1. Familiarize students with VR equipment, procedures
2. Familiarize students with the virtual environment (the "Field")
3. Establish student ownership of the virtual environment

Students will use computer software to compose scanned images, electronic "photographs," and textual descriptions into a single unified page. This activity will require that the students learn and use a scanner, crop and/or scale images, design a page for legibility and readability, etc.

Students will briefly "visit" the Field in groups of 5, with the responsibility of finding and documenting a new plant. While in the Field, they will each have an opportunity to operate the VR apparatus. Four of the five students will take simulated "snapshots" of the plant (from various angles, etc.) and the fifth student will carefully draw a picture of the plant. Following the activity, the UIC team will save each group's drawing, and will electronically save the photographs, placing them on a web page for the team.

During the class's next media center time, they will reunite in their teams to compose a single (8.5 by 11) page of a "Field Guide," including a description of the plant, an annotated drawing, and several photographs. The team will learn how to crop and scale images, and to compose images and text on a single page. They will collaboratively develop the textual description. They will experiment with different page designs, etc.

Following this activity, the UIC team will make color copies of the field guide for each student in the class, to be used in the next Field activity (sampling and population distributions).

1. Image processing software
2. Who scans?
3. Standard Field Guide page?
4. How many media center sessions?
5. Schedule