I investigated the two pathfinders of the other students in my assigned group. The first pathfinder that I looked at was designed by Matt and Amanda and was entitled "Dinosaurs". This was a very interesting pathfinder, which was created to appeal to children ages 6-12 and teachers of those age groups. This pair had a plethora of book resources, both fiction and nonfiction. I assume the fiction books could be used to spark and interest in dinosaurs that would tie into both ELA and Science Common Core Standards. Matt and Amanda also included several lesson plans, including an interactive classroom activity about fossils during which students view objects in a mystery box. These seemed like they would intrigue and appeal to the young students in their demographic. Additionally, Matt and Amanda included two databases, one of which was Britannica, which I am a huge fan of lately. The new and improved Britannica database offers videos and interactive tools, as well as tips for teachers. This would be a great resource for students to use in their exploration of dinosaurs. I found their database to be very easy to use and navigate, and I think teachers would appreciate its descriptions of the resources (especially the books so they could rule out those that did not apply to their students).
I have created six questions that could be answered from exploring Matt and Amanda's pathfinder:
1) What are some different types of dinosaurs that used to roam the Earth?
2) What is the difference between the Triassic and the Jurassic eras?
3) How are fossils created?
4) Where can I go to see the remains of a real dinosaur?
5) What is the difference between paleontology and archaeology?
6) What role does a paleontologist play in the preservation and study of dinosaur bones?
I also explored Heather and Karen's pathfinder on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This pathfinder was designed for ages 10 to adulthood. This site had many NC resources that could be multi-faceted and used in a variety of lessons about our state. I especially liked the link to the NC History Project, as I had never heard of that site before and would like to learn more about the famous sites and figures from the Outer Banks area. There were various books and online resources about Edward Teach aka the pirate, Blackbeard that would intrigue younger patrons. However, in one of the descriptions he is mentioned as being "bloodthirsty" which makes me question which Blackbeard resources are more "kid-friendly" than others. I also found the NC Pedia site to be interesting in exploring the various famed Outer Banks landmarks, such as Cape Hatteras. Their pathfinder had a myriad of resources such as museum links, maps, and timelines, as well as teacher resources like webquests (the Blackbeard webquest looks fun and awesome). It might be helpful to patrons to post Common Core standards for teachers exploring the pathfinder. It also might be helpful to separate the links by age group/grade level. I created six questions that could be answered by using Heather and Karen's pathfinder.
1) What is the history and connection between the coast of North Carolina and piracy/famous pirates like Blackbeard?
2) What are some aspects of Blackbeard's life and reign that are "tame" enough for my 4th grade students?
3) What is the oldest lighthouse in NC?
4) What are some legends/examples of folklore from the Outer Banks?
5) If I am planning a trip to the Outer Banks, what are the top historic attractions I should see?
6) Where are the wild ponies located and how did they get there?
Great job, Katie!
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