So far The Curriculum Catalyst has explored 4 different topics, it is all about crowd-sourcing curriculum ideas (recorded in a simple way) that can be developed further into curriculum planning.

Here are the 4 topics so far and a selection of highlights. Make sure you follow the links to the actual documents to see the full extent of the ideas.

Endangered

Tag >> #endangeredcurr

  • IT checking sources, can you believe what you read online: Save The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
  • Discursive writing - role of zoos in helping save endangered species – is this a good thing?
  • Literacy/IT – what does endangered mean? children brain storm what they think is endangered in the world – not just animals – what about languages? e.g local languages in this country.
  • Non Native Species – do these endanger native species ? Are they useful to control endangered species ? Animals such as Beaver and Boar were originally native to the UK, should they be re-introduced ? Can the current eco-system sustain them?

Survival

Tag >> #survivalcurr

  • Survival Exercises – A variety of tasks based around choices in a survival scenario. I’ve personally used the NASA and the ‘lost at sea’ one with year 7, and the ‘who would you save’ with year 12 -http://wilderdom.com/games/descriptions/SurvivalScenarios.html
  • Rescue Services – find out about the variety of different emergency services that often work in collaboration in any given situation – there are some excellent first hand images here http://globalrescueservices.org.uk/index.htm
  • Making animals – Design an animal which would survive in e.g. Desert link directly to work on adaptation in science. Could take theme down fantasy route, linking with Imaginary Creatures Curriculum Catalyst http://bit.ly/bDKP30
  • Saltwater - Water, water, everywhere but not a drop to drink! You are surrounded by saltwater on your island. Your challenge is to find a way of making drinking water. Provide children with a range of items they could use to invent a contraption. Model the science involved. Science SC1 (i.e. create a contraption to gather steam when the salt water is boiled).

Sealife

Tag >> #sealifecurr

  • Choose your most amazing Ocean Road Adventure. There are many famous Ocean Road journey  around the world – for example, The Great Ocean Road in SE Australia or the roads along the coasts of California and Norway.  Choose some of these famous routes to investigate, compare features, find-out what people think about them.  Try typing `Ocena Road Journey’ into your favourite search engine.  Vote on your favourite – the one you’d most like to experience (say why).
  • `Little fishes swim along’ Steve Grocott has produced a fantastic set of action rhymes on a CD.  My grandson loves this one (we sing it while watching a slideshow on Flickr or Picasa) – we took the song to India with us when we went on an educational visit and the children their loved it too.  http://bit.ly/aweCmu
  • Make your own ‘Aquarium’ from boxes, write labels for the fish you put in, a map for visitors, a leaflet to get people to visit, a quiz for people to do as they go round, a cafe and a gift shop…
  • Comparison – whale sharks are the largest of all sharks but live off of a diet of small fish and plankton.  To help students appreciate the largeness of this shark and the smallness of its food, on blacktop draw a 12 meter line with chalk.  Have students sit on the line and draw a whale shark outline around them.  Finish with small “fish” and “plankton” around the outline.

Imaginary Creatures

Tag >> #imagcreaturescurr

  • Spore 2D http://www.spore2d.com/ (Based on a Nintendo DS game, lets you create creatures online)
  • Fantasy Stories in Y1 – explore imaginary creatures and monsters using The Gruffalo,  Where the Wild Things Are and Moshi Monsters (adopt a monster online).  These stimuli can also be used to compare fanstasy settings for imaginary creatures.  Children then create their own “monster” (paint and add different textured materials such as leather, fur, etc.).  They describe their monster and then finally write a story about meeting their monster using Where the Wild Things Are as a model.
  • Monsters Inc. – A combined Art/ICT project. The idea of animation is discussed with reference to Pixars ‘Monsters Inc.’ Children design a character and storyboard their short (silent or scripted) story, they then use plasticine to create their own monster and props. A visualizer/web cam/digital camera is then used along with stop motion software (I Can Animate or Monkey Jam) to capture the animation.
  • Build Your Wild Self – Get students to use this site to create a human mix animal creature, you could also draw them. Print them out and get your students to write character descriptions of their Wild Self.

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I am sure that you will find some great ideas from the work of all the great educators who have contributed an idea or two. It seems to me that the need for grass roots, crowd sourced resources for curriculum design has never been greater – and which will only become even more heightened.

I hope that the documents prove useful, if you feel like contributing the documents are all open to edit. Make sure you look out for the next topic soon to be catalysed, if we all make a small contribution we can produce great things.

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