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Procedures for Teachers is divided
into two sections:
Prep -- Preparing for the Lesson.
Steps -- Conducting the Lesson.
Student Prerequisites:
Read through the entire lesson. Plan to execute
the project according to your time and technological availability. For example,
if you have a limited number of classroom computers and your students go to the
computer lab, engage the lab teacher in the project. Additionally, you may want
to assign Web research for homework when appropriate.
Materials:
- Reference materials/library resources (print, Internet,
CD-ROMs, etc.)
- A digital camera, or a regular camera and scanner, if
photos are to be incorporated.
- A scanner (optional).
- Large
monitor (optional).
Computer Resources:
You will need at least one computer with Internet access to complete this lesson.
While many configurations will work, we recommend:
-- Modem: 28.8 Kbps
or faster.
-- Browser: Netscape Navigator 3.0 or above or Internet Explorer
3.0 or above.
-- Macintosh computer: System 7.0 or above and at least 16 MB
of RAM.
-- IBM-compatible computer: 386 or higher processor with at least 16
MB of RAM, running Windows 3.1. Or, a 486/66 or Pentium with at least 16 MB of
RAM, running Windows 95.
For more information, visit What You Need to Get Connected in
wNetSchool's Internet Primer.
Additional Software:
Claris Home Page is used as an example
in this lesson. You could also use an HTML editor such as BBEdit for the Mac or
HotDog for the PC, or, if you are familiar with basic HTML, you could create
templates for the pages yourself using HTML tags in a word processing program.
Bookmarks:
The following sites should be bookmarked:
 NATURE: The Secret
Garden
http://www.thirteen.org/nature/secretgarden/html/gardener.html
This site is the wNetStation Web companion piece to THE SECRET GARDEN episode of
the series NATURE.
The Backyard Wildlife Habitat
Program
http://www.nwf.org/habitats/index.html
This site offers
many resources for creating backyard habitats as well as information on the
plants and animals that thrive in them.
Garden.com
http://www2.garden.com/
This site is a
complete guide to gardening.
The Butterfly
Web Site
http://mgfx.com/butterfly/
Provides guests with the most
complete information on butterfly gardening, farming, ecology, and education.
Internet Resources for
Gardeners
http://www.gardenweb.com/spdrsweb/
Visit this site to
take a virtual garden tour or find fellow gardeners to chat with.
Botany.Com
http://www.botany.com/
Need to identify
a plant? Visit this site and use the online Encyclopedia of Plants.
Gardening for
Kids
http://www.tpoint.net/neighbor/kids.html
This page has many
links to kid-centric garden sites.
4-H
Children's Garden at Michigan State
University
http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/garden/contents.html
The people at 4-H have really outdone themselves in creating a dynamic garden.
KinderGARDEN
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/kinder/index.html
Introduces ideas to get children involved with plants and the outdoors.
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There are three lessons in Gardens:
Lesson I: Introducing the project (1
class period).
Lesson II: Learning to create
a Web page (1-2 class periods).
Lesson III:
Producing the project (4 class periods). |
Lesson I: Introducing the project (1 class
period). |
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Introduce the project and familiarize students with
different types of gardens and the life that thrives within them. If possible,
take your class to a botanical, wildlife, or backyard garden. Bring along a
digital camera and have the class take pictures of the garden's plant and animal
life. Another alternative would be to take your class on a virtual garden tour.
Check out Internet
Resources for Gardeners (http://www.gardenweb.com/spdrsweb/) and choose from
nine different garden tours. If you take your class on a virtual tour, hook your
computer up to a large monitor that is suitable for whole class viewing.
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Divide the class
into groups of three to five. Explain that each group is going to design a garden
and use that design to make Web pages that incorporate text and images. Have
students brainstorm possible real-life locations for their garden. They can
consider designing a garden for a vacant lot in the community or an unused
portion of the school yard. Look at the 4-H
Children's Garden (http://commtechlab.msu.edu/
sites/garden/contents.html)
for more ideas.
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Distribute the
Student Pathway and the Assignment Sheet, both located in Organizers for Students. In
their groups, students must look at online gardens and decide what components
they want to include in their garden. They must research and choose appropriate
plants for the temperature zone they live in, create a design of the garden, and
produce Web pages about their garden. The design should be accompanied by text
that includes a description of each item in the garden, why it was chosen, and
what habitat element requirement it fulfills -- see Creating a
Habitat (http://www.nwf.org/habitats/creating/basics.html). Students can also
visit Garden.com
(http://www2.garden.com/) and use the online template found there for help with
ideas for their garden design.
Homework: Students should begin researching their topic. Books,
CD-ROMs, magazines, encyclopedias, and wNetStation's NATURE Web companion piece
Secret Garden can be accessed and utilized for research.
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Lesson II: Learning
to create a Web page (1-2 class periods). |
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Give your
students a tutorial in the HTML editor or Web page creator you have chosen. If
you are using Claris Home Page, refer to the Claris Home Page Overview, located in Organizers for Students.
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Lesson III: Producing the project
(4 class periods). |
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Hand out the Layout Design Sheet and the Production Checklist, both found in Organizers
for Students. Have students in each group assume the roles of: copy editor, image
editor, artist, researcher, and producer. In smaller groups, students will have
to double up on their roles. Explain the duties of each position to the students.
The copy editor is responsible for gathering text from the group, making sure it
has been word processed and checked for grammar and spelling errors. The image
editor is responsible for making sure all images are digitized, named
appropriately, and saved into a folder called "Images for Home Page." The artist
is responsible for creating the blue print of the garden. All group members are
responsible for gathering research. The producer is responsible for making sure
text, images and art have been completed. The producer is also responsible for
getting approval from the Executive Producer (teacher).
Groups must
complete the Layout Design Sheet and the Production Checklist before beginning to
create their Web page.
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Once you have approved each group's
production checklist, students can start to work on developing their pages. Make
sure that each group understands that it should create links from their initial
page to the various areas of their garden, and that each of these underlying
pages should contain text and images that explain why they chose each element in
the garden.
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When students
have finished making their pages, you can copy them on to a floppy disk and share
them with the rest of the class by hooking one computer up to a large display
monitor. Groups can also print out each page of their project (preferably on a
color printer) and make a "Virtual Garden Booklet." If your school has access to
a server, your students' work could be displayed on the school Web site.
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Submit
a Comment: We invite your comments and suggestions based on how you used the
lesson in your classroom.
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