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-by Jen and Brian Cauthers

As more communities and developments branch out into undeveloped lands, we encounter habitats that are often overlooked as important to the stability of our ecosystems. Unfortunately, freshwater wetland habitats typically fall into this category, as they are often simply referred to as "swamps." Most people do not have a positive reaction when they hear the word "swamp." Instead, they think stagnant stinky water. In reality, freshwater wetlands are vital to the stability of our ecosystems because they provide breeding grounds for many creatures such as frogs and turtles. They also provide a filtration system for our water as it percolates through the soils.

The 360 image used for our ThingLink journey is a picture from a freshwater wetland in New York State. The image explores many components to a freshwater wetland using images, videos, and student engagement tools. Students will be guided along to answer the question: "How can we protect and restore wetlands to their native state?" Students will explore the soils of the wetlands, endangered species, native grasses, water testing parameters and methods used to restore wetlands. Students will also create a shared google map plotting various wetland regions of New York State. ThinkLink offers the ability to include links to key Google for Edu tools, as well as popular student engagement tools, such as Padlet to encourage voice and collaboration during the project.

The ThingLink platform allows for engaging and clean packaging of an interactive unit to learn about freshwater wetlands.

About the Authors

Jen and Brian Cathers are ThingLink Certified Educators and science teachers from New York. Our collaboration began when we met at the Mount Saint Mary's Bootcamp. #TeamCauthers participated in the Bootcamp to prepare for a series of AR/VR workshops this fall.

If you missed them at the Google Summit in Manchester, CT, you can still catch AR/VR in the classroom moving from consumption to creation" during a pre-conference workshop at NYSCSTE in November and also at FETC in January. Follow Jen @cauthersj and Brian @mahopacskiteam.

My interest in technology started with my MS in Instructional Technology from NYIT. I am also a Google for Education Certified Trainer and an Apple Certified Teacher. I have always loved integrated technology in my class starting with using probes for science experiments in the early years to 1:1 Chromebooks in the last few years. Recently, I have found a passion for virtual reality and augmented reality apps now that mobile devices have become so powerful and most students carry them daily. I love VR and AR use with students because it takes them on journeys that are not normally possible especially within a 42 minute class period. My main focus with technology integration is to use it for student creation rather than simply consumption of information.

My interest in technology started at an early age growing up in a house with my father who had a computer science master's degree. When I began teaching, I set up my own network in my classroom with my apple laptop and helped my inner city students stay on the cutting edge as they were part of an engineering/technology house. In later years, I began to incorporate more web-based applications for ease of use with students at home. I recently became very involved in the applications of virtual reality and augmented reality apps in the classroom. I began a virtual field trip website for our school district, piloting a 360/VR field trip group in my middle school.

Connect with Us

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Using ThingLink 360/VR to Explore Wetlands

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by Jen and Brian Cauthers As more communities and developments branch out into undeveloped lands, we encounter habitats that are often overlooked as important to the stability of our ecosystems. Unfortunately, freshwater wetland habitats typically fall into this category, as they are often simply referred to as "swamps."

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This is another option for independent student projects, or unit wrap ups for students to show what they have learned. Click on the link below to see how one could embed info into an animated gif.

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TOUCH this image to discover its story. Image tagging powered by ThingLink

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Speedometry - Learn Math and Science | Hot Wheels

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Accelerate STEM learning through play with Hot Wheels Speedometry! Explore free lesson plans and fun hands-on activities to learn more math and science!

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This is a kind of fun physics/math integration that could be worth a look.

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This app is an interactive book of animated visuals, posters, glossaries and more, that could be put on the library iPads for our middle schoolers to use as an additional learning tool.

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Tinybob is another app that allows students of a variety of ages to construct a course filled with ramps, gears, and pulleys to traverse through a scene.

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These (Simple Machines by Discovery Kids, and Simple Machines 3-8) are a couple of possibilities for granting students from elementary to middle school a new experience for added lessons in force and movement.

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This site has bios and more dedicated to meeting the scientists who are a part of the Smithsonian Institution.

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Sci Show (Collection of Science Related Lesson Videos on Youtube)

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Sci Show (Collection of Science Related Lesson Videos on Youtube)

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Sci Show is a nice "go-to" if you are looking for another video to enhance or introduce a lesson or project.

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This site contains an interactive periodic table that holds videos diving into the elements.

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"Animal Cams" from Zoos Throughout the World

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"Animal Cams" from Zoos Throughout the World

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Here is a collection of live video from the zoo habitat for the following animals:
Panda Cam
Penguin Cam
Giraffe Cam

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Virtual Field Trips Through the Smithsonian

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Virtual Field Trips Through the Smithsonian

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The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History has compiled a huge collection of their exhibits into 360-degree tours.

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This is another platform that could have probably been placed anywhere on the tech menu. The best part of this tool is that the incoming 5th graders have had experience building sites so they will be able to jump right back in. Here is an example of a site created by a student last year. Here is another example of "sites" in action with a 5th grade reading group project.

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While Google Earth has been around for a while now, the recent updates are really eye popping. The possibilities with which you can use Google Tour Builder alone make it a very powerful tool in teaching social studies and geography.

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360Cities is a free catalogue of 360 Photos and Videos from around the world. THOUSANDS of pictures that students can immerse themselves in with or without VR headsets. Check out a few of the many ancient greek sites the 5th graders could explore. Best of all, this resource can be paired with CoSpaces as the images are free for the students to use.

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CoSpaces could actually live anywhere on this menu as it is more a platform where students can create a 3-D world embedding any content they wish. One particularly powerful possibility is having students create a virtual museum, either collectively or individually. Students wishing to code may do so as it can use drag and drop for the non-coder, block based coding for the novice coder, and java for the advanced coder. As a cherry on top, students can explore their world, museum, etc... using a virtual reality headset.