Virtual Worlds Project
The Virtual Worlds Project starts with a discussion about science fiction and fantasy. Teachers read excerpts from several books and students read a Ray Bradbury short story called All Summer in A Day and watched a video of the same name. Students were provided with reading lists and are to read at least 3 science fiction or fantasy books.
Students also read and discuss, as a group, Lois Lowry’s book, The Giver.
Students then take on the daunting task of developing a make-believe world. They consider location, climate, imports and exports, crops, government, recreation etc. As the world develops they draw maps, make the country’s flag and design housing and fashions. They also write the front page of their world’s newspaper.
The culminating project is twofold: Students build their world in a 3D display and write a book (short story) about their world.
The objectives of this project are:
You can see the 3D displays online at http://connections.smsd.org/nieman/virtualworldpics.htm
You can read the best of the stories at http://www.adifferentplace.org/virtualworlds/virtualworlds.htm