The i2P Amazon Expedition will see close to 20,000 students from all across North America and around the world taking part in our Experiential Learning Program. A subset of schools has been selected to participate and test a brand-new i2P Education Initiative.
i2P Exploratory is an Experiential Learning pilot project developed by i2P for the Amazon Expedition. Ten schools have been selected to test this learning tool, which is designed to allow students in the classroom to direct the collection of lesson material from the expedition field. Students then build a project with the information they have gathered during the expedition.
How i2P Exploratory Works
A total of 10 schools has been pre-selected to participate in this program.
Two Exploratory topics are selected that reflect the theme of the expedition – in this case biodiversity. Teachers and students participating in an i2P Exploratory pilot project develop a list of issues they want addressed and questions they want answered from the Amazon Rainforest. This list is submitted to i2P in advance of the expedition. These questions will be posted in the Research Questions tab. It is then the job of the 4 Youth Ambassadors on the expedition to collect the information listed by the schools. Information can be collected in any medium: video, film, interviews, etc. This information is relayed back to the participating schools and posted on the expedition website in the Research Responses section. The participating schools use this information to build class projects pertinent to the theme of biodiversity.
Instructions for Participating Teachers
Step 1: Selection of Exploratory Project you wish to participate in (Deforestation / Food)
Review the topic with your students. Based on your discussion in the classroom select questions that you want answered while i2P is in the Amazon. The selection of these questions should keep in mind your ultimate purpose of the information, whether to complement curriculum or build a class project.
Examples of Exploratory questions for the Amazon are:
- Please take photos of any deforested areas of the Amazon you see.
- Please interview local Brazilians you meet about whether they experience food shortages
- Establish how far away the food you find in the Amazon Basin has come from
- Please record all the food you eat on the expedition and identify where it comes from
- Please talk to local people and determine what they are doing to prevent deforestation
Please be creative and do not hesitate to ask many questions. The better the questions the better the information we will be able to generate.
Information can be collected in many media. When submitting a question it should be indicated in what format the information is desired. Examples would be:
- photographs
- video interviews
- sound clips
- written reports
- Data & statistics
- etc.
Step 2: Submission of Exploratory questions:
Submissions of i2P Exploratory questions is done by sending them to Mark Dohn, i2P Science and Education Coordinator at:
mdohn@impossible2possible.com
Step 3: Assignment of Youth Ambassador
For the purposes of the expedition two of the four i2P Youth Ambassadors will be assigned to each Exploratory project. Over the course of the expedition it will be their job, with the support of the i2P team to collect the information directed by the School submissions. As they travel through the Amazon Basin the Youth Ambassadors will serve as the eyes and ears of the students following back home in their classrooms.
Step 4: Collection and Posting of Project Information
The collection of the information for the two Exploratory projects will occur during the course of the expedition. As much information as possible will be posted on the Exploratory section of the i2P website during the expedition. What remains will be posted immediately after the expedition. All information is freely available to all schools. Questions asked by the students and teachers will be posted in the Research Questions tab and data collected by the i2P Youth Ambassadors will be posted in the Research Responses tab.
