QTVR in the Classroom with "The Geo-Literacy Project"

The Geo-Literacy Project is a dynamic multidisciplinary project that brings local history, geography, ecology and geology alive on the web! Student, teacher and community member work shows the rich history and science of our local region! We envision a day where schools all across the United States, if not the world, will develop similar site about their regions. Then anyone with an Internet connection can visit, tour and learn from the rich collection of media about the local area. History, science and language arts lessons will come alive at the click of a mouse!

Our Geo-Literacy site features virtual reality panoramas created by elementary school, middle school, and high school students as well as by teachers and community members! These panoramas have been taken to show the geography, history, science (especially geology), and general beauty of our county, Solano County.

Our panoramic photographs and QuickTime VR movies show you exactly what it is like to be in that particular spot - you can look in any direction, as well as up and down, and zoom in and out. It's the next best thing to being there.

For the 2002-03 school year I chose to focus on Rush Ranch, a historic ranch sitting on the Suisun Marsh. Thus, I asked my students the following Essential Question:

Why is the preservation of Rush Ranch important? I asked my students this question this year. It encompassed our science (ecology), history (local history), language arts (writing paragraphs, descriptive paragraphs, etc) and reading (informational text, finding main idea, supporting points, etc) as well as ISTE standards curriculum all in one project. Our essential question asking why the preservation of Rush Ranch was important sparked interest and discussions among the students and parents.

One of the Geo-Literacy Project's focuses is on the Suisun Marsh and how the Suisun Marsh has affected our community and how our community has changed the Suisun Marsh. The Geo-Literacy Project has two goals firmly in mind: increase student and community literacy with both the complex environmental issues surrounding the Suisun Marsh and the impact people have had on the marsh environment and to develop geographic literacy for their community, surrounding county and state. For the students and community to become literate about the ecosystem surrounding our geographic area, one method clearly stands out. The creation of a web site, accessible to students, and celebrated as an outstanding teaching tool by teachers, would bring the Suisun Marsh to the classroom.