Title: NOVA online adventures: Ice mummies of the Inca
URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/peru/
Grade/Age level: any
The purpose of this site is to inform people about the Incan people, their culture, and some of their practices. It also teaches about high-altitude archeological expeditions. The site was designed to accompany an episode from PBS’ NOVA series; however, it is not necessary to view the video to use the site.
The site has three main areas: The Expedition, Mummies, and Lost Worlds. Each is presented very well. There is continuity to each part of the site. It is easy to navigate. The information is interesting and concise. The pictures are detailed and captivating.
There are a few external documents available. One is lesson plan for Science grades 5-8. There is also a link for teachers to add their own lesson ideas. There is one quasi-interactive activity available. The Reading Remains page has a picture of remains of one of the mummies. Beside it are several questions about the mummy. Each question is a link to a short recap of the information from the rest of the site. One could answer the questions in his/her own words, and then click the link to check their answers.
Foreign language standards call for us to teach culture as well as language. The Incan people are an important part of South American culture today. The site is in English, so using this site for language centered instruction would require development of some external documents.
The strengths of this site are in the content, organization, and visuals. Some improvements that could be made include adding video clips of some interviews, or people working on the mummies.
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2 comments:
Hi Eric,
Interesting story! NOVA does do some nice pieces. The website is easy to navigate and I really like the pictures they included. It provides a good idea of what some of rural Peru looks like.
I had a few questions for you. First, how would you recommend incorporating this into a Spanish language class (generally speaking of course)? What are some of the cultural requirements that you need to cover? I have to develop a lesson plan for a Spanish Education class I'm taking so I'm curious as to what these requirements are? Okay and my last question, if you wanted to purchase the NOVA video on this segment, how difficult would that be at your school? I think it would be great for the kids to see it even though it was in English. As you mentioned, external documents could be created to emphasize Spanish language use?
Nice find ...
Stefanie
I agree with Stefanie, nice site. I really got into the travel log. I was a few pages in before I remembered that I had other things to do :)
I'm also interested in how you will incorporate this into your class. What will your students need to utilize this site and its resources? What kind of external document(s) will you need to produce in incorporate this successfully into your class?
Dan
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