I came across this wonderful site over the weekend and it struck me how this can be used with students as an authentic motivation for writing.
The site provides an opportunity for the nature-loving civilian scientist to contribute to an online catalogue of sightings of plants and animals. You simply upload your photo, say where the ‘sighting’ happened via a Google Map, and write up a short description or note to accompany your picture.
Young learners can get outside in their wellies and snap pictures of minibeasts and adult students may take more of an interest in pictures from their home country or in the differences in wildlife we have here in the UK. Either way, there’s a lovely opportunity for the development of productive skills in the form of writing notes and discussion about the site content, and receptive reading skills as students browse the vast catalogue that is already online.
Enjoy, and as ever, leave your comments on how you would use or (even better) have used Project Noah with your learners.
