Fire and Ice events are by invitation only. If you would like to observe one of our upcoming events, please contact us.
Fire and Ice delivers online, school-to-school collaborative projects, whereby students from different countries collaborate live on topics of social importance including climate change, peace and poverty reduction. See program video: See program video.
Fire and Ice Brings Organic Garden Project to Cuba
In February 2009, Fire and Ice welcomed its very first school from Cuba to its international network. Thanks to the efforts of iEARN France's Claude Bourdon, Cindea Hung (Fire and Ice coordinator, Taiwan), and Rafael Méndez, a teacher from Villenna Revolucion School near Havana, Fire and Ice brought the world a little closer together by delivering web conferencing to the Cuban school to enable them to join the Fire and Ice Organic Garden project. Claude delivered and installed the web conferencing equipment (donated by Fire and Ice's co-founder), and facilitated a celebratory "welcome" session between the Cuban teachers and students and Fire and Ice coordinators from Canada and Taiwan.
Fire and Ice Presents at First Virtual Congress - Colombia Aprende
On February 23, 2009, Fire and Ice's Stace Wills and the Latin American Coordinator for Spanish speaking schools, Mayte Esponda, used Elluminate Live! to speak about online collaborative projects to hundreds of Colombian teachers. Mayte spoke about what is a collaborative project, how to build one, the evolution since the times of pen-pal and today's virtual classroom, why work collaboratively online, selecting appropriate synchronous and asynchronous tools, and how collaborative projects can help solve real life problems. In an online asynchronous forum after the presentation, Colombian teachers submitted a variety of encouraging comments regarding the Fire and Ice presentation.
»View Video (registration required) | View Colombian teacher feedback
Fire and Ice - Kenya and Georgia
On February 24, 2009, Fire and Ice schools, MacIntyre Park Middle School and Thomasville High School of Thomasville, Georgia, collaborated online with students from the rural Kenyan village of Memusi, near Lake Magadi, located approximately 2 hours south of Nairobi. Using Elluminate Live!, the students engaged in a highly interactive online session, highlighted by PowerPoint introductory presentations from each of the schools, a lesson in Swahili for the Georgians, a gospel sung by the Kenyans in Swahili, as well as the singing of the American national anthem and readings from Barack Obama's recent inauguration speech by the Georgians. Memusi connected to the conference from the home of the founder of the Memusi school, Ms. Simantoi Mbarye, using a wireless internet connection and high speed modem supplied by Kenyan internet provider, Safaricom. Asante (thank you) everyone!
Fire and Ice Organic Garden
In one of Fire and Ice's most geographically diverse events in history, schools from Brazil, Taiwan, Mali, Uzbekistan, and Turkey (with a special guest from China) participated in a live update to discuss their respective organic garden projects -- an activity to combat global warming and promote environmental sustainability in local areas. See Video presentation:
»Youtube | See Article on Fire and Ice Brazil school (in Portuguese)
Fire and Ice Climate Change 1 Series
On December 4, four Fire and Ice schools met online to showcase their progress on the Climate Change Series 1 project. Participants included two schools from the surrounding rural areas of Medellin, Colombia, one school from Atlanta, Georgia and the fourth from Calgary, Canada. The Medellín schools presented compelling evidence of their hard work to help improve the local environment. One school demonstrated a pollution awareness campaign targeting a local brick factory; the other is cleaning the banks of their main stream, which provides water to the area. The school from Atlanta outlined a plan to recycle water in their school, and the Calgary school is seeking matching funding from city council to plant trees. With Elluminate 9.0's new multi-point video feature, for the first time, all schools could see themselves simultaneously via webcam.
Fire and Ice Climate Change 2 Series
Schools from Spotsylvania, Virginia, Washington State, and Burkina Faso shared their progress updates on plans to combat climate change in their local areas. Virginia's Ni River Middle School introduced their plan to launch an interactive website on climate change. Insight School of Washington, an online school, presented a campaign to raise awareness of the devastating effects of increased nitrogen levels in the Hood Canal, caused by human activity and development. Lastly, the school from Burkina Faso proudly showcased their Fire and Ice logo (drawn by students Benjamin, Herve, and Aubin), as well as their efforts to plant mango, shea, and caicedra trees.
