Chapter 3: Brant on the Web
This chapter is essential for beginning the project, and communicating to other sites about the brant. Here, you will find information about the brant list serve and web page, and how participants can contribute their information to the project.
Telecommunications in the Classroom:
A Hello LetterObjective:
1. Students will write a "hello" letter and send it to the list serve; and will collect the letters from other sites and post them on a brant bulletin board or in a class notebook.Background:
By becoming a link in the telecommunications process of the Brant Monitoring Project, participants are contributing valuable information to a central database which is accessible by all participants or anyone with access to the Web.Procedure:
1. Use the chalkboard to brainstorm ideas for a class letter. This should be a "Hello" to all of the participants, who and where you are (your relationship to the estuary, any information students know about brant, local weather, class interests, information about other projects the class has done), and a signal to let them know that you are ready to begin sending information about the Brant sightings, departures, and arrivals.2. Once your class has drafted a letter, join the Brant ListServ at www.padillabay.gov/brant/contact.asp then send your letter to all of the partners on the ListServe.
3. As the school year progresses, check your class e-mail regularly for messages from the other sites via your class e-mail. As you receive messages on the whereabouts of the Brant, use the map activity (in chapter 2) to locate where they are. You may also want to print the messages out and keep them in a class notebook. (Students may also choose to have a pen pal throughout the year as well).
4. When the brant come and go from your area, it is up to you and your class to relay those messages right away to the other sites in order for them to keep track of the brant’s whereabouts.
Note: This telecommunications lesson assures you and your class a link in the project. Through field trips and contact with your local "partner wildlife biologist" you will be able to get counts of brant from the field. Your class is responsible for transmitting that information across the internet. Questions like, "where are they?", "how many are there?", and "when will they leave?" will be exciting to answer through careful observation, and then to pass that new information along on the internet for answers.
Participant Input: Telecommunications
Objective:
1. Students will learn about the various ways that this project is related to the internet (students will become familiar with the brant list serve and home page and their importance in the brant project).Background:
Students will be able to send notes, letters, data images, and other messages directly from their classroom computer to those of other participants. These communications will include information and observations of participants about brant. For instance, as the Brant begin to leave Izembek Lagoon for their southbound migration, students in Cold Bay will be able to notify classrooms throughout the flyway that the geese are en route. Participants will also be able to share through artwork, poetry, and photos, management issues and local stresses of the brant in their area.I. Your Class and the Brant Data
While in the field, students collect data about the number of Brant and other birds sighted as well as weather and other environmental conditions (see Chapter 7 for data sheets). This data can then be submitted to a central database, the "observation log," which is accessible on the World Wide Web to all participants. In addition to these data storage and transmission capabilities, users will be able to access data and produce graphs to assist with analysis. Participants can mail inquiries and observations to: alex@padillabay.govII. Home Page Development
Address: http://www.padillabay.gov/brant
The brant project homepage serves as the central meeting place for all of those involved in the project, and any newcomers who happen to find our page. The web page is constantly undergoing changes, and we encourage anyone’s input. We are especially looking for new exhibits, poetry, and artwork that can be translated into html language and added to our homepage. Participants can directly send their artistic contributions by contacting the International Coordinator at alex@padillabay.gov for information on how to send it.III. Site Descriptions
As new participants join the project, we want to hear about that new place and how the brant are related to that area. And, we want to add your new site to the Flyway Map Site Descriptions section of the homepage. If you are a new participant or school, please submit a description of your site to the ListServ containing: latitude/longitude, size of bay, area weather, special features and economic activities in or near the bay where the brant are seen.Other Computer-Related Activities
As you work through the curriculum, you will find that other activities may have a telecommunications part to it. It may be a wrap-up to an activity or simply the students’ reflections of a field trip. Just remember, the web page and list serve are there for the students, participants, wildlife biologists, teachers, and anyone else who may have an interest in the brant. Feel free to contact the list serve at any time to recommend changes, report observations, or start something new for everyone that is involved!