Rationale

As I pondered this module, I thought about my topics for my researching projects: Gamification and Virtual Field Trips. I couldn't quite formulate a lesson plan that included both of these. I did not need to use both of these but it just made sense. I also thought about how science and social studies were not "essential" this year (mandated by my district).

I feel even less prepared to teach virtually in these 2 areas this fall. I was thinking about the virtual field trip I had organized for my students a couple of months back and how I want to continue to enhance those types of lessons because my students really benefitted from that experience and showed great enthusiasm. It then dawned on me that Minecraft has lessons made that correlate with each of the standards.

It was at this point that my idea for lesson one began to take shape. Armed with this knowledge, I decided to create a lesson that uses some of the Minecraft for Education lessons as well as virtual field trips through National Geographic Explorer Classroom and Flipgrid to create a video. I like the idea of combining innovations to engage, enhance, and extend student learning.

Lesson One

1. A brief description of lesson plan #1

The purpose of this lesson is to give 3rd-grade students a deeper knowledge of Life Cycles, Inheritance, and Traits (Science NGSS). It is also meant to give students an authentic experience that they would not have been able to experience otherwise.

Students will be engaged in 2 virtual field trips through National Geographic Classroom Explorer. They will also be using Minecraft for Education. The 2 Minecraft lessons will be about bees and focus on the life cycles and habitats. Students will complete 1 Minecraft lesson after each virtual field trip as a way to demonstrate their knowledge.

1. The first virtual field trip will be meeting with an animal scientist to discuss with students animal habitats. The focus will be on the different habits that animals can live in as well as some adaptations animals must have in order to survive in that habitat. After the virtual field trip, students will work on Minecraft "Beetopia" Lesson 2: Habitat.

a. Students will read about Bumble Bee Life Cycles on the Bumblebee Conservation website.

b. Students should be sure to download Kids & Bees Minecraft World and head to "Beetopia".

c. Students should be directed to meet with NPC Bee Girl, Beekerp Sarah, and Carl at the "Sweet Bee Garden." They should also explore the "Bumble Bee Garden." Monitor that students are viewing life cycles, habitats, and threats to survival. Students will collect inventory at each of these parts of the World.

d. Then students will head to the empty field where they will begin to create bee garden chests using the inventory they gathered. They will also add bees. Finally, they will create their own bee garden.

e. Students will create a Flipgrid video to share their Bee gardens that will include animations of bees pollinating the flowers.

2. The second virtual field will be meeting with an animal scientist (it may be the same scientist as the first one or a different scientist depending on how it is set up. The focus will be on Life Cycles Stages as well as needs and threats.

a. Students will watch a National Geographic Video on Bees Hatching

b. Students will then head to the "Minecraft Beehive" in Kids & Bees Minecraft World. They should meet the scientists and follow her instructions. They then should meet NPC Bee Girl, Head inside to the "Nursery" to follow Lulu and Bella. Then they will help Veronia raise new bees in the hive. They will feed the larva the bee bread. Finally they will be able to view the life cycle transition.

c. Students will then fill out the "Honey Bee Caste Worksheet" and the "Honey Bee Life Cycle Worksheet".

d. Students will create a Flipgrid video showing their understanding of the life cycle stages of bees.

2. The technology and resources involved

In order to complete this project, each student will need a device and internet access. Also, for the virtual field trip portion of the project, teachers will need access to a virtual meeting platform (Most Nat Geo virtual field trips use Zoom).

1. Students will need a Flipgrid login (teachers set this up when they set up their classes).

2. Students will need to have a Minecraft for Education login (teachers set this up when they set up their classes). If Minecraft for Education is not downloaded, each device will require downloading the app.

3. Optional: Headphones for the Minecraft part of the project.

3. What skills, knowledge, and pedagogy are required of teachers

Teachers will need to have a basic understanding of how to share a screen and work with a virtual collaboration program (most likely ZOOM). This will be needed to organize and facilitate the virtual field trip portion of the project.

Teachers will also need to learn how to teach Minecraft for Education. Minecraft offers modules for teachers. Minecraft Training Modules. Teachers should also click the following link to download the "MINECRAFT First Lesson Kit". Teachers will need to go through this OneNote notebook and practice the first lesson with students. This is extremely important since there are many components of MINECRAFT that students will need to know and practice. An example of this is how to "control" the view in Minecraft. You have to use both hands but, the left hand is used on the keyboard and the right-hand uses the mouse. If a teacher is teaching remotely, click the following link to access the Remote Learning Guide.

