Erica Johnson

Johnson's "Something Fishy is Going On" project explains the importance of marine animals within the animal kingdom. Small groups of students develop a plan for observing the behavior of various marine animals, and travel to a local aquarium to photograph the animals' physical characteristics. Students learn physical and environmental attributes specific to each animal studied, and use this information to create original PowerPoint presentations. Students also invite a marine biologist to the classroom to describe his or her work and answer their questions about animal classification and behavior. This program teaches respect for the environment, the importance of cooperative learning and the value of critical thinking skills.