Oceans
The WiloStar3D online homeschooling oceanography unit is an integrated module that gives the student an overview of the oceans. It deals with the nature of the ocean basins, the physical and chemical aspects of the water in the oceans, the nearshore environments, the ocean's interaction with the coastline and finally the interactions between organisms and their environments. Students also study the tools of oceanography as well as life within the different ocean zones.
This module uses the novel The Cay and Treasure Island to teach language arts skills during this 6 week module. Students create a 3D aquarium as a final research project inside our 3D learning world called Wiloworlds.
Objectives:
At the end of this module students should be able to:
- Describe, in general terms, the geography of the world's oceans.
- Understand and explain plate tectonics.
- Describe the chemical and physical properties of seawater.
- Describe the processes that characterize water movement in the word's oceans.
- Describe the relationship between oceans and climate
- Describe the type and distribution of ocean sediments, the processes by which they are deposited, and how the coastline influences this process.
- Describe the organisms that live in the ocean and the factors that control their diversity.
- Describe the natural resources available from the ocean and the ocean's role as a waste disposal site
Assessment
Students complete a variety of written assignments and final projects to assess progress. All work is archived in individual student folders at the WiloStar3D site. Final multimedia projects are showcased at the WiloStar3D site and are archived into personal student portfolio CD's at the end of the school year to document progress and student grow.
WiloStar3D teachers provide written daily feedback on all student assignments. Students have password protected learning portals where assignment feedback is stored along with their e-gradebook. Students have access to this area 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
These include:
- Daily assignments
- 3D Aquarium Exhibit
- The Cay Essay Test
Resources Needed
1. Treasure Island by Robert Lewis Stevenson
Reading level: 6-adult
Editorial Reviews
This award-winning novel remains a powerful classic of prejudice, love, and survival. In 1942, 11-year-old Phillip Enright lives with his parents on the Dutch island of Curaçao, but when the war moves too close for comfort, his mother decides to travel with him back to the safety of Virginia. When their boat is torpedoed, however, Phillip is blinded and finds himself adrift on a life raft with an old black man and a cat. They eventually land on a deserted island. Phillip is suspicious of "the large Negro," but soon grows to trust--and ultimately love--the patient and generous Timothy. Dedicated to "Dr. King's Dream," The Cay has a clear message that friendship is colorblind; it is also a terrific adventure story of a young, newly blinded man learning to survive on an uninhabited island. (Ages 12 and older)
3. Self-Selected Novels for Reading Workshop
