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EXPLORING OUR WORLD

LUKLUK PAINIM AUT LONG PLES GRAUN BLO YUMI

COLLABORATIVE SCHOOL PROJECT

PASS GOALS:

Educators and students build leadership skills and use student-centred and project-based learning approaches to improve educational outcomes
Educators in nominated secondary schools deliver an enhanced STEM curriculum
Positive understanding and relationships between PNG and Australia

target Groups:

PNG secondary school teachers
Australian secondary school teachers
PNG secondary school students – Years 9-11
Australian secondary school students – Years 9-11

DESCRIPTION:

Exploring our World supports PASS students to learn how to use Google Earth to tell a story that’s important to them. A series of learning activities show students how to access and use the different features and functionality in Google Earth, using examples from PNG and Australia. The activities develop STEM skills and important capabilities for the future as students learn to use Google Earth as a tool for finding geographic knowledge, exploration and storytelling. Students will be supported to develop a Google Earth Storytelling Project to tell a ‘getting to know you’ story of their choosing (our example is the story of the Kokoda Track in PNG!).

The proposed activities operate well as a stand-alone activity that provides students (and teachers) with new knowledge, digital skills, an experience of student agency, team work and communication. Importantly, we all get to see the stories too and learn more about each other, PNG and Australia.

LEAD:

Dr John Bailey is a British-American-Irish former college professor and Googler. He holds an MPhys in Physics and Space Science from the University of Kent at Canterbury, along with an MS and PhD in Geology and Geophysics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, specialising in remote sensing of volcanoes.

As the Program Manager for Google Geo Education he collaborated with the Google Earth, Earth Engine, Street View, Expeditions, VR and Education teams, along with dozens of schools, universities and partners worldwide including National Geographic, Canadian Geographic, Parks Canada, Smithsonian and Underwater Earth.

In March 2020, pre-COVID lockdowns, John delivered a Virtual Reality workshop as part of the PASS Orientation activity for PASS PNG participants in Port Moresby. As part of 2021 online activities, further collaborations with the AEF and AAPNG teams led to publishing 360 imagery of PNG schools to Street View, and seminars showing how to use 360 images for storytelling and to create immersive tours. Now to help kick off the 2022-23 series of PASS activities, John has produced “Exploring our World”, a collection of manuals, guides and workbook exercises that empower students to explore, understand and tell stories about our planet through the virtual globe application, Google Earth.

This latest collaboration is occurring concurrently with his own journey to becoming a US-certified secondary school science teacher. He is currently completing his training by working as a student-teacher at Kapolei High School in Oahu, Hawaii.

PROGRAM DETAILS:

Exploring our World is an online activity in PNG and Australia, including:

Self-paced student workbooks, teacher guides (including suggested answers) and Google Earth Manual.
Three online workshops over a six-week period, including:
- Virtual Project Launch, facilitated by AEF in partnership with John Bailey introducing Google Earth, walking through Student Workbook chapters 1 & 2 and providing an overview of the Collaborative Project
- Online Workshops, introducing why we use Google Earth to tell stories and walking through Workbook chapters 3 & 4
- Online project sharing and reflection session
On-demand recording exploring Workbook chapter 5 on understanding what satellite images show (optional)
Ongoing check-ins and support
Resources and materials created as part of this collaborative activity

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

Group access to computers at school
Internet connectivity with data
Access to Google Platforms, including Google Earth, WhatsApp and email
Access to project materials, online or printed

EXPECTED LEARNING Areas & OUTCOMES:

LEARNING AREAS

English
History
Geography
Technology
Science
Maths

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Digital skills
Media literacy
Communication
Creativity
Teamwork
Collaboration
Intercultural understanding

CAPABILITIES

PNG STEM CURRICULUM

Students will undertake project-based learning that can be adjusted to meet the performance indicators of Technology - Grade 11 (Bridging Course), Module 11.4 - (Introduction to Computer Software) and the Biology - Grade 11 (Bridging course), Module 11.6 (Ecology). The activity can also be used to meet the assessment component (Field trip) of Biology - Grade 11 (Bridging course), Module 11.6, Topic 5 (Human Impact on the Ecosystem).

AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM

Year 9 and 10: ICT Capability – Investigating with ICT, Managing and Operating ICT elements and Communicating with ICT element. Numeracy – Using Spatial Reasoning. Literacy – Visual knowledge. Geography – Geographical Knowledge and Understanding and Geographical Inquiry and Skills. Science – Science Understanding and Science as a Human Endeavour.

See Teacher Guide for more information.

GALLERY

Take a look at the gallery of Exploring our World projects here and find details of the Exploring our World coursework below.

MATERIALS

The following materials are provided for Exploring our World:

Teacher Guide - a reference for teachers explaining the topics in the student exercises and educational goals, answers to the activity questions in the student workbook, mapping to key understandings (for each workbook chapter), learning objectives and examples of links to the curriculum.

Teacher Guide_Exploring our World.pdf

Teacher Guide

Student Workbook - a series of activities that will teach students about place and narrative through the context of learning to use Google Earth. It provides an opportunity for students to develop Digital Literacy and STEM related skills using technology that is fun to operate and meaningful to them as the content will focus on familiar locations.

Student Workbook - chapters 1-5.pdf

Student Workbook (Chapters 1 – 5)

Student Workbook Extension – What is an Image? (Chapter 5) – This on-demand video and slides help students to unpack the science behind satellite images and understand how to use them to view our planet. This will support students looking for a deeper dive into understand Earth and undertake chapter 5 of the Exploring our World Student Workbook.

What is an Image? (Student Workbook – Chapter 5) video

What is an image (chapter 5)_Exploring our World.pdf

What is an Image? (Student Workbook – Chapter 5) Slides

Google Earth User Manual - a reference guide for all the functionality, features and options in Google Earth. Although it contains some step-by-step procedures, it is best used as a learning materials companion for the student workbook, which adds context to technical abilities.

Google Earth User Manual (Web) - p.1 to 59.pdf

Google Earth Manual (Web version – part one) related to Student Workbook Chapters 1 & 2

Google Earth User Manual (Web) - p.60 to 117.pdf

Google Earth Manual (Web version – part two) related to Student Workbook Chapters 3 & 4

Google Earth User Manual (Mobile).pdf

Google Earth Manual (Mobile version - Androids) related to Student Workbook Chapters 1 – 4

Google Earth User Manual - a reference guide for all the functionality, features and options in Google Earth. Although it contains some step-by-step procedures, it is best used as a learning materials companion for the student workbook, which adds context to technical abilities.

Exploring our World YouTube Playlist, including videos and session recordings.

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