Fortean Education Activities

Below is a selection of activities that may be utilized to explore students’ ability areas within the 8 Multiple Intelligences as defined by Dr. Howard Gardner.  Those as defined by Dr. Gardner as the Multiple Intelligences are:  Logical/Mathematical Intelligence, Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence, Visual/Spatial Intelligence, Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence, Naturalist Intelligence, Musical Intelligence, Interpersonal Intelligence, Intrapersonal Intelligence.  The activities listed are in no way confined to the arena of the paranormal, but are devised as extensions to the subjects investigated by the IFRS.

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence

 1.  Construct a Rube Goldberg to catch Big Foot or an alien.
 2.  Construct a crossword puzzle using facts you located about Big Foot.
 3.  Debate the existence or non-existence of Big Foot, ghosts, UFO, or other paranormal phenomena.

Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence

 1.  Write an original ghost story.
 2.  Write an original ghost story, but write it from the ghost’s point of view.
 3.  Write a poem based on the Loch Ness Monster or Champ.
 4.  Write about the Loch Ness Monster or Champ from the creature’s point of view.
 5.  Write an original story about an alien visiting your town.
 6.  Compare/contrast differences and similarities in UFO sightings.
 7.  Write a speech that you would give as President to a visiting alien delegation.
 8.  Create a PowerPoint presentation on information you have gathered on pleiseosaurs.
 9.  Write a report based on the information you gathered for your Power Point presentation.
 10.  Research the origins of Area 51 and/or Roswell, New Mexico.
 11.  Write a newspaper article about Big Foot, ghosts, UFO sighting, etc.  Include all elements of writing an         article (who, what, when, where, why and how).
 12.  Is there a ghost story in your family?  Retell it.
 13.  Write a letter to a prominent Big Foot, UFO, or ghost expert.  Write to them about your beliefs and ask for information on why they believe what they believe.
 14.  Write a letter to the New Mexico travel commission and request information on visiting Roswell.
 15.  Read a book on Big Foot, ghosts, UFO’s, or other paranormal subject.  Write a review of the book –OR-  make a Book Fair exhibit (like a Science Fair project).
 16.  Write an original play about Big Foot, UFO’s, or ghosts.

Visual/Spatial Intelligence

 1.  Draw or sketch your rendition of Big Foot, the Yeti, Sasquatch, or the Skunk Ape in its natural setting.
 2.  Create a diorama of the habitat of a Sasquatch/Big Foot/Yeti/Skunk Ape.
 3.  Create a cartoon about aliens. Use at least 8 frames on your storyboard.
 4.  Create a “scale” model of a UFO.
 5.  View the famous “Patterson” video of a Big Foot creature walking through the forest.  Create your own video of the creature.
 6.  Create a model of the Loch Ness monster or Champ. Be innovative in your use of materials.
 7.  Create an Inspiration graphic organizer to show facts you gathered on your research of Big Foot, ghosts, UFO’s, Roswell, Area 51, or other paranormal subject.
 8.  Watch a video of Harry and the Hendersons, Topper, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, or other paranormal-based movie. Record your thoughts on the validity of each event.

Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence

 1.  Create a “scale” model of a UFO.  Be create in the use of materials, and use at least 3 different materials; recycle items if possible.
 2.  Make up an interpretive dance showing the “traditional” movements of a ghost or apparition.
 3.  Walk barefoot through a nearly dry mud puddle or create your own mud puddle in a foot tub or basin; when dried, make a plaster cast of your footprint by filling the cavity with plaster of Paris or a homemade plaster mix.
 4.  Create a sculpture of Big Foot, a ghost, UFO, or alien.  Choose a medium:  papier mache, clay, plaster, modeling clay, etc.

Naturalist Intelligence

 1.  Collect accounts of Big Foot/Yeti/Skunk Ape/Sasquatch sightings; compile and write about the differences/similarities in the sightings.
 2.  Create a diorama of a Sasquatch habitat.
 3.  Create a diorama of a UFO in space.
 4.  Collect specimens from a suspected Sasquatch area; analyze to determine the main diet of the creature.
 5.  Create a Power Point or Inspiration presentation on the way different Sasquatch/Big Foot creatures are viewed or described around the world.
 6.  Create an attribute web from your research on different Sasquatch creatures from around the world.
 7.  Create a Science Fair project on the existence of Big Foot based on your findings of the creatures’ size, what it eats, number of calories it must expend, etc.
 8.  Start a scrap book or collection of UFO sightings.

Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence

 1.  Write a song about Big Foot to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle” or “Itsy Bitsy Spider.”
 2.  Write a spooky Halloween song about a ghost; you may use an existing tune or make one of your own.
 3.  Listen to one of the following musical selections:  Night On Bald Mountain, Star Wars Theme, 2001:  A Space Odyssey, Theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or other related music.  Write about your impressions, thoughts, or feelings as you listen to this music.
 4.  Compose a piece of music that would be appropriate for ghosts, Big Foot, UFO’s, or other paranormal subject.
 5.  Listen to the Purple People Eater. Draw your version of the alien.

Interpersonal Intelligence

 1.  Write a paper persuading others to believe in Big Foot, ghosts, or UFO’s.  Give reasons why they should, and support those reasons with research or facts.
 2.  Work with a partner or group to create any of the projects listed in this activity list.
 3.  Go out with a partner or group on a UFO “hunting” trip.  Record your observations.  Include time, date, and a detailed description of what you observed.  Use the IFRS site to report your “encounter.”
 4.  Cast and perform the play that you wrote under the Verbal/ Linguistic Intelligence.

Intrapersonal Intelligence

 1.  Write about how you would feel if you were Big Foot.
 2.  Pretend you are a ghost, and therefore invisible.  Write a journal of your experiences.
 3.  Imagine that you have been abducted by aliens.  Describe your experiences.
 4.  In what paranormal subjects do you believe?  What cause you to think of them as you do?