Fire and Ice Partner Profile - Viva Favela (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
In December 2008, Fire and Ice showcased the work of an amazing NGO from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil called Viva Favela. Viva Favela presented to an audience of local and international guests the results of a workshop they created for adolescents and adults in Nova Brasília, a favela in Rio de Janeiro. The objective of the workshop is to teach journalism and photography to underprivileged teenagers and adults. The Brazilian favelas are known for elevated violence and poverty rates. By teaching the favela inhabitants how to be reporters, Viva Favela fights to bring forward positive and rich aspects of living in a favela. Viva Favela is Viva Rio's largest IT Program, focused on the social and digital inclusion of children, teenagers and youth in poor neighbourhoods who are particularly exposed to risks in a conflictive environments.
» Viva Favela | Viva Rio
Fire and Ice Xmas - Around the World in 60 Minutes
On December 18, the world momentarily became much smaller, thanks to the power of the Elluminate Live! virtual classroom. Fire and Ice held its first annual Xmas Party, welcoming schools from nine countries including Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Burkina Faso, Israel, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as international guests from many other countries worldwide. The participating teachers and students represented five continents, four languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French), and a diverse range of cultures, social-economic backgrounds, and holiday traditions. Guests shared webcams, PowerPoint slides, photos, food recipes, and holiday stories and traditions to showcase how the holiday season is celebrated in their respective parts of the world.
Fire and Ice - A Maasai Christmas
In the tiny remote village of Memusi, near the Tanzanian border in Southern Kenya, lies a culturally rich Maasai community that is destined to overcome the challenges of extreme poverty, water shortages, and limited educational resources. The Memusi school, led by local resident Simantoi Mbarye, is currently a one-room building constructed of tin. However, under the sponsorship of a U.S./U.K.-based organization called the Maasai Heritage Preservation Foundation, this community will soon be receiving a brand new school its students aged 4-11. On December 22, Fire and Ice showcased to participants from several countries the challenges and opportunities for sustainable development faced by the Memusi community. The event was highlighted by a traditional song by the Memusi children to mark the holiday season.
Fire & Ice Recycling 1
In Fall 2008, middle schools from Chile, Argentina, and Colombia worked in online breakout groups to explore themes on the topic of recycling, as well as to plan their projects to be implemented. A truly groundbreaking event, with traditional schools working together on a group project across international borders.
Fire & Ice Recycling 2
In September 2008, schools from a remote indigenous community in northern Colombia collaborated online with a special needs school from Argentina, a school that teaches students with motor skills challenges. The event was highlighted by an outstanding live musical performance by the Argentinean school. No school is left behind with Fire & Ice!
Fire & Ice Climate Change Series 1
In October 2008, middle schools from Calgary, Atlanta, and Colombia gathered online in Elluminate for a morning of cultural and language discovery, a grand kickoff for their Climate Change project.
Fire & Ice Organic Garden Project
On October 24, 2008, schools from Taiwan and Mali (West Africa) participate in a Fire & Ice introductory event to learn about their respective cultures and to discuss their organic garden project. Originally founded by Fire & Ice’s Massambará, Brazil school in 2007, the project is an example of how knowledge is spreading across Fire & Ice schools around the world.
Elluminating an African Village: Le Petit Séminaire de Pabré in Burkina Faso Celebrates 2008 Fire & Ice Leadership Award
Founded in 1925 by French missionaries, the Seminary is Burkina's oldest and most prestigious seminary schools. With no Internet connection at their school, students were transported many miles in the back of a pickup truck to a remote outdoor facility to participate in the Fire & Ice live events with schools from Canada, U.S., and Colombia. For their Fire & Ice project, students engaged in a tree planting effort to combat the effects of desertification in their country. After installing Internet connectivity, delivering a Promethean whiteboard, and installing the Classroom-in-a-Box, the school held its first-ever Elluminate session to celebrate its leadership award and the pending launch of its first distance learning course later this year.
Fire & Ice Paz na Rede (Net Peace) Project
Fire & Ice schools from Brazil and Colombia used Elluminate Live! to engage in a highly interactive workshop on violence. With interpreters to overcome language barriers, our moderators inspired the students to use audio, chat, video, polling, and whiteboard to express their ideas, hopes, and concerns in one of the most interactive Elluminate sessions in history.
Fire & Ice I:
The inaugural "Fire & Ice" event took place in August 2006. The event featured an interactive dialogue on environmental issues facing Canada and Brazil. The dialogue connected students from a remote school in Brazil's Amazon with participants from Canada, the U.S. and Argentina. Canada's guest speaker was a leading environmentalist from the Suzuki Foundation, who discussed the effects of harmful fishing practices in the deep seas. The Brazilian students gave a thought-provoking presentation on deforestation, waste disposal, and other issues affecting their area.
