The Fourth Grade Wisconsin Project
4th graders... YOU WILL locate and use geological and archeological information using computer resources to learn the prerecorded history of Wisconsin.
This is a SELF-GUIDED tour.... You will collect,analyze and record information by traveling to exciting web sites and thinking like a scientist!! Places you will visit by computer to find clues to the story are shown in purple . Hang on tight when you click the mouse on these purple headings, because you will be transported to places you can only begin to imagine...
You will be using your "Scientist Field Book" to record your exciting discoveries!!! Pay special attention to any terms shown in red .You must answer these in your field notebook, and your notebook will be a big part of your grade. Thinking questions , which you will sometimes talk over with a partner, are shown in green and must also be answered in your field notebook.
Finally, you will be asked to show some of what you have learned on a map and a timeline.
Points for your grade will be earned as follows:
Thinking questions - 25 points
Definitions of terms - 25 points
Teacher Observations:
staying on task - 5 points
working with a partner - 5 points
computer skill - 10 points
following directions - 5 points
Timeline - 10 points
Map - 15 points
TOTAL - 100 points
Grades will be earned as follows:
90-100 A
80-89 B
70-79 C
Any project earning less than 70 points will need to be reworked until enough points are earned to be successful.
Are you ready??Then, LET THE INVESTIGATION BEGIN!!!
First of all, find out what an archeologist , a continent , a hypotheses, and radiocarbon dating are. Dig into this website and find out!! Click on Bones and write the answers in your field notebook. (Hint: do you need the glossary?)
Now, write the answers to the first of your Thinking Questions in your field notebook. You may go back and revisit the site, Bones, if you wish.
1. Where were the bones found?
2. What conclusion was drawn from the marks on the bones?
Next, let's discover what a geologist specializes in... see if the next web site can help you come to a conclusion about that job. After you find out, write what a geologist does in your field notebook.
Long, long ago, in a land that we know, it began in a very intriguing way. And what was the nature of the environment, our environment, at that time?? After visiting the first site, answer these thinking questions in your field notebook.
3. What does the photo show?
4. The writer thinks that long ago, in the Cambrian time period, Wisconsin had what kind on environment? Describe what that would be like. You may discuss this question with your partner. If you choose, you may draw a color drawing of what you think this environment might have looked like. Use color.
When you are done with these questions, there are some very cool places you may choose to visit on your own. You need to look to the right of the screen, under the heading Internet Links (in red). You may click on either Dinosaurs or How Fossils Are Made. Let your investigating begin! When you finish, write 3 facts from each visit in your field notebook.
Jellyfish in Wisconsin???
Jellyfish???
After visiting the second site, answer this question in your field notebook.
5. Scientists think that these jellyfish fossils were not only the largest found in the Cambrian Period, but also that they were probably the most important _____ in the food chain.
6. When were these fossil impressions made?
Can you imagine?! News about a fossil found in central Wisconsin, printed by the British Broadcasting Company in England...all the way across the Atlantic Ocean! Must be pretty important, wouldn't you say??
What evidence do fossils provide?
Now is your chance, it's movie time! Dig into this Fossil movie. Play the movie, then take the quiz at its end.
Fossil Movie
Now, write the meaning of the word " fossil "in your field notebook.
7. Where do you find fossils?
8. Write 3 facts in your field notebook. (Hint: don't forget to pay attention to the facts listed just below the movie!)
Well, now ALL of this knowledge you are discovering...Aren't you feeling super!!! Hard to believe that this Earth of ours did not always look the way we think of it today, isn't it?
See if your description of ancient Wisconsin agrees with that of scientists. Click on the next site to read more detail.
Like Florida??
Can you even think of an explanation for why this land we now call Wisconsin used to be TROPICAL? We're sure not too tropical today! And if you like the snow, you are glad about that! Take a few minutes and talk with your partner about what might have caused such a BIG change in climate . Write your hypotheses in your field notebook.
Now, take a look at what hypotheses real scientists have come up with. What we call Wisconsin is in North America. At the next site, North America is shown in blue. Keep your eyes on it as you discover its Equatorial travels.
Wisconsin Adrift
Still not confused?? You should be! But if you want another view of this interesting idea, go to the next site and click on "Theory of Plate Tectonics".
Continental Drift
In your field notebook, write a definition of plate tectonics . If you want to talk this over with your partner, you may do so. Reread that section of the first site and look again at the moving diagram if you need more help.
Answer these thinking questions in your field notebook as well.
9. How far do scientists believe the Earth's plates move each year?
10. How do scientists use fossil evidence to try to prove the theory of continental movement?
Now, what other evidence do fossils provide about plants, animals, AND PEOPLE? Let's dig a little further into a website you have seen before:
Bones
11. What were the clues that made scientists think Paleo-Indians were there at the same time as the mammoth?
12. How might the glacial lake have been used?
13. Scientists believe the mammoth lived how many years ago?
Did you succeed? If so, you may print up your Certificate! Congratulations!Is there any other evidence that ancient people lived in the land we now call Wisconsin? Have you heard of an effigy mound? Take a picture walk through the web site below..don't forget your Scientist field notebook!! Find at least 5 cities where effigy mounds are found.
Wisconsin Effigy Mound Photos
Discuss with your partner when and why one or more of the mounds might have been built, and who might have done the building. Record your ideas in your field notebook.
Remember that mammoth bone? Remember the tool found near it?
Who were the people who lived here EVEN BEFORE THE TIME OF THE MOUND BUILDERS??
What do we know about these ancient people?
(don't forget to write your answers in your field notebook.)
When did mound building in Wisconsin begin?
