The Big Muddy Schoolhouse is closed at this time. We are in the planning stage for a great learning adventure expedition next school year. Stay tuned.

ANNUAL ON-LINE LEARNING ADVENTURE EXPEDITIONS

BMA conducts annual On-line Learning Adventure Expeditions retracing historic exploration routes. The annual learning adventures focus on the natural environment and human development along America's great waterways.

BMA learning adventure guides collaborate with teachers and students to explore historic sites, study the ecosystems, conduct scientific experiments, interview experts, and record the information and daily data on the BMA web site. Expedition Updates also include journals, photos, original illustrations, paintings and short video clips.

BMA learning adventures engage teachers and students in constructive and authentic learning. The Big Muddy Schoolhouse correlates the expedition and exploration to standards based lessons and activities.

"Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. Your website was very comprehensive and up-to-date. Our students were inspired by your adventure. Congratulations on a job well done!"
Mr. Charlie Gunn, Teacher, Washington Irving School, Chicago, IL

HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS AND LARGE GROUP MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS

Hands-on workshops and presentations bring the experience of canoe making and river adventure to your school or lagre group. These events enable teachers and students to make a real connection to the experience of river exploration.

Workshops and Presentations are tailored to the needs and schedule of the school or organization. They typically are 1/2 day or Full Day events. They can be broken into shorter seminars of 1- 2 hours long. Small Group Workshops (30 - 45 minutes) engage students in constructive activites such as building a miniature dugout canoe, calculating the amount of water pollution in a given place on a river or stream, or analyzing a primary source document for insights into historic people and events.

Large Group Presentations (30 - 60 minutes) offer a multimedia enhanced experience touching upon the lives and journeys of modern day explorers. The question and answer session (15 - 30 minutes) allows participants the opportunity to practice public speaking skills and to satisfy their curiosity about wild places, ecological problems and historic events. Live music and the soon to be famous "Crawdad Dance" performed by teachers and students add afun and exciting element to the experience.

BMA Teacher Training Seminars are part of each Live Visit. Whether it is incorporating learning adventures into the technology plan, integrating the Big Muddy Schoolhouse into the curriculum, or designing an experiment to be conducted as part of the learning adventure, BMA effectively assists teachers with the integration of technology and learning. BMA has over 20 years of classroom teaching and education technology experience.

"Mike Clark and John Ruskey, a modern day Lewis and Clark, presented a program at the Carnegie Public Library in Clarksdale, MS. It was instantly apparent that Mr. Clark is a superb teacher. His audience ranged in age from 5 to 80 and all were mesmerized by his story. Mike and John entertained a large group for 1 1/2 hours. An excellent slide show produced by Mike and the amazing art work by John helped to bring the trip alive for the participants. We had difficulty persuading people to leave so we could close for the night."
Connee Webster, Librarian, Carnegie Library, Clarksdale, MS THE BIG MUDDY SCHOOLHOUSE

The virtual Big Muddy Schoolhouse provides a variety of lessons and activities tied to national standards. The lessons and activities are correlated to the learning adventure themes. They include research projects, web quests, virtual field trips. Weekly activities are available for students to use their analytic and writing skills to answer questions and demonstrate understanding of the content in the Expedition Update. A password protected interactive section, called The Interactive Space, is a unique and highly engaging environment which enables enrolled members to actively participate in the expeditions in real time or through scheduled live web broadcasts. The Big Muddy Chat Room facilitates a weekly dialogue with expedition team members and content experts providing the answers to compelling questions. The Big Muddy Ballot enables participants to express opinions and help make Expedition decisions. The Polution Solution asks students to solve real world problems.