CyberSmart! : Lesson Plans : What's the big idea?

What's the big idea?

Download Student Activity Sheet(s) for printout in PDF Format

Overview
Students recognize people's need and desire to communicate as they describe and classify past and present communications inventions.

Objectives

		Explain that people need and want to communicate
		Identify inventions used to communicate, including the Internet
		Compare and contrast communications inventions

ISTE^® National Technology Standards

		Grade 2, Performance Indicator # 3
		Grade 3, Performance Indicator # 2

Site Preview

No Internet site is used in this lesson.

Online Resources

Visit sites providing background information on Communications Inventions.

Materials

		Activity sheet (1)
		Scissors; paper clips

Introduce

		Ask: What would it be like to communicate with a class that goes to school in another country? As students respond, make sure they understand that the word "communicate" means to share information or send messages.
		Ask: How could we communicate with a class so far away? Allow students to demonstrate their prior knowledge of communications methods and devices.

Teach 1

		Tell students that people need to communicate. Have them brainstorm the kinds of information people need to exchange. (all kinds of international, national, and local news, such as weather, community events, births, deaths, sickness, new inventions, items for sale; all kinds of personal opinions and self-expression, such as relating experiences, sharing stories and poems)
		Distribute the activity sheet, scissors, and paper clips. Have students cut apart the pictures of communications inventions. Show them how to hold the pictures together with a paper clip when not in use.
		Have them discuss each picture, agree upon a name for the communications invention depicted, and write that name on the back. (carved pictures, megaphone, newspaper, telephone, computer connected to the Internet, television, signing, US Mail, signal flags)

Teach 2

		Have students arrange their pictures into two groups: communications inventions that can send messages very far away and those that cannot. Invite volunteers to share and discuss their results. (long-distance messages: U.S. mail, newspaper, telephone, computer, television; short-distance messages: carved stone, megaphone, signing, signal flag)
		Invite students to suggest other ways to group the communications inventions. (for example, by how much time they take to send a message, by whether they require reading or not, whether they are very old or new inventions)

Teach 3

Make sure students understand that computers connected to the Internet can be used to communicate with people all over the world, including through E-mail, chat, and displaying a Web page for anyone to see.

		Ask: What kinds of information do people need to communicate?
		Ask: What inventions are used to communicate?
		Ask: How are communications inventions different?

Extend
The following activity can be added for students who completed this lesson in a previous grade.

Have students create their own scheme for classifying the communications inventions on the activity sheet, paste the pictures into two or more groups, label the groups, and present their results.