Our Youngest Global Citizens

July 12, 2017

One aspect of the MA Social Science Standards that always surprises me is the lack of emphasis on global awareness and cultural requirements in the early childhood grades. Our students are always eager to learn about other places, traditions, and people, yet in theory, educators could focus solely on the United States, it's people, and it's ecosystem and still meet the state criteria. Thankfully, my team of teachers go above and beyond in our quest to educate the whole child, to expose them to culture around the world, and to help them grow as respectful, contributing global citizens.

For the Global Citizens' assignment, I was able to locate technology that would connect our young students with students, teachers, and scientists from all over the world while meeting an early childhood science standard. It is:
PreK-ESS2-1(MA). Raise questions and engage in discussions about how different types of local environments (including water) provide homes for different kinds of living things.

Currently we take nature walks, observe wildlife, and bring the outside into our classroom. How exciting would it be for young students to share and receive information about nature and wildlife with people around the world? Comparing and contrasting the unique features from our local environments with those across the ocean is a great start to encouraging global communication, appreciation for others and their cultures, and understanding the various means of survival and habitats around the world.   

Project Noah enables young students to start this journey. As you can see in the photo above, classrooms can learn about caterpillars in Mexico, while simultaneously studying the life cycle of a Painted Lady butterfly in Massachusetts (below).   

Taking photos and collecting information can be accomplished with little teacher assistance. Photos and information from other areas in the world can be downloaded and used in science lessons with just a click of the button. 

In the post above, a student can see a photo of a living thing (in this case, a plant), the contributor, a map of where the contributor and plant is located, and a description of the plant. Questions are often included in the Notes section as well, which provides an opportunity for investigation and correspondence. 


I anticipate using some of the following questions with students: 

• Describe the ecosystem around our school.
• What creatures do we find in the ecosystem around our school?
• Describe an ecosystem that is unlike the ecosystem around our school.
• Let's use Project Noah to find creatures in that ecosystem.
• Why do you think people in arctic areas hunted seals and polar bears?  Do you hunt polar bears for your winter clothing? Why not? 
• Why do monarch butterflies migrate? Where do you think they migrate too? Can we find out on Project Noah?  Who could we ask on Project Noah for help?
• Can you help answer someone's questions about New England frogs on Project Noah?

Project Noah seems like the perfect tool to build appreciation for the world environment and to encourage budding scientists to utilize the power of global teamwork. 

This quote from one review spoke to me as an early childhood educator on a mission to incorporate technology:

"For the developers at New York start-up Networked Organisms, smartphones are the butterfly nets of the 21st Century. Their tool, Project Noah, lets people upload photos of plants and wildlife around them, creating a map of the natural world and contributing to scientific research in the process." The Wall Street Journal