Project 1: Project China:
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| Lead Teacher(s): | Myrna Williams (mwilliam@calvin.stemnet.nf.ca) |
| School: | Eugene Vaters
Pentecostal Academy 16 Larkhall Street St. John's, NF A1B 2C3 (709) 722-7012 |
| Grade Level: | Students participating in this project are in grade 4. |
| Number of Students: | There will be approximately 30 students involved. |
| Project Start and Finish Dates: | This project is expected to be started and be completed within one month period. |
Students within the grade 4 class complete a unit of study on China. In this unit students learn about China; way of life, day-to-day activities, education, industries, food and so on. Project China is a designed to enable students to understand that people express much about their life through their particular culture. Its aim is to produce an online cultural exchange. The information exchange will focus on one aspect of culture - Food. Using the Internet as primary resource, students involved in the program will communicate with fourth graders in China (possibility Hong Kong). Specifically, the project will get students from this class to find "e-mail friends" in China. Students from grade 4 will ask questions of their "e-mail friends" relating to the above stated activities. The focus will be on Food. Each student from this grade 4 class will be required to exchange one recipe of a traditional Meal. This class will then take their recipes and create an online authentic Chinese Cookbook.
Once the recipes are collected they will be compared and contrasted with Canadian foods. The students will discover more cultural clues from this analysis. For instance; How our diets differ, why they cook the way they do, does economics play a factor in food, does geography affect ones diet, who's diet is healthier - less fat, and what foods are eaten during different celebrations?
This project allows the students to learn from Chinese students about the Chinese culture and way of life, specifically the traditional food of China. The following Intended Learning Outcomes are expected of students upon completion of this project;
- - e-mail links with 4th graders in China
- - exchange of cultural information in the area of diet (food)
- - students will recognize that geography and people give distinctiveness to a culture.
- - students will recognize that communities around the world will become more dependent on each other to meet basic needs. For example, Canada exports wheat to China for noodles. As Well, many Chinese foods are found on our grocery shelves.
- - students will understand that interdependence through the movement of goods, services, information and people affect the well-being of a nation.
Technology Outcomes
Upon completion of this project students will;
- - demonstrate knowledge of the nature and characteristics of a variety of media and communications systems.
- - identify and investigate real life communication problem situations and opportunities.
- - evaluate communications products, both their own and others, in terms of intended use and effectiveness.
- - identify ways in which information and communications technologies are used.
- - identify advantages of selected communications technologies
- - develop a vocabulary of terminology and language, related to selected communications technologies.
- - work effectively in several communications media.
- - identify ways in which people, including themselves, are affected by technological change.
- - explore and identify information and communications tools in daily use at home and school.
- - use communications technologies to build new knowledge from existing information.
- - use World Wide Web search engines to retrieve information on China.
The STELLAR Schools Internet Connections will enhance this project in a number of ways. Students will receive experience on the Internet and using e-mail. Many of these students have not had this experience before. Technology is a vital part of their lives and will become more prevalent in their future. This project will start the process of learning about these technologies and will motivate them to learn more. Project China will also enable students to communicate directly with Chinese children to collect information, thus getting cultural clues first-hand and not just from published materials. Quickly, they will come to grasp with the concept of a "global village." Their Chinese friends will be at their finger-tips, not thousands of miles away. This will enhance cultural awareness greatly.
The evaluation of this project will be ongoing. Observation on individual and/or small group conferences will be used quite frequently to evaluate. The students will be observed and monitored closely in the following areas;
- - ability and interest in using e-mail independently
- - ability in down loading/printing information
- - ability to use search engines on the world wide web to collect information on China.
- - ability to analyse and compare shared cultural clues in a group setting by using tools such as organizational charts, webs and so on.
- - understanding of how modern technology can have an impact on their lives.
- - participation in publishing of a Chinese Cookbook with their peers.
