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Raptors is a complete study unit that provides supplemental instructional materials about a subset of the scientific class of Birds (Aves). It was designed with national science curriculum standards in mind, and with attention to the requirements for children to learn about life sciences and the relationship between different living systems and the diversity of life within the animal kingdom. |
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Activities for the study unit are grouped into two folders: Raptors Read Write, which includes Raptors Introduction and three writing books, and Raptors Supplemental, which includes two more writing activities, an explore activity, and a math activity.
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Raptors Introduction |
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 Cover of the Raptors introduction book |
 Raptors introduction table of contents |
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| The Raptors introduction book defines what a raptor is and how it differs from the commonly used term of "bird of prey". Children read about the unique physical characteristics of raptors in the opening chapter. A more detailed look at eagles, hawks, falcons, vultures and owls is provided in following chapters. The 30 page introduction includes a custom IntelliKeys® overlay. |
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 Final page of the first chapter |
 Page from "Falcons and Vultures" |
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Raptors Writing Books
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| Following the Raptors introduction book, children have three books to choose from for further research and writing. These include: My American Bald Eagle Book, My Great Horned Owl Book, and My Vulture Book. |
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 My American Bald Eagle Book cover |
 Students write about the eagle's eyesight |
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| In each book a series of photographs is presented on consecutive pages. A hint is provided on each page as to what the child might write about (i.e. talons, eyesight, feathers, habitat and behavior). As in all of the activities, switch scanning is fully supported. The writing books are designed to display an on-screen keyboard if needed. Additionally, a custom IntelliKeys® overlay is provided. |
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 Cover of My Great Horned Owl book |
 Dramatic photos bring these birds up close |
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| The books also are designed with a "Google" button. This allows the child to click on the button and go to the web to conduct research on their writing topic. We are also providing a list of appropriate websites to teachers so that they can guide the student. |
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 Cover of My Vulture Book |
 Here students write about an African Hooded Vulture |
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| Additionally, the writing books are designed with bibliography pages where students will be shown the proper formatting for referencing websites, books and other resources. Students access the four bibliography pages by clicking a button on the book cover. |
 Bibliography page |
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| The format of these three books was designed to meet national curriculum standards for writing and expressive communications, including the organizing, writing, editing of written materials. They also meet national standards for using a computer to develop and publish written materials. |
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Raptors Supplemental Activities
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| Beyond these initial four books, we are providing four supplemental activities. These include two more writing activities, a math activity, and an explore activity. A launcher organizes the four supplemental activities, which are based on templates that ship with IntelliTools Classroom Suite®. |
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 Raptors in the News writing page | Raptors in the News is based upon the IntelliTools® "Science in the News" template. Students use a toolbar containing two background pictures and raptor clip art to create their own scene. Once the scene is created, clicking a camera button takes a picture of the scene and drops it into another page formatted like a newspaper, where the students can write an article about their scene. The activity has two custom IntelliKeys® overlays, the first with the buttons needed for the scene creation page, and the second with the keyboard and other buttons needed to write the article.
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| Raptors Writing is based upon the IntelliTalk 3® "Writing in Science" template. A toolbar with raptor-related clipart and a words toolbar support children as they express their own ideas in written form using the computer keyboard and/or toolbar supports. A custom IntelliKeys® overlay for this activity is included.
|  Raptors Writing page |
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 Raptors Center Fractions page | Raptors Center Fractions is based upon the IntelliMathics 3® "Fractions" template. We take children to a raptor center in Sitka, Alaska, where they are presented with a number of facts in regards to the center and the birds that are resident there. From the information presented on each page, children will have the opportunity to produce corresponding fractions that match the information given and then reduce the fractions to the least common denominator.
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| Raptors Explore is based on the IntelliPics Studio 3® "Explore Concepts" template. Raptors clip art is presented in a toolbar along with a toolbar containing a number of background scenes that would be appropriate for the study of raptors. Children can then explore and practice the concepts of movement, size, color, and numbers across multiple backgrounds.
|  Raptors Explore page |
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The activities all will run on the Classroom Suite Player, but either IntelliTools Classroom Suite® or the full version of a component application are needed to modify activities. IntelliTools Classroom Suite® or the full version of the applicable component application are also needed for data collection and reporting in the supplemental Explore and Fractions activities. Because of the wide spectrum of activities in this study unit, we felt that no single activity from Raptors would serve as a representative sample. Accordingly, we have prepared a demo for Raptors including pages from the introduction, the three writing books, and the launcher for the supplemental activities. Download Raptors Demo right here! |
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