We have an exciting year planned for you!  We hope you are planning to join us. You are invited to create and sponsor your own projects; update or revitalize a project that is already in the iCollaboratory; or work in one of this year’s featured projects.

The iCollaboratory and Kidlink invite all students to participate online at NO cost.

To register for a project send email to icollaboratory@gmail.com with your school name, number of student participants and grade levels. Students will need individual Kidlink accounts.

Please register for each of these projects a few weeks before it is scheduled to begin.

Moon Over Us: Moon Phases -September 17-December 31 in Kidcafe and EIS Academy.   Project Opens September 16, 2016 

In Moon Over Us: Moon Phases, students become cultural astronomers. They take a survey about the moon; draw images or take digital pictures of the moon once a week from September 19 to October 19 to get the full cycle; research and compare each others images of the moon; create webpages that include poetry, history, beliefs,stories, and research. Students use dialogue,comments, and discussion to share their valuable insights. The project ends with a final survey and sharing reflections. Students receive iCollaboratory/Kidlink Web Badges and a certificate for completing the project.

Please join us with your students by sending an email to icollaboratory@gmail.com letting us know how many students you have. Also attach a five column spread sheet with each student listed by  username, password, firstname, lastname, and school name. 

Moon Over Us: Monthly Cycle and Influences on People - January-February  Project closed until January 2017.

It happens at least once every month. Sometimes, rarely, it happens twice a month. Up there in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's a FULL MOON.

Popular legend has it that the full moon brings out the worst in people: more violence, more suicides, more accidents, and more aggression. The influence of the moon and behavior has been called "The Lunar Effect" or "The Transylvania Effect."  The belief that the full moon causes mental disorders and strange behavior was widespread throughout Europe in the middle ages. Even the word "lunacy" meaning "insanity" comes from the Latin word for "moon."

By http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/moon.html

Is there scientific evidence to support these beliefs? Let's look at the data.

In this project, students become scientists.  They take a fact-or-fiction survey; share history and beliefs about the influence of the moon on their lives in spreadsheets and documents; use scientific process to prove facts and fictions about births, deaths and accidents in spreadsheets. After their research is complete, students create webpages to summarize their information and comment on the webpages. For those students who are available, we will Skype chat about their research. To complete the project, students take a final survey and share their reflections about what they have learned. They will receive iCollaboratory Web Badges and certificates for completing the project.

Moon Over Us: Moon Phases - March-April  with conclusions in May Project now closed until March 2017

In the project, student astronomers around the world exchange results and analyze the differences of images of the moon and discuss this information by commenting on each other’s webpages.

In addition, students will research and share stories and legends about the Moon. The result is an intercultural exchange of explanations about the differences and similarities of each country from the sky, the data gathering technology, and cultural traditions.

After completing the project,including a final survey and sharing reflections about their learning, students receive a Web Badge and a certificate.

We hope you will join us!

To register for a project send email to icollaboratory@gmail.com with your school name, number of student participants and grade levels.

Please register for each of these projects a few weeks before it is scheduled to begin.

Thank you,

Bonnie Thurber

iCollaboratory Director