When did MOST of the mound building happen? (MOST of something happening is called the zenith.)
What are some major reasons for mound building?
This is a SELF-GUIDED tour.... You will collect,analyze and record information by traveling to exciting web sites and thinking like a scientist!! Places you will visit by computer to find clues to the story are shown in purple . Hang on tight when you click the mouse on these purple headings, because you will be transported to places you can only begin to imagine...
You will be using your "Scientist Field Book" to record your exciting discoveries!!! Pay special attention to any terms shown in red .You must answer these in your field notebook, and your notebook will be a big part of your grade. Thinking questions , which you will sometimes talk over with a partner, are shown in green and must also be answered in your field notebook.
Finally, you will be asked to show some of what you have learned on a map and a timeline.
Points for your grade will be earned as follows:
Thinking questions - 25 points
Definitions of terms - 25 points
Teacher Observations:
staying on task - 5 points
working with a partner - 5 points
computer skill - 10 points
following directions - 5 points
Timeline - 10 points
Map - 15 points
TOTAL - 100 points
Grades will be earned as follows:
90-100 A
80-89 B
70-79 C
Any project earning less than 70 points will need to be reworked until enough points are earned to be successful.
Are you ready??Then, LET THE INVESTIGATION BEGIN!!!
First of all, find out what an archeologist , a continent , a hypotheses, and radiocarbon dating are. Dig into this website and find out!! Click on Bones and write the answers in your field notebook. (Hint: do you need the glossary?)
Now, write the answers to the first of your Thinking Questions in your field notebook. You may go back and revisit the site, Bones, if you wish.
1. Where were the bones found?
2. What conclusion was drawn from the marks on the bones?
Next, let's discover what a geologist specializes in... see if the next web site can help you come to a conclusion about that job. After you find out, write what a geologist does in your field notebook.
Long, long ago, in a land that we know, it began in a very intriguing way. And what was the nature of the environment, our environment, at that time?? After visiting the first site, answer these thinking questions in your field notebook.
3. What does the photo show?
4. The writer thinks that long ago, in the Cambrian time period, Wisconsin had what kind on environment? Describe what that would be like. You may discuss this question with your partner. If you choose, you may draw a color drawing of what you think this environment might have looked like. Use color.
When you are done with these questions, there are some very cool places you may choose to visit on your own. You need to look to the right of the screen, under the heading Internet Links (in red). You may click on either Dinosaurs or How Fossils Are Made. Let your investigating begin! When you finish, write 3 facts from each visit in your field notebook.
Jellyfish in Wisconsin???
Jellyfish???
After visiting the second site, answer this question in your field notebook.
5. Scientists think that these jellyfish fossils were not only the largest found in the Cambrian Period, but also that they were probably the most important _____ in the food chain.
6. When were these fossil impressions made?
Can you imagine?! News about a fossil found in central Wisconsin, printed by the British Broadcasting Company in England...all the way across the Atlantic Ocean! Must be pretty important, wouldn't you say??
What evidence do fossils provide?
Now is your chance, it's movie time! Dig into this Fossil movie. Play the movie, then take the quiz at its end.
Fossil Movie
Now, write the meaning of the word " fossil "in your field notebook.
7. Where do you find fossils?
8. Write 3 facts in your field notebook. (Hint: don't forget to pay attention to the facts listed just below the movie!)
Well, now ALL of this knowledge you are discovering...Aren't you feeling super!!! Hard to believe that this Earth of ours did not always look the way we think of it today, isn't it?
See if your description of ancient Wisconsin agrees with that of scientists. Click on the next site to read more detail.
Like Florida??
Can you even think of an explanation for why this land we now call Wisconsin used to be TROPICAL? We're sure not too tropical today! And if you like the snow, you are glad about that! Take a few minutes and talk with your partner about what might have caused such a BIG change in climate . Write your hypotheses in your field notebook.
Now, take a look at what hypotheses real scientists have come up with. What we call Wisconsin is in North America. At the next site, North America is shown in blue. Keep your eyes on it as you discover its Equatorial travels.
Wisconsin Adrift
Still not confused?? You should be! But if you want another view of this interesting idea, go to the next site and click on "Theory of Plate Tectonics".
Continental Drift
In your field notebook, write a definition of plate tectonics . If you want to talk this over with your partner, you may do so. Reread that section of the first site and look again at the moving diagram if you need more help.
Answer these thinking questions in your field notebook as well.
9. How far do scientists believe the Earth's plates move each year?
10. How do scientists use fossil evidence to try to prove the theory of continental movement?
Now, what other evidence do fossils provide about plants, animals, AND PEOPLE? Let's dig a little further into a website you have seen before:
Bones
11. What were the clues that made scientists think Paleo-Indians were there at the same time as the mammoth?
12. How might the glacial lake have been used?
13. Scientists believe the mammoth lived how many years ago?
Did you succeed? If so, you may print up your Certificate! Congratulations!Is there any other evidence that ancient people lived in the land we now call Wisconsin? Have you heard of an effigy mound? Take a picture walk through the web site below..don't forget your Scientist field notebook!! Find at least 5 cities where effigy mounds are found.
Wisconsin Effigy Mound Photos
Discuss with your partner when and why one or more of the mounds might have been built, and who might have done the building. Record your ideas in your field notebook.
Remember that mammoth bone? Remember the tool found near it?
Who were the people who lived here EVEN BEFORE THE TIME OF THE MOUND BUILDERS??
What do we know about these ancient people?
(don't forget to write your answers in your field notebook.)
When did mound building in Wisconsin begin?
When did MOST of the mound building happen? (MOST of something happening is called the zenith.)
What are some major reasons for mound building?