Virtual Sojourner
Student Activity #2: Remote Rover Rock Hunt

Teachers' Resources

Grade level: Grades 4 - 12.

Approximate time commitment: 2 hours.

Skills: mapping, measurement, communicating, cooperative problem-solving.

Concepts: mapping, proportional reasoning.

Overview: students contact another classroom and take turns "hiding" and "finding" an object (a "rock") in the companion classroom.

Learning objective: work collaboratively to map, invent, and solve navigation problems with a "remote" classroom.

Materials:

• Objects to represent the "rock" and the "rover."
• Graph paper.
• Large paper for classroom maps.
• Rulers, protractors, drawing compasses.
• Carpenter's measuring tape.
• Internet connection (for email or CU-SeeMe).

Procedure:

• Have students make a scale map of your classroom.
  
• Arrange a "play date" with another class

Ask another teacher's class to play --OR--

Request a companion classroom over the Internet.

NOTE: retain confidentiality of your students by not revealing their names (pseudonyms are OK).

• Decide whether to operate the activity as a whole class (for younger kids, at least for their first time) or in teams (groups of three are optimal).
• Choose level of interaction

Level 1--Find the rock.

Level 2-- Find the rock, but watch out!

Level 3--Map the classroom.

• Familiarize yourself with the procedure in the selected level. Negotiate unclear details between your classroom and the companion classroom.
• Decide which classroom is the "search" (sends commands, analyzes feedback) and which is the "site" (receives commands, executes them, gives feedback). The "site" should inform the "searchers" of some details of the physical layout of the classroom.
• Play by having the classes send commands over the Internet to be executed, after which feedback is sent back.
• Give hints when necessary.
• Facilitate precision in both measurement and communication by allowing them to encounter setbacks. Their tendency will be to blame either each other or the other classroom when difficulties occur, therefore care must be taken to defuse anger and help them see that precision is part of learning.
• Report to other teachers on how it went.
• Switch classroom roles, play again.
• Try another level of interaction.

Note: You may download a text version of the entire activity.