scientists. This project also fosters collaboration and community.

Lesson idea implementation and Internet Safety Policies:
The Journey North website provides students with safe collaboration with scientists and other students
around the world. There is the option to remain anonymous, as well as monitor student interactions with the
other users.

Reflective Practice:
I believe the activity I have created through Journey North will positively impact student learning. Most
importantly, I believe this project will provide students with a sense of purpose since they are helping real-life
scientists. To extend this lesson, we could take a class field trip to a butterfly exhibit. This would allow
students to learn more about the Monarchs and engage in discussion with a specialist from the exhibit.

Spring 2018_SJB