The students in the Pine team are working on an integrated
community project. The goal of the project is to educate all students on the
aspects of farming that relate to their local community and local economy. The
students will become knowledgeable citizens and use the resources from their
learning and technology to support the local farmers, which in turn will support
the local economy.
The background concepts that students will study will include the different types
of farming in the community and how these farms impact and are influenced by
the local economy. As students began their studies one of the first things they
encountered were the concepts of organic and non-organic commercial farming.
These topics were studied in science class by reading articles from the internet
and evaluating and organizing the information they learned.
In social studies focusing on the differences between organic and non-organic
commercial methods led students to develop a student survey to evaluate apples
that were organically grown and commercially grown.The students rated the apples
for visual appeal, texture, aroma, and taste. This data is applied in the math
class as students learn different ways to display and analyze the data.
In language arts, the students are writing persuasive essays that support their
opinion on which farming practices they think are better. To defend their points
of view they are creating primary resources by gathering data through interviews.
The interviews of local farmers are developed and executed by the students and
are recorded on video. The video is used as a tool to reflect on their skills
and gather data for their essays.
As students gain knowledge and gather information they will be making decisions
and seeking ways they can use what they have learned to impact their community. Finally,
they will interact with a variety of community members and farmers to promote
supporting local agriculture as a way to develop a sustainable economy in their
hometown.
Programs actively being used by both teachers and students
for this project include Noteshare, Pages and iMovie. We will have projects
posted when completed. |
