African Safari Trip

 

You have just been selected as a participant on the learning express to Africa sponsored by 

 
and
 
 
 
You will have the chance to take a whirlwind tour of all of Africa with a select group of middle school students to see and learn all the educational opportunities Africa has to offer.  Expedia and Google have asked that you put together a Google earth tour which records the trip that you took and the vast amounts of knowledge that you gained to share with the board members of Expedia and Google so that they will continue to sponsor trips in the future.  The tour will be used as a promotional guide for other young explorers who desire to see the riches that Africa has to offer. Your trip will be one of three safaris of your choice...
 
  1. Photo safari
  2. Hunting safari
  3. Historic and scenic safari

In addition you are required to visit at least four countries in various regions of Africa. These areas include

 
  1. Northern Africa (Morocco, Tunesia, Western Sahara, Algeria, Libya, or Egypt)
  2. Central Western Africa (Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo (changed from Zaire in 1997), Angola)
  3. Central Eastern Africa (Seychelles, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, or Rwanda)
  4. South Africa (Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Madagascar)

Expedia.com has chartered an airline for you from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport just outside Nairobi, Kenya. From here it is anyone's guess as to where you will go. Now its time to begin your adventure! HAVE FUN!!!

 
 
Africa Political Map
 
 
The board members have put some parameters on the basic format for your place marks that you use.

 

 

 

A Scientific Safari

 

As you know you have already started your safari adventure and you are currently near Nairobi, Kenya getting ready for your journeys. During your science safari you will be using Google Earth to document your discoveries as you travel through Africa. To do this you will create a YELLOW place mark in each location you explore along the way. The place mark must include information about a scientific discovery you made in this location and must include one of the following choices and the information listed with each choice. Here are your possible choices…

 


1. Animals

§   Scientific name

§   Habitat (where it lives)

§   Size

§   Diet

§   2-3 other interesting facts

§   Picture

§   Link to a website

2. Insects

§   Scientific name

§   Habitat (where it lives)

§   Size

§   Diet

§   2-3 other interesting facts

§   Picture

§   Link to a website

 

3. Plant

§   Scientific name

§   Habitat (where it lives)

§   Size

§  Any special growing needs 

§   2-3 other interesting facts

§   Picture

§   Link to a website

4. Geological or hydrological feature

§   Name

§   Type of feature

§   Definition or description

§   Relative size

§   4-5 Interesting facts

§   Photo

§   Link to more information

§   Possible video


 

Over the course of your adventure you MUST MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AT LEAST TWO DIFFERENT CHOICES. For example, you can't just document 4 different animals. You could document 3 animals and one plant or you could do 1 of each choice. If you have time I would like you to do more than the minimum requirement.

 

Today you will learn how to use Google Earth and practice with a location in Kenya. LET'S GET STARTED!

 

 
 

 

RUBRIC: A Scientific Safari

 

 

_______ (10pts) Location Kenya

This location is done correctly and students followed along in class as we did this example

__Scientific name __Biome __Habitat __Size __Diet __2-3 facts __Picture __Link

 

 

_______ (10 pts) Location ________________________________________

This location is done correctly and contains all the required information:

__Scientific name __Biome __Habitat __Size __Diet __2-3 facts __Picture __Link

 

 

_______ (10 pts) Location ________________________________________

This location is done correctly and contains all the required information:

__Scientific name __Biome __Habitat __Size __Diet __2-3 facts __Picture __Link

 

 

_______ (10 pts) Location ________________________________________

This location is done correctly and contains all the required information:

__Scientific name __Biome __Habitat __Size __Diet __2-3 facts __Picture __Link

 

 

_______ (10 pts) Location ________________________________________

This location is done correctly and contains all the required information:

__Scientific name __Biome __Habitat __Size __Diet __2-3 facts __Picture __Link

 

 

 

TOTAL__________/50

 

***NOTE: THIS ASSIGNMENT WILL FALL UNDER THE PROJECTS CATEGORY FOR YOUR GRADE

 

Quick hit HTML uses in Google Earth


Creating a link---  <a href="URL">the words you want linked</a>


Putting in a picture or video---  <img src="where your picture is found">

(The picture needs to be a small enough size.  This can be done in PowerPoint or Photoshop or using the image coding below)


Changing the image size---  height=250 width=300


Changing font size (1 to 7)---  <font size="4 "> words</font>


Create a break---  <br>


Create a paragraph---  <p>


Bold words---  <b> words </b>

 

Italicize words--- <i>words  </i>


Centering words--- <center> words </center>

 

Organization of places into folders

  1. To add a folder, go to the Add menu and select Folder.
  2. In the New Folder dialog box, type in a name for the folder in the Name field. In this example, we typed "My Google Earth Project".
  3. Click OK. Your new folder is added to the Places panel.
  4. Click-and-drag each place (your placemarks, paths, and polygons) into the folder to organize your project.
  5. To play a tour of all the items in the folder, click the Play Folder button:button_playfolder>
To edit a folder's name or description, right-click on the folder in the Places panel, and choose Properties (on a PC) or Get Info (on a Mac).
(Make sure your folder is not in the temporary places folder)

Saving your project

Google Earth allows you to save your project to your computer in the .kmz file format.

  1. Right-click on your project folder, and select Save Place As... or click on the folder and then go to the File menu, and select Save Place As...
  2. Enter a name for your .kmz file, and click Save to save it to your computer. You will now find your KMZ file on your computer.
  3. You can share the map you created by emailing the .kmz file to your friends and co-workers, posting it on your website with a link to download it, or embedding it with Google Earth on your website or blog. Find a video on Youtube with the instructions - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0958sW2mT4



Download and save youtube videos

 

  http://www.savevid.com/

Use this website and copy the url box at the youtube video (Above the embed box)
Click download and it will save and create an mpg4 file that will play in Quick Time Player


http://www.youconvertit.com/ConvertFiles.aspx
To get the above video to play in Windows Movie Maker you will need to run it through a file converter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theme Week 2010 for 7th Grade Life Science is currently under construction. Please come back later.