Explore.org and More Uses for YouTube Videos

As I have been exploring how to use YouTube in my classroom, I have discovered that the possibilities are limitless. There are five different ways presented by Joseph Terantino (Feb. 2011) in his article,”Emerging Technologies YouTube for Foreign Languages: You Have To See This Video” that I want to keep in mind. He suggests YouTube can be used for content and information, access to languages not commonly taught, cultural awareness, student-created videos and collaborate learning (Terantino, Feb. 2011, p.12-14). Using YouTube for content and information is the most popular and easiest way.  However, the other reasons for YouTube videos should not be ignored or overlooked. 

While researching more ways to use YouTube in my classroom, I came across "The Teacher's Guide to Using YouTube in the Classroom” written by Kristen Hicks (http://www.edudemic.com/youtube-in-classroom). In her article, she gives four helpful ways to use YouTube in the classroom. She suggest using entertaining videos related to the topic, watching videos in place of reading assignments, record your teaching for absent students or for review, and using EDpuzzle to edit videos and add voice recording, etc. to them. 

In addition to these uses for YouTube, Hicks includes a list of ten other educational video resources. Among this list is Explore.org. which can also be viewed on YouTube. This site has live web cameras that show different animal habitats. You can view the ocean, tundra, grasslands, African wilderness, and many more habitats. After viewing the ocean, I was inspired to one day use this setting for a descriptive lesson. Here is an example of a descriptive lesson:

1.  Warm Up:  Ask students to describe life in the ocean. Record their thoughts on paper.

2.  Students view an animal habitat, like the ocean on Explore.org.
3.  Have them describe what they saw. Challenge the students to think about what they saw,  
     heard, would have felt or smelled if they were there.
4.  Compose a list or make a web of all the words related to the habitat they viewed.
5.  Discuss imagery.

6.  Give students time to write describing life in the ocean.  Encourage students to use 

     imagery and  ideas from the list or web.

Extension Activity:  Use the live cam feed to inspire students to create a descriptive writing piece based on that animal habitat.

Students can also take pictures from the live cam feed and share their pictures with others.  Also, they can use their picture for a creative writing or nonfiction writing.

If they choose to write a nonfiction piece, they can research the type of fish that live in that part of the ocean and include these facts in their writing.