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Overview:
In this lesson, students will write promotions for television news stories based on the different sections of Xpedition Hall's virtual exhibit, The Garden. Students will work in groups to complete this activity.
Connections to the Curriculum:
Geography, earth science, language arts
Connections to the National Geography Standards:
Standard 14: "How human actions modify the physical environment"
Time:
Two hours
Materials Required:
- Computer with Internet access
- Television with a VCR or video player
- Videotape of a television news program, such as National Geographic Today
Objectives:
Students will
- evaluate the information in Xpedition Hall's virtual exhibit, The Garden;
- discuss ways to get an audience's attention;
- write a brief teaser for a news story about one of the six topics presented in the exhibit; and
- complete additional research online, if needed.
Geographic Skills:
Asking Geographic Questions
Acquiring Geographic Information
Organizing Geographic Information
Analyzing Geographic Information
S u g g e s t e d P r o c e d u r e
Opening:
Introduce students to Xpedition Hall's virtual exhibit, The Garden. Explain that they will learn about the impact human actions have on a variety of areas in the world in which they live. Divide the class into six groups, and ask them to click through the exhibit, paying special attention to their area. These areas are
- housing;
- industry;
- transportation;
- land;
- water; and
- wildlife.
As groups are assigned, make sure students understand the meaning of the word their group was given.
Development:
Once students have visited their area of The Garden, ask them to describe the main idea of their part of the exhibit. Did a major event occur? Was there danger? Is there an action that people could have taken to prevent damage, if they had been warned? For example, if people had known that starving macaques were coming from the hills, what might they have done to avoid being attacked?
Explain that news stories that warn or inform people often start with a brief sentence or two to get their attention to make sure they watch the story. Using the video player or a news program that is playing live during your class, show the class some examples of teasers. Point out how newscasters may play on a sense of fear for personal safety, ambiguity, or money issues to grab people's attention.
Closing:
Ask students to write a teaser warning the people of Japan about the event that is described in The Garden. The idea is to write two to three sentences that are more like a headline than an article. This may be a challenge for stories that relate to long-term effects on the environment. Some strategies to suggest include using a question to grab the viewer's attention; stressing an interesting fact or statistic, such as the speed of a train, then discussing the details; and appealing to a viewer's senses by describing a smell or a noise.
Suggested Student Assessment:
Have students share their teasers with the rest of the class. Ask the rest of the students to offer a "thumbs up" or a "thumbs down" to indicate whether or not they would watch a news story on that topic. Discuss the strengths of the ones that appealed to the class.
Extending the Lesson:
Have students complete additional research on their topics and write a one-paragraph news story. Remind students to follow up on the information their group promised to offer in the story.
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