Fire & Ice II:
Fire & Ice II took place on November 23 and December 7, 2006, bringing together over 100 students, teachers and other participants from six schools and 3 countries including Canada, Brazil, and Mozambique. The project challenged each school to brainstorm and implement grass-roots initiatives in 2007 to help combat climate change in their respective local areas.
Fire & Ice West Africa:
Fire & Ice West Africa took place on October. 30, 2007 between Les Violettes Primary School in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and Belfast Elementary School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The event was interpreted by a French/English translator. The West African school did not have internet or computer equipment at their school, so they joined the Fire & Ice session from a local internet cafe in the suburbs of Ouagadougou, Burkina's capital city. Students shared powerpoint presentations on "A Day in the Life" in their respective schools. Burkina's event coordinator, Jules Ouedraogo, heralded the event as something "never before completed in Burkina Faso".
Fire & Ice III:
Held on November 1, 2007, Fire & Ice III featured four schools Brazil, Canada, and Mozambique, who showcased their exciting projects to a global audience. During the session, students reviewed the results they have achieved to make a meaningful contribution to the environment. One school that took part was located in Massambara, a remote village several hours from Rio. At the school, two computers shared one Internet connection with a capacity of only 100 kbps total (50 kbps per computer), clearly demonstrating the effectiveness of Elluminate technology in the developing world.
Fire & Ice - Live Art
Held in January 2008, the project connected elementary schools in Calgary, Canada and Burkina Faso, West Africa. The students created individual art drawings representing important aspects of their local culture. The schools gathered online via Elluminate Live! to present their art in real time, with the Burkina students webcasting from a local cybercafé on a 128 Kbps connection. Going forward the schools will continue to connect in a variety of asynchronous and synchronous collaboration activities.
Fire & Ice Machinto:
The International Education and Resource Network (iEARN) and Fire & Ice joined forces on a groundbreaking international collaborative project called Machinto, which is based on a Japanese picture book about a little girl who is killed in the Hiroshima bomb in 1945. On April 17, 2008, elementary schools from Canada, United States, Iraq, Japan, and Mali (West Africa) collaborated online via Elluminate’s virtual classroom to promote peace and friendship.
» View Global TV Edmonton story | » Read iEarn Article | » Read Article
Me and My Community:
On April 28, 2008, a tiny school from the remote Northern Australian community of Gunbalanya collaborated live, online, in an Elluminate virtual classroom to exchange cultural information, stories, songs, and photos with elementary schools from Turkey, Korea, Taiwan, and the Solomon Islands.
» View Recording | » Read Taiwanese Blog to commemorate the Fire & Ice "Me and My Community" event
Fire & Ice My Hero Event:
On May 14, 2008, schools from Canada, U.S., Israel and Mexico collaborated online to celebrate their global heroes from all walks of life. The My Hero project integrates creative and language arts, humanities and social sciences, science, environment, math and technology curricula to challenge students to make a positive difference in the world by recognizing both the heroes around them, and the heroic attributes within themselves. In the Fire & Ice event, students were able to honour their "heroes" in a live and highly interactive way. "It was great to see and hear the students read their hero stories and share their films and to communicate with the partners from locations around the globe, said My Hero coordinator Jeanne Meyers of Laguna Beach, CA. "I loved the art space, text messaging, and group windows. It was so well planned and orchestrated by Mali Bickley and the team from Elluminate."
Fire & Ice Climate Change Series Part I:
On May 29, 2008, schools from Burkina Faso and Calgary, Canada collaborated live to showcase their projects to help combat climate change in their local areas. The Burkina school showcased their tree planting efforts to control desertification and the Calgary school showcased a unique biofuel project to convert commercially grown crops to diesel fuel. Burkina and Calgary were presented with the Fire & Ice Leadership Award for their outstanding efforts.
» View video of Fire & Ice Burkina
Fire & Ice Climate Change Series Part II:
On June 5, 2008, Institución Gabriel García Márquez from Medellin, Colombia, was joined by participants from Burkina Faso and Canada to celebrate their tremendous achievements to help combat climate change. The Colombian school's four-phased project included planting of flowers, garbage pickup in their school and community, and promoting more efficient use of electricity and water. The highlight of the event was a "Fashion Parade", whereby the Colombian students showcased to the world the incredible garments they made from 100% recycled materials such as plastic cups, newspaper, and bottle caps. Colombia was presented with the Fire & Ice Leadership Award for its efforts.
