Curriculum
Twenty-First Century Challenges: Grades 6-8
Cyberspace World
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Read a Letter to Educators about twenty-first century challenges from CyberSmart!
Overview
Students consider the concept of cyberspace as a place and learn that it can be defined as real people communicating through computers connected to the Internet. They create a map to visually represent that definition, taking into account the influences of population, language and geography around the world.
Objectives
- Explain that cyberspace is not a physical place but can be defined as real people communicating through computers connected to the Internet
- Draw a map to illustrate their understanding of the concept of cyberspace
- Explain how variations in population, languages spoken, and geography are reflected in their maps of cyberspace
National Educational Technology Standards for Students © 2007
Source: International Society for Technology in Education- Technology Operations and Concepts
- understand and use technology systems.
Home Connection
Download the Home Connection sheet related to this lesson.
Site Preview
No Internet site is used in this lesson.
Materials
- Activity sheets (2)
- Colored pencils
- Atlases; world map
Introduce
- Have each student write down his or her own definition of "cyberspace" and invite volunteers to share their definitions. Tell students that they will return to these definitions at the end of the lesson.
Teach 1
- Distribute the activity sheets. Read and discuss "Is cyberspace real?" guiding students to understand that cyberspace is not a physical place and yet the interactions that take place there involve real people.
Teach 2
- Before completing the mapping activity, have the class brainstorm ways to approach the challenge of visually representing cyberspace, including what symbols to use. For example, they may visualize cyberspace as a loosely woven fabric or a cloud of dots.
- Tell students to work lightly in regular pencil until they have finalized their plans for the map.
Teach 3
- Have students return to their definitions of cyberspace and revise them as needed.
- Display the maps and definitions together and allow volunteers to share their results.
Assess
The following items assess student mastery of the lesson objectives.
- Ask: In what ways is cyberspace real? (It involves real people using real computers to communicate real information and ideas)
- Ask: What do your maps tell us about cyberspace?
- Ask: What does cyberspace look like over the oceans?
Extend
The following activity can be added for students who completed this lesson in a previous grade.
- Have students use search engines or directories to find Web sites containing interesting information about the growth of cyberspace and the Internet.
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