ADOPT - A - SEA MONSTER

SHORT TERM GOALS:

  1. To deepen the students understanding of ocean mythology by exploring various sea monsters.
  2. To provide students with the opportunity to adopt - a - sea monster and explore its culture by using the Internet and informational books or magazines. Students will show their findings by use of a news broadcast.

TIME ALLOTMENT: 6 hours

CONTENT AREAS ADDRESSED:

  1. Social Studies
  2. Language Arts
  3. Art
  4. Media

CONCEPTS ADDRESSED:

  1. Teamwork and Communication
  2. Research
  3. Exploring
  4. Critical Thinking
  5. News Broadcasting

MATERIALS:

  1. Access to Internet
  2. Video Cameras
  3. Books and Magazines on sea monsters and sea monsters culture
  4. Markers/Colored pencils (To help make visual aides for newscast)
  5. Tag board/ Newsroom set-up

PROCEDURE:

  1. Introduce the idea of sea monsters to the class with a connection being made to the sea monsters in the The Voyage of Odysseus. Examples. . . Who remembers the sea monsters Odysseus encounters on his voyage? What do you think they looked like?
  2. Find out what the students know about current sea monsters. Do they know names and places? Introduce the students to six or seven of the most popular sea monsters known around the world. Point out the locations of the sea monsters on a map.

    **Here is a list of seven very popular sea monsters that information is relatively easy to find:

    Nessie - The Loch Ness Monster, Loch Ness, Scotland

    Champ - Lake Champlain, New York

    Nahuelito, Nahuel Huapi Lake, Argentina

    Ogopogo, Lake Okanagan

    The Kraken, Sweden/ The Giant Squid

    Chessie, Chesapeke Bay, Maryland

    Tessie, Lake Tahoe

    For other possible sea monsters and Internet sites see the References list at the end of this lesson.

  3. Divide the class into groups of four. According to the number of groups, take the same number of sea monster names and throw them into a hat. Let each group pick out one name.
  4. After each group has a sea monster, inform the students they have just adopted a sea monster. Explain to the students that they will be researching their sea monster and its cultures background. Each group will be giving a news broadcast to show what they have learned regarding their sea monster. The news broadcasts should be between 5-10 minutes.
  5. Distribute extra books or important Internet sites to help the groups get started on their research. See Reference and Bibliography lists for important resources.
  6. Inform the groups of the components for the newscast, such as sports, weather, live reports, reports on their sea monsters, and a regular news anchor. The number of parts will be adjusted according to group sizes. The newscast should contain information concerning the sea monster, weather at the homeland of the sea monster, and a live report from an on the scene reporter. Students should be very creative with their newscast and have it edited by the teacher. An example of this creativity could consist of the sports report having the Loch Ness Niners playing the Ogopo Oilers in a football game. Ask for an outline of news broadcast before the group is cleared for taping.
  7. When groups are ready to be taped, set up the news broadcast desk. Include other props for the groups such as maps, pictures, and outfits.
  8. Let the students do a practice newscast to get all of the bugs out. Then let the camera role... Action! If two cameras can be obtained, it will help the taping go smoother and faster. Ask a student or a fellow teacher to help you in the taping of the newscast.
  9. After all groups have finished with their newscast, play the tapes for the entire class. Students can take notes on information regarding each sea monster.

ASSESSMENT:

  1. Self -Assessment Rubric
  2. Oral presentations Rubric
  3. Group Participation Rubric

EXTENSIONS:

  1. Create a literature corner filled with great books that deal with types of sea monsters. See the main bibliography for more bibliographic information.

    List:

    1. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

    2. Jaws

    3. Loch Ness Monster Books

    4. The Beast

    5. White Shark

    6. The Meg

  2. Another idea would be to show a variety of movies about sea monsters. Here are a few great movies that deal with the topic of sea monsters.

    List: 1. The Beast (NBC)

    2. Jaws

    3. 20,000 Leagues under the Sea

    4. Creatures (NBC)

  3. A possible extension would also be to divide the class into two teams and debate the issue on whether sea monsters are real or fictitious. There is a substantial amount of evidence for both sides of the argument.

 

REFERENCE LIST:

Ellis, R. (1994). Monsters of the Sea. Alfred A. Knoff, Inc., NY, NY. [ISBN-0-679-40639-5]

Gibson, M. (1982). Gods, Men, and Monsters. Schocken Books, NY.

[ISBN- 0-8052-3793-3]

Internet Sites

  1. http://www.serve.com/shadows/serpent.htm#mega
  2. http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/kraken.htm
  3. http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/squid.htm
  4. http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/seamist.htm
  5. http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/nlake.htm
  6. http://www.yaws.com/yaws/tahoe/tessie.shtml
  7. http://www.strangemag.com/nessie.home.html
  8. http://www.lochness.co.uk/nessie/nessie.html
  9. http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~bz050/HomePage.sserp.html

 

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