Project Author: Tracy Sena (sena@sacred.sf.ca.us)

Project Title: Amazon River Dolphins 2000

Project Begin & End Dates: 11/06/00 to 11/18/00

Project Summary:
Join three teachers as they return to the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve in northern Peru to study Amazon river dolphins. The trio will reunite with wildlife biologist Tamara McGuire to study the boto and tucuxi dolphins. Data, photographs and answers to email will be relayed via satellite phone as the trip progresses.
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Project Details
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Project Level: Basic

Curriculum Area: History and Social Studies, Language, Mathematics, Science

Technologies Used: Email, Web Based Discussion Forum


Full Project Description:
Virtual Explorers, "teachers using technology to explore, discover and share the world with students and teachers everywhere," will participate in on-going river dolphin research on the Amazon River, November 6-18, 2000. During the two-week expedition into the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve in northern Peru, www.virtualexplorers.org will post research data on the dolphins - as well as the team's experiences on the river and with the people in local villages - in text and photos relayed daily by satellite phone.

Virtual Explorers is the brainchild of Shelly Luke, Susan Reid and Tracy Sena, teachers with a combined classroom experience of over 35 years in elementary, middle, secondary and collegiate environments. The trio's mission is to provide students with meaningful, real-life science in the context of an interdisciplinary learning via the Internet. As actual participants in scientific expeditions, they provide role models to girls and young women of women engaged in scientific study and utilizing technology.

Students and teachers may directly email the explorer team and researcher during the expedition, interpret data as it is collected and follow the daily adventures of the team, researcher, and crew as they travel by boat along the Amazon River tributaries.

 "Amazon River Dolphins" is an interdisciplinary unit of exploration geared for grades five through twelve. The website utilizes the types of problems solving, conceptual based understanding and number visualization concepts stressed in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards. Of the thirteen NCTM standards, "Amazon River Dolphins" offers instruction directly in eleven and indirectly in the other two standards.

"Amazon River Dolphins" utilizes the on-going field research of post-doctoral biological researcher Tamara McGuire (Texas A&M) of the boto and tucuxi dolphins which inhabit the waters of the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve in northern Peru.

The team and researcher receive frequent questions via email and the site's guest book from dolphin-friendly children, teens, and adults around the world.

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Project Registration Information
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Project Email Address: tracy@virtualexplorers.org

Registration Acceptance Dates: 5/01/00 to 5/30/00

Number of Classrooms: 1000

Age Range: 10 to 18 years

Target Audience: Anyone

Project URL: http://www.virtualexplorers.org
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Project Contact Information
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Tracy Sena - mailto:sena@sacred.sf.ca.us
 Virtual Explorers
http://www.virtualexplorers.org
San Francisco, California
US