Lighthouse Photosynth

Austin Hartzheim, our resident computer guru, approached me before our field trip about creating a Photosynth of the Port Washington Lighthouse. A Photosynth uses amazing technology to basically weave many pictures of one place or object together to create a 3-D, panoramic viewing experience. By using your mouse or the controls on the screen, you are able to "move" around a building, inside and out, to see it from various angles. You can even zoom in for a close-up view.

Austin gave the students some pointers before the field trip and encouraged them to take a lot of pictures. They came through. What I liked so much about this idea, is that it took everybody's pictures and created one project.

This is a screen shot of the project. Click here explore!

You will need to install a small program called Silverlight. It is perfectly safe and will allow you to experience this really cool technology! Who knows, maybe you'll want to do a synth of your own! I know I'm going to pick out the perfect lighthouse on our summer trip to create a synth!

Weekly Update

We had a wonderful field trip yesterday! The kids were so well behaved, polite, and showed a great deal of interest at both the lighthouse and the Maritime Museum. They really enjoyed climbing the tower and looking out over Lake Michigan. At the museum the highlight was touring the submarine, the U.S.S. Cobia.

Back in the classroom, they will now be able to relate the WWII information that they learned at the museum to what they are learning in History. And as the continue to work on their research papers, they will have a better understanding of the workings of a lighthouse. Additionally, the pictures they took at the lighthouse will be manipulated and used to illustrate their children's story that they will be writing. More on that later! In the meantime, enjoy this brief slide show of the field trip: