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Welcome!
The
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Introduction
Through telecommunication and collaboration with peers, students work-as a cross-classroom community of learners-toward a common goal: understanding the role of native plants in their own and other cultures. This is a project-based learning experience. Students think and act like scientists, exploring their backyard, making observations, gathering data, and analyzing information. By sharing knowledge with their international classmates, students are encouraged to think outside their own experiences and to consider other perspectives and cultures. Global communication takes place initially through a simple email exchange activity where students share personal information about themselves with their international classmates. As the project progresses, students construct an understanding of the presence and use of local native plants through fieldwork, interviews, and research. Finally, students share their understanding by building a cooperative Web site, enabling them to consider similarities and differences and completing the knowledge construction cycle. In this learner-centered project, students are responsible for their own knowledge. They generate questions, conduct self-designed research, and make decisions about sharing information. By initiating their own knowledge construction, students become independent learners. Your role is to facilitate student understanding as a "guide-on-the-side," rather than a "sage-on-the-stage." Below we provide you with guidance by suggesting appropriate paths to follow and identifying opportunities for prompting students to thoroughly consider wide-ranging ideas or views. In the end, it is your students who dictate the path that this project will follow. Your job is to keep them from veering too far off course. Goal
and Objectives Goal: To increase student awareness of and appreciation for the importance of native plants, both locally and globally. Objectives: Students will:
Project at a Glance March
7: Registration deadline March
7 - April 1: Let's Get Acquainted April
2 - May 1: Let's Explore May
2 - June 1: Let's Share June
1: Project End
1.
Generate questions Next, have students go to the Home page and watch the slide shows of the Himalayas, Andes, and Appalachians. Challenge them to come up with questions they would like to ask their international classmates while they are clicking through the slides. Give each student the opportunity to develop their own list of questions in their journal. Have students practice interview one another and refine their questions. Compile a master list of questions and, as a class, decide which you will ask. While there are certain topics that students should discuss with one another, their email conversations should be largely driven by student interest: What do they want to know about one another? What are they curious about? Strike a balance, though. Your job is to make sure that the global communications go beyond chatting, that they have a specific direction. Here are some questions to help you monitor the direction of the conversations.
Also, strongly encourage your students to request photos-of the class, school, town, mountain- from their international classmates. These can be sent as attachments to an email (preferable) or through the mail. It is a good idea for students to include an introductory paragraph about themselves in their email. You can pair students with one another to practice writing introductions about themselves and then compile these as a class to send a single paragraph. 2.
Send email messages Before sending an email message, familiarize students with the basics of email etiquette. They should introduce themselves, check their spelling and grammar and always be polite. Because most of the important communication skills are missing in email communications (body language and tone of voice, for example), students must make an extra effort to communicate clearly and effectively with one another. Also remind them that they are working with students from very different cultures so they need to be respectful of unfamiliar social norms and cultural differences. Encourage them to re-read their messages several times in search of multiple interpretations. 3.
Respond to email messages Once you've heard back, have a discussion with your students. Ask them, Were you surprised by anything you learned? Do you have more questions you would like to ask? If there are any additional questions, have students send another email. While waiting for a response, have students conduct a food survey. For one 24-hour period ask them to write down in their journals everything they eat. Ask them to bring the list to school and, as a class, compile a master list containing two columns: Food and Source. Have a class discussion. In the first column, write down the food items from your students' lists. In the second, decide as a class and write down whether the food item comes from a plant or animal. If students aren't sure, have them conduct research. The three classes then exchange the results of their food surveys, enabling them to compare and contrast the eating habits of these three populations of students. What are the similarities? Differences? Tip
If you only have access to one computer, schedule students to work in pairs at the computer to accomplish certain tasks and have other students conduct research using other resources, such as books and periodicals. Background Information: Let's Explore In the second phase of the project, students conduct fieldwork, research, and interviews to explore the use of native plants as food, medicine, and fiber. 1.
