Introduction

A travel agency is trying to boost travel to different parts of the world by increasing the advertising and selling vacation packages.  You have been hired to make a commercial to sell a travel package to that particular biome.  You need to include all relevant information that a possible traveler would need to know who is visiting your biome.  Remember your target audience is high school freshmen. 

Task

Working as a group develop a short oral presentation (3-5 minutes) with visual aids (PowerPoint, poster(s), movie/skit, costumes) to the class to sell your vacation package.  You must hand in your personal fact sheets on your biome before your group gives its presentation.  After all presentations are finished, the class will vote on the most appealing vacation (you are not allowed to vote for your own presentation).  Winners will receive a bonus of 10 extra credit points! 

Vacation Packages

Grading for the project is outlined in the evaluation section below.

Process

Each team will be assigned a biome by the teacher.  It is the team's job to research the biome and gather facts and information about that biome.  Each member of the team will become an expert in a particular aspect of the biome, listed in the team roles found below.

Team Roles

Discuss with your team which role each of you will assume.  Remember that you are all responsible for learning about the biome you are presenting, but your role reflects an area of particular focus for you as you research.

Each team member should choose a website from the resource list and find their biome, then record facts and information about the biome that would be useful in the presentation.  This fact sheet will be turned in to show that you did your share of the group work.  Please do not print out whole web pages, a list of hand-written numbered facts on notebook paper is fine.  Your fact sheet should include your group’s biome and your individual role in the group (see sample below).

Remember your role.  You can write down anything useful you think the team will need, but your focus should be on the role you were assigned (Geographer, Meteorologist, Zoologist, Botanist)

Some questions to consider:

What kinds of activities could people do in this location?
What kinds of plants and animals live there?
What kind of clothes should they bring?
What's the weather like?
What is the best time of year to travel there?
What part of the world will they be traveling to?
Are there any dangerous elements to traveling there?
How much does it cost to travel to that part of the world where that particular biome is found?

Rejoin your group and discuss your findings.  Develop your presentation to the class.  You may want to bring pictures and other "props" from home to help showcase your vacation package commercial.  Make sure each person of your group speaks during the presentation, to give their expert advice in their area.  You may want to assign one person as a narrator or presentation project leader to do the summarizing.  Remember, you have to sell your biome as the vacation package that is the most appealing to earn the bonus prize!

Resources

Additional resources may be found on my website at:   http://www.district87.org/staff/bachl/

Visual Aid(s)

Visual aids should be used to complement your spoken information about your particular biome.  Visual aids can be anything that adds something to your commercial and helps the possible travelers learn more about your biome.  Visual aids can be PowerPoint presentations, poster(s), movie/skit, costumes, etc.  Remember making a PowerPoint does not mean you don’t have to speak you will have to either add the oral commentary to your slides or speak while your slide show is being shown.

Evaluation: (+10 bonus points to winners)