Teachers should also have a working knowledge of Flipgrid and the elements Flipgrid has to offer.

The teacher should view the technology involved as a way to engage, enhance, and extend student learning. They should have the view that the student's process through Minecraft is an essential step to giving students autonomy with their learning.

4. What prior skills and knowledge are required of students

Students will need to have an understanding of "netiquette" for online meetings (staying muted until they are asked to speak, keeping their cameras on, understanding what can be seen when the camera is on, etc.)

Students will need to have a working knowledge of Minecraft for Education. They will need to know how to access worlds, create skins and using both hands as the controller. The left-hand uses the keyboard and the right-hand uses the mouse.

Students will need to know how to create a video in Flipgrid and be able to use any of the extras that they would like for their videos.

5. What are students asked to do exactly

Students are asked to participate in two virtual field trips with animal scientists while using their understanding of netiquette. They will be noting ideas about habitats, life cycle stages, needs, and threats.

They will then need to work through each Minecraft lesson with the correct procedures in order to view both the habitat changes and the life cycle stages.

They will then create a Flipgrid video (2 videos total. 1 for each lesson). The video will explain their understanding of the lesson.

6. What are the procedures of the project (steps to teach the technology skills)

1. The first steps are to focus on introducing students to Minecraft.

• Downloading and logging in to Minecraft: Education Edition.

• Teaching how to customize game skins.

• Teaching game settings that support the new user.

• Teaching movement, placing and breaking in a Minecraft flat world.

• Teaching how to use inventory and the hotbar to choose items for building.

2. Practice "netiquette" with students while exploring the features of the virtual collaboration platform.

3. Review and practice finding all the features of Flipgrid.

7. What are the advantages of the project

The advantages of the project include:

• Engagement: Students are highly engaged in game-based learning

• This project covers a whole unit of NGSS standards

• Authentic Learning

• Ability to collaborate with scientists

• Ability to experience real-world examples that are not possible through physical field trips

• Creativity: Students have the ability to be creative with their Flipgrid videos

• Management of Resources: Students make decisions on how to manage the resources in Minecraft.

• Critical Thinking

• This project includes 21st Century Learning Skills (Future Ready)

8. What are the disadvantages of the project

While I feel the advantages of this project far outweigh the disadvantages, they must still be included.

The biggest disadvantage is learning Minecraft and all the "onboarding" that goes with it. Teachers must do a lot of prep work with students before beginning this project. Teachers themselves will most likely have to watch some tutorial videos and practice Minecraft themselves before introducing it to students.

Another disadvantage is the amount of time it takes for this project. This project may take up to a month to complete. This time does not include the time it takes to do all the onboarding beforehand.

A final disadvantage of the project is coordinating the virtual field trips with the scientists. Teachers have the ability to cut this project in half and do only one field trip, one Minecraft lesson, and one Flipgrid video. While this cuts down on time, it leaves some of the standards not covered that will still have to be taught.

9. What types of effective instructional strategies are included

• Inquiry Based Learning

• Cooperative Learning

• Project Based Learning

• Student Voice and Choice

• Higher Order Thinking Skills

• Formative and Summative Assessment

• Reflection

• Problem-Solving

10. What are the possibilities that the innovation can be transferred to other teachers, subject content, and different school settings

The possibilities of this project are numerous.

Transferred to other teachers:

The students' Minecraft accounts are connected to their Microsoft accounts. If the students move to a different teacher within the district, their Minecraft account will continue with them.

National Geographic Classroom is free to any educator so if other teachers wish to, they can continue with virtual field trips.

Flipgrid is also free to any educator so another teacher can create a class.

Subject Content:

Minecraft has lessons that teachers can search for in any subject area and even choose a specific standard.

Explorer Classroom gives numerous ideas of how to extend the virtual field trips and tie them into different content areas.

Flipgrid is a screencasting software that can be used for anything.

Different School Settings:

If the different school setting is a Microsoft school, then the students will still be able to use Minecraft.

Explorer Classroom and Flipgrid are websites that can be accessed by anyone anywhere no matter the setting.