Identify native plants Introduce students to plant anatomy before the field trip. You may wish to bring a few different flowering plants into class to help students understand how scientists classify plants. Ask students, How can you tell these plants apart? Encourage them to identify several differences, such as flower color, leaf shape, and stem length. Explain to them that experts-called taxonomists-classify and name plants according to these same characteristics. Encourage students to ask questions about the plant parts they observe. Then take the opportunity to introduce students to any plant parts they are not familiar with. If you wish, you can have them visit EnchantedLearning.com to see a labeled plant diagram. During the field trip, students will observe and measure several characteristics of native plants and, with the help of the naturalist and the field guide we have provided, identify them by name. Give each student, or group of students, a magnifying glass, ruler, and copy of the Data Collection Form. Ask students to make observations, take measurements, and record data on the form. Next, introduce students to the use of field guides. Be certain to familiarize yourself with the field guide beforehand. Have students use the field guide and work with the naturalist to identify the plants recorded on their Data Collection Form. There is a column for recording the name of each plant on this form. If the information is not provided in the field guide, ask the naturalist or have students research which of the plants they have identified are native. When they are not using the field guide, students can use their journals to sketch diagrams of the plants and to make additional observations. If possible, bring a camera and have students take pictures of the plants they identify. 2.
Conduct interviews Divide the class into three groups. Have each group decide which type of plant they would like to research: edible, medicinal, or utilitarian. Alternatively, you can have each group pull a category out of a hat. Their job is to find out which of the plants on their Data Collection Form are used for their assigned purpose and how they are harvested, processed, and consumed for this particular use. Challenge them to consider, How can you find out this information? Encourage them to come up with the idea of interviewing family and community members. Each member of the group nominates a person to interview. As a group, they decide from that list who is the best person to interview. Which person probably knows the most about native plants? Next, the group designs a set of questions. Again, they can practice interviewing one another to refine these questions. How is the plant prepared? How is the plant used? Encourage students to include questions about recipes or instructions for preparing the plants for their uses. If possible, they can take a picture of the plants after they have been prepared for use. The entire group conducts the interview. Consider requiring each student to be responsible for asking at least a minimum number of questions. (You decide on the number beforehand). Remind students that they are working within a community of other scientists, making it very important that they collect accurate and thorough information. They can either assign a member of their group to take notes during the interview or they can use a tape recorder and transcribe notes later on. Note: Have students conduct research using the Internet or library to fill in any blanks in their information. Background Information: Let's Share The final phase of the project involves the collaborative organization and presentation of information. Students from all three classes electronically exchange information and work collaboratively with their peers and international classmates to create a Web site on native plants in the Himalayas, Andes, and Appalachians. To nurture a collaborative atmosphere, each class is responsible for gathering and electronically publishing information on native plants from all three regions. The American, Nepali, and Andean classes create a Web page on the use of native plants for food, medicine, and fiber, respectively. Alternatively, students from all three countries can communicate with one another to decide how they would like to organize their collective Web site. 1.
Sharing information Begin by asking each group to decide what information they would like to share with their international classmates. They will need to compile the information in an organized and meaningful way. Each group then submits their information to the message board. Once all three classes have submitted their information, students can extract information that is relevant to their class's Web page. 2.
Designing a Web page The Web site will be composed of three linked Web pages, one created by each class. Three Web page templates have already been designed. The pages have been built using what are called "placeholders." To publish their own information on the Web, students replace the text and photo placeholders with their own text and photos. Even though the Web pages have already been built, students still have room to be creative in their Web design. Ask them to browse the World Wide Web in search of creative ideas for presenting information. Next, the class decides what information they feel is important to publish. Challenge them to consider, What do you want people to know about native plants? What is the best way to convey this information? There are some suggestions for types of information to include in their section of the project. Once they have decided what they want their page to look like and say, students can build their Web page. For step-by-step instructions, go to the Collaborative Project Tutorial Collaborative Project Log-in Page Wrapping Up A good way to end the project is to reflect on the experience as a whole. You can debrief the class as a group or ask individual students to enter written reflections in their journals. Some questions to consider include, Was it difficult to communicate with your international classmates? Why? How could you make it easier to communicate with them? What obstacles did you face in this project? How were you able to overcome them? Were you surprised by anything you learned? Also, remember to give students the chance to say goodbye to one another. A
word on assessment Below are some relevant recommendations for assessing student achievement. Consider assessing students for both their individual and group work. This approach will inform you about a student's ability to effectively collaborate and communicate and promotes interdependence. Assessment opportunities
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