» Read article from Medellin Digital
Fire & Ice Organic Garden Project
On June 19, 2008, schools from Massambara, Brazil, a village located 3 hours drive from Rio de Janeiro, and a tiny Northern Australian school from the remote indigenous community of Gunbalanya, showcased their organic garden projects to guests from Canada, Australia, Brazil and Taiwan. Massambara presented a video, which highlighted their fabulous effort to transfer the knowledge they gained from their school garden to other residences in their community. Then, they gave a webcam demonstration of their composting techniques. Australia gave a fantastic PPT presentation on their garden and exchanged a variety of questions and answers with their Brazilian friends.
Fire and Ice Frequently Asked Questions
Download PDF VersionWhat schools can participate and what are the requirements? Any K-12 school can participate in Fire and Ice, and no school is left behind because of geography, resources, or special needs. The only requirements are that the school signs our Project Commitment Letter and pays the application fee (if applicable).
What ages are the students? Fire and Ice students are typically 9 to 14 years old (which translates approximately to grades 4 to 9 in North America). However, Fire and Ice is able to accommodate students from almost any age.
What equipment is needed to participate? Each school must have at least one computer, webcam, microphone, good speakers, projector, and a minimum Internet connection speed of 28.8 kbps.
My school is post-secondary. Can we participate in Fire and Ice? Yes, the majority of our Fire and Ice schools to date have been K-12. However, we have also received interest from post-secondary schools to participate, and we will do our best to accommodate you.
Can we use more than one computer during the Fire and Ice live events? Absolutely! In fact, this is highly recommended. During the live events, we found that students are most engaged when they are divided into groups of two or three, and when each group has access to its own computer workstation or laptop.
We have an electronic whiteboard. Can we use this during the live events? Yes, although it is not mandatory. The electronic whiteboard helps increase student interaction during the live events.
What is the first step of the process? Typically, the process begins as follows:
- Teachers choose the Fire and Ice project that best matches their interests and curriculum requirements
- School signs Project Commitment Letter
- Fire and Ice regional coordinator and participating schools review project outline in introductory online meeting
- Teachers participate in one-hour training session on two platforms: TIGed (asynchronous) and Elluminate Live! ® (synchronous)
- Students sign Internet Safety Contracts
Does Fire and Ice provide me with the tools? Yes, we provide access to Fire and Ice classrooms in Elluminate Live! and TIGed.
How do I learn to use those tools? Teachers participate in a one-hour training session with their regional coordinator to learn the basics on how to use these tools. It’s very easy, and the teacher is supported at all times by their regional coordinator.
Is TIGed safe for my students? Yes, Fire and Ice’s TIGed class is private, requiring each teacher and student to login using a password. In addition, the teacher sees all activities and postings by their students. The site is also moderated by the coordinators on a regular basis.
How do you address language barriers? In some cases, schools are matched according to a common language they share. In other cases, schools are matched based on a second language that their students are learning. For example, a school in the U.S. that is learning Spanish is matched with a native Spanish-speaking school in South America.
However, we also match schools who do not share a common language because we find this promotes a more interesting cultural experience for the students. In this case, we use translators and interpreters for the live events. For any asynchronous collaboration that occurs in TIGed, we encourage the schools to use free online translation resources wherever possible, including www.freetranslation.com and http://es.babelfish.yahoo.com/. These tools are far from perfect, but the students generally have fun trying and gain a far greater cultural experience in the process.
How do you manage time zone issues? We try to match schools in the direction of North/South, as opposed to East/West. For example, North American schools are typically matched with South American or West African schools, while European schools are matched with East African schools, and Australian schools are matched with Asian schools.
Does Fire and Ice provide us with a Project Outline? Yes, every school receives a Project Outline (including timelines). The Outline serves as a general guideline only. We recognize that teachers and students can often recommend more interesting and engaging activities than we can, so the Project Outline is flexible to accommodate these changes as required.
How much does it cost to join Fire and Ice? The annual fee is $500 per school (Canada and U.S. schools can pay in their local currencies). This fee enables the school to participate in unlimited Fire and Ice projects over the course of the year.
Note: there is no charge for schools that are based in economically-challenged regions or deemed by Fire and Ice as “schools-in-need.” Contact Fire and Ice to see if your school would be deemed a “school-in-need.”
