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Camp Internet Outpost Briefing
September 13-17, 1999
Welcome to the first week of the Camp’s 1999/2000 Expeditions. You will now begin receiving Briefings on a weekly basis that provide you with guidelines for Camp learning activities that will enrich your classroom’s education opportunities. This briefing will be delivered to you by email, and if you have a need for a print version, you can request to be placed on a fax list (helpful if your computer doesn’t have a printer). We make every effort for you to have this in hand on the Monday of each week.
This week, please introduce your student’s to their Expedition – Explore the Channel Islands or Explore the California BackCountry - online. Let them take a look at the resources we are building into the expeditions – let them know that each week new materials will come online. Have your class select a scribe to make a class entry into the chat room in your Expedition area – have them tell us what school they are from, their names, grade level and any other information they would like to share with their fellow students. As each class adds their entry, we will have a profile of each Outpost by the end of the week. Make sure to have the students check back several times during the week to watch the chatroom grow with the student-to-Camp introductions.
You will need to issue the Camp Member Cards and Passports to each student, and decide how you want to distribute their user IDs and log-ins. The same ID and log in for the whole class is fine. Just make sure you keep your teacher ID private.
Share with them examples from the activity kit. The classrooms we visit have put the laminated map and related materials on the wall before school starts and create a display on a counter with the materials provided that are visual cues for the online studies. The group project materials can be kept in the storage box in a closet until needed.
Channel Islands
Your class has been provided with a copy of Island of the Blue Dolphins in book and video format. We suggest viewing this film during the first week as it is filmed on location and gives a good feeling for the remote, wild, rugged Channel Islands. There is a quiz online for the students to complete individually. Let the students know that September – November is the Camp’s Native American social studies focus, and they will be learning about both tribes who lived on the Channel Islands over the next few months. Teacher chat will be Wed. 9/22 at 3pm.
BackCountry
What is the BackCountry? You will explore this question online with your class this first week. Your class has also been provided with a copy of a John Muir video to give them a taste for this man’s passion for the wilderness, and how he came to be one of the most famous leaders protecting the BackCountry. This film is intended to be shown as a lead-in to the reading track for the Camp expedition, and will be followed up by readings from John Muir’s writings in the months to come. There is a John Muir quiz for the students to complete online. Let them know the other upcoming topics are Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Native Americans as we explore the history and science of the California BackCountry.
Teacher chat will be Tues. 9/21, 3pm.
Questions ? Please write to camp@rain.org anytime.