A Journey to a New Land

Ivana Filipovich, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Barbara Winter, Simon Fraser University, Canada
http://www.sfu.museum/journey

Demonstration: Demonstrations - Session 1

A Journey to a New Land, a web site created by the Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology and the Media Production Group, Simon Fraser University on the first peopling of the New World with funding from the Virtual Museum of Canada Investment program offers: visual learning through purpose built hyper-realistic 3D and Photoshop images of people, landscapes, flora and fauna of the Pleistocene (Ice Age) era; simulations of geological processes; an extensive photographic library of relevant archaeological sites, artifacts and plants; over 60 videos with leading scientists in British Columbia; and interactive games with educational goals.

It is a collaborative project between Media Production Group, a Museum, a First Nation and education professionals. The project involved a large team of university faculty, staff, and students, community advisors and scientists.

There are five learning levels, offering "tours" designed for primary, elementary, middle school, secondary, and post-secondary level learners. Each tour is structured on different age-appropriate organizing principles. Younger children may play simple but engaging games that teach concepts about the climate, landscape, fauna and human interactions. A newly created adventure game 'Ice Age Challenge' develops memory and map making skills while introducing children to concepts of alternative routes to the New World, First Nations cosmology and the dangers of a cold climate. Middle school children explore scientific explanation and the nature of scientific evidence in a large series of linked concepts. Secondary students focus on geology, geography and geomorphology, viewing video interviews with leading scientists. The large post-secondary section explores concepts in archaeological deduction and hypotheses regarding the movement of First Peoples into the New World via the Bering Land Bridge.

This multi level educational resource was designed as a series of reusable learning objects, thus maximizing its educational potential. Based on a spiral curriculum approach, the site targets multiple learning styles as well as cognitive, affective and other domains to present complex current research in a public forum. The entire site is available equally in French and English.