What does this fee include? The annual fee enables Fire and Ice to deliver the most interactive and collaborative experience possible for our schools. The fee covers the school’s technology platform usage, the cost of the regional coordinator to manage the project, and translation and interpreter costs. Your fee also enables one school from the developing world to join Fire and Ice.
What is the suggested number of students per class? This decision is left up to the teacher. However, our experience has shown that by having between 15 to 30 students per class, student interaction and engagement is maximized during the asynchronous and synchronous activities. That said, some Fire and Ice schools in the past have included as many as 70 to 80 students.
How do schools collaborate with each other? Schools collaborate with each other using two platforms: asynchronous (TIGed for blogging, discussions, picture upload, etc.) and synchronous (Elluminate Live! virtual classroom/web conferencing software). Both platforms are fully moderated and technically supported by our Fire and Ice regional coordinators.
Can we use other tools to collaborate? Yes, schools are free to use any tool that they are comfortable with (i.e. Skype, MSN Messenger, Outlook, etc.). However, the regional coordinators are currently only able to support TIGed and Elluminate Live!
How many live events is my school expected to attend during the project? Typically, each school will participate in approximately three live events per semester with their partner schools. These events give students the opportunity to give PowerPoint presentations and have rich, interactive dialogues with each other in real-time.
Do we need to do technical tests? Yes, approximately 2-5 days prior to each live event, teachers are required to attend a brief 20-minute test run, using the exact equipment that will be used during the live event. This helps mitigate the risk of problems occurring in the live event.
How will my regional coordinator be of service to me? Your regional coordinator will train and support you on the tools, help schedule your live events, oversee the Project Outline to ensure milestones are being met, and moderate the technology platforms.
What happens if my school completes the Fire and Ice project successfully? Schools who successfully complete the projects receive the Fire and Ice Leadership Award, in which they are honored with a plaque or certificate. In some cases, “schools in need” (mostly from the developing world) are presented with new computer equipment, sponsored by donors. Fire and Ice teachers are also recognized for their contributions and receive a certificate of completion.
As a teacher, what commitment is expected from me in the project? Fire and Ice recognizes that teachers are some of the busiest people in our society and have many demands placed upon them. Therefore, the Fire and Ice regional coordinators will do their best to provide outstanding support to teachers from project start to finish. However, in return, Fire and Ice expects a serious commitment from its teachers and their respective schools by:
- Ensuring that Permission Letters are signed by all participating Fire and Ice students
- Paying the annual fee (if applicable) in a timely manner
- Being responsive and accessible to their regional coordinator
- Attending all training and orientation sessions, and practicing using the collaboration tools outside of those sessions
- Actively participate in all planning meetings, test runs, and live events
- Giving reasonable notice to the regional coordinator if plans change and a meeting or event needs to be rescheduled
- Actively encouraging collaboration amongst their students in the two platforms with their partner schools
- Delivering creative and inspiring project outcomes, to the best of the class’ abilities
What happens if my school drops out from the project, or if I’m unable to meet my project milestones? Your partner schools take their project very seriously and will count on you to do the same. For this reason, Fire and Ice has a zero-tolerance policy for schools whose participation fades or ceases while the project is still in progress. Such schools will be immediately removed from the project without refund and will no longer be permitted to participate in future Fire and Ice projects.
How do classes prepare for the live events? Each class typically prepares a short PowerPoint presentation and a script. In preparation for the event, teachers are strongly encouraged to rehearse with their students, as well as stimulate questions to ask. If bandwidth permits, schools may also wish to use some of the more advanced Elluminate communication features, such as the webcam or the video launch.
Can we participate in another Fire and Ice project? Absolutely! Your school is free to participate in as many Fire and Ice projects as you like.
Our school is thinking of coordinating a field trip to our partner school in the future? Does Fire and Ice facilitate this? Not really. We leave that up to the schools to coordinate, and we assume no liability for such visits. However, we strongly endorse such visits. There is no better way to conclude your Fire and Ice project and complete the cultural exchange than when your students can eventually meet their counterparts face to face. Visiting schools from other parts of the world is truly an experience of a lifetime.
We are sorry but the project roster for Fire and Ice is currently full, and we are unable to accept new applicants at this time. However, if you would like to be considered for future participation in Fire and Ice projects, please complete the form below. We will contact you as soon as an opening becomes available.