Life All Around Us: A Study of Our Environments

1. Blair Thallmayer Internet for Educators Topic: 9 Collaborative Projects
1. Name of the Project: Life All Around Us: A Study of Our Environments
2. Specific beginning and ending dates
a. Begin: March 30, 2009
b. End: May 14, 2009
3. Purpose of the project
a. This Internet‐based collaborative project will allow students to share information about
the plants, animals and non‐living objects found in their schoolyard environment with
other students from around their district.
4. Subject areas included
a. Science PA Standards
i. 3.2 Inquiry and Design
ii. 3.3 Biological Sciences
iii. 3.4 Physical Science, Chemistry and Physics
iv. 3.5 Earth Sciences
b. Technology PA Standards
i. 3.6 Technology Education
ii. 3.7 Technological Devices
iii. 3.8 Science, Technology & Human Endeavors
c. Language Arts PA Standards
i. 1.4 Types of Writing
ii. 1.5 Quality of Writing
iii. 1.6 Speaking & Listening
iv. 1.8 Research
d. Geography PA Standards
i. 7.1 Basic Geographic Literacy
ii. 7.2 Physical Characteristics of Places & Regions
iii. 7.3 Human Characteristics of Places & Regions
iv. 7.4 Interactions Between Humans & Places
e. Life Skills‐ Career Education & Work PA Standards
i. 13.3 Career Retention & Advancements.
1. Work Habits
2. Cooperation and Teamwork
3. Group Interaction
4. Budgeting
5. Time Management
6. Workplace Changes
7. Lifelong Learning
th
5. Grade levels: 4 grade
6. Summary of the Project
a. Life All Around Us: A Study of Our Environments is an Internet‐based collaborative
project in which students will investigate their local environment and share that

2. Blair Thallmayer Internet for Educators Topic: 9 Collaborative Projects
information with other students from around the district. Participants will: Identify living
and non‐living things in their school yards; Share their findings with other participating
classes; Look for similarities and differences in the reported data; and Prepare a final
report or presentation based on their findings.
b. Project Overview: In this project students will plot square meters in their school yards
and record the living and non‐living things that are found therein. They will submit this
information to the project database for all to view. Students will then compare and
contrast their information with that submitted by other classes and prepare a brief
report or presentation that will be posted to the project web site. Throughout the run of
the project, classes will be encouraged to communicate with other schools via the
Discussion Area.
i. Submit a class letter of introduction to the Discussion Area by March 20, 2009.
This letter should include:
1. Information about the make‐up of the class
2. Description of the school and its immediate environment
3. A few interesting facts about the town/city where the school is located
ii. Students study their square meters and record the findings. Return to Teacher
Area for the lesson plan Field Trip to Your Square.
iii. Submit your findings to the Project Database by April 24. Return to Teacher
Area for lesson plan on how to prepare your list for posting.
iv. Go to the Project Database to view and analyze the information that other
schools have contributed. Return to the Teacher Area for the lesson plan How
Are We Alike and Different?
v. Students prepare a final report and submit to Project Leader by May 15, 2009.
vi. Optional Hands‐on Activity: Students make a model or drawing of their own
square and that of a square from another participating school. Return to
Teacher Area for the lesson plan Constructing a Partner's Square.
c. Lesson Plans
i. Field Trip to Your Square
ii. Preparing a List for Posting to Project Database
iii. Preparing a Final Report: How Are WE Alike & Different?
iv. Constructing a Partner’s Square
d. Extension Activities
i. Science: Classifying Objects
ii. Engineering: Mini‐Squares of Life
e. Student Assessments
i. There are no prescribed assessment tools for this project. However,
recommended that teachers employ a variety of alternative assessments
dependent on age and skill levels in constructing a grade representing students'
academic engagement and involvement. These include:
1. use of portfolios

3. Blair Thallmayer Internet for Educators Topic: 9 Collaborative Projects
2. anecdotal recordings
3. teacher made tests
4. classroom observations
5. conferencing
6. teacher, self and peer assessments
7. learning logs
ii. Students can be evaluated based on initial writing exercise, participation in
classroom discussions, mapping and classifying work done with partner or in
small groups, written learning log entries, accurate completion of their square
and that of their partnering school, expository writing in the form of a final
report, final oral presentations, and overall collaborative group work.
7. Number of participants
a. All fourth grade classes from the districts’ following schools:
i. Council Rock Elementary School
ii. Churchville Elementary School
iii. Goodnoe Elementary School
8. Description of how to register
Miss Blair Thallmayer
Bet1139@Esu.edu
Council Rock Elementary School
123 Activities Lane
East Stroudsburg, PA 18301
Telephone: 570‐422‐3005
Registration Deadline: March 29, 2009