Audio Field Guide

Learning Target OR Standards & Connections
  • NSES Standard A: Science as Inquiry – Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
  • NSES Standard C: Life Science – The characteristics of organisms – Organisms and environments
Essential Outcome(s) Level(s)
Students will…

  • build a field guide to on-campus birds, include song samples and spoken recordings of appearance, diet, and habitat.
 Elementary
Activity/Project
  1. After reviewing the purpose of field guides in reference to Science, students are given the specifics of the assignment and asked to start compiling their data through observation and research. 
  2. Students can open the appropriate template that the teacher created in the  Soundtrap Studio on their computer.
  3. They may add their comments in the chat feature as well as audio record the their spoken voice and any sounds they observe while in the field. 
  4. When the field data collection is finished, they review and revise.
  5. Optional: students can add an introduction, conclusion, dedication, author’s note, etc. 
  6. Share and reflect with the class in addition to uploading to social media and/or your class/school website. 
Extended Learning
  1. While field guides provide a natural integration of science and writing, they also open other possibilities for integration. Art instruction is a perfect support for children as they attempt to capture what they see in the natural world. Technologies such as digital photography and web publishing also lend themselves to field guide work. Finally, developing a field guide for a local trail, park, or garden makes a perfect service learning project, so that when students find themselves wondering, “Who takes care of this place anyway?” the answer will be, “We do.” 

 

The author of this is Meredith Allen. Prior to joining the Soundtrap team, Meredith served as an Instructional Technology Consultant at Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency in Iowa.  Preceding her consulting, Meredith taught instrumental music, K-7 technology and facilitated a district’s Virtual Reality Education Pathfinders program. She also served on their District Leadership Team, served as the district’s Technology Integrationist, and assisted with implementation of the district’s 1:1 computing initiative.Meredith has a Master’s of Science in Technology for Education and Training and participated in the 2016 Iowa cohort of the national Teacher Leadership Initiative.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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