General Information Project Overview Curriculum Connections Evaluation

  General Information

  Project Overview

This project will involve two classes of Grade 5 students. The Grade 5 Social Studies program includes an extensive look at natural resources found in Newfoundland and Labrador.

There are approximately 45 students in Grade 5. They will work in groups with a teacher who will assist them in learning to use the Internet to locate information. They will also be assisted in setting up a group of students and email addresses so that the students will correspond to other students in communities throughout the province which have natural resources.

This project will begin in November, 1997 and continue throughout the school year.

Outline for project:

1. Students will learn what Natural Resources are.
2. Students will be provided with a map of Newfoundland and Labrador and write in where natural resources are found.
3. Write email messages to archaeologists, geologists and other people involved in working with natural resources in our province.
4. Students will report on 5 different natural resources telling where they are found, how they are mined, what they are used for.
5. Students will become familiar with email by conversing with students and others throughout the province who have natural resources in their community. They will learn how the discovery of minerals has changed their community. They will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of living in a community where there are natural resources being mined, fished, or refined.
6. The end result of this project will be a written report (based on research) of the resources found in Newfoundland and Labrador.

  Curriculum Connections

Social Studies - The grade five social studies curriculum textbook has two units on Natural Resources of the Sea.

Map Skills - Students will become familiar with the map of Newfoundland and Labrador. This will include bodies of water which are often necessary in mining and refining minerals.

Computer Technology - Email and WWW sites will be used to obtain information necessary to complete this project.

Language Arts:

1. Research Skills
2. Reading and rewording information
3. Transferring what is read to writing
4. Reading and finding the main idea.
5. Cooperative Learning

Goals:

- Students will learn the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources.

 

- Students will become familiar with the map of Newfoundland and Labrador.

 

- Students will learn how to communicate with others via email.

 

- Students will learn the natural resources of Newfoundland and Labrador

 

- Students will become familiar with the role of archaeologists, geologists and other people involved in spin off jobs created by our natural resources.

 

- Students will improve their research and writing skills.

  Evaluation

The student performance during this project will be evaluated mainly through teacher observation of the interest each child shows in working on the project. Teachers will take anecdotal records while observing how much work each person contributes toward the project. Teachers will check each goal informally to determine whether or not they have been met.

An important objective of this project is to help students learn to work cooperatively in groups and to show clarity and confidence in the presentation of their work to other groups of students.

Time will be allotted to teach research skills to the students involved in this project. They must learn to read and interpret material from the Internet and how well they learn to do this will be part of the evaluation.