Going Green from KLA: February 2010

E-Pals Assignment

Color Code:
Angela
Liz
Kari

Who are the students your students will communicate with (specific location, grade level)?'

5th grade students in Kalamazoo Michigan will communicate with 5th grade students in Phoenix Arizona. Both classes will be learning about landfills and how it effects the environment. Students in Kalamazoo will be studying landfills ~~and looking at and studying about a landfill located in West Michiga~~n s~~pecifically we could focus on the~~ such as,"Allied Waste-Republic Services", which is a sanitary landfill, right here in Kalamazoo. Students in Phoenix will be doing the same thing but with a landfill located near them.

When would your students contact these other students (at what point in their project work)?

Possibly one week into our project. The initial contact with the school in Phoenix would be to introduce the classes to each other and give an explanation about the project and what each class would be doing. We could have "focus questions" that both students in Kalamazoo and in Phoenix pay attention to when we are conducting our research in sanitary landfills. We can see how landfills effect surrounding land, water, schools etc. We can also see if temperature or location differences make landfill effects more intense? ~~Following an introduction, each class will be given a period of time to research and find interesting facts about landfills and the landfill close to their school.~~ (my idea to cross out, just an option, i just thought it sounded a little repetitive) When the classes have compiled their information, then both classes in Kalamazoo and Phoenix will be able to share what they have found. They can use email or have a comparison table in google docs to help track their information together.

What kinds of questions would they ask each other and what kinds of information would they share?

Do the landfills in Arizona affect the water, vice versa to landfills in Michigan affecting their water? with this question they can share info on past effects landfills have had. How many landfills do you have in the state of Arizona and compare to how many there are in Michigan? Does all waste go into the landfill(s)? Are landfills all trash? How do landfills affect animals, people, the enviornment, pollution, water, schools, etc? What are the benefits of landfills? Can you recognize landfills from the road when driving, is it noticable? Can you smell the landfills? Why do you think there are landfills? Each class would have these questions and they could share their answers with each other.

Students from both locations will be able to compare data and the research that they found to see how the landfills differ in Michigan and Arizona. They will also be able to share how the landfills are similar in the different states. Students will be able to see that landfills are everywhere. With the information collected, each class will be able to use the information shared with them to put it into the lesson and be able to recognize more about landfills. Students at both schools can put together presentations on all the information and how each landfill compares to the other one.

Completed E-Pals Assignment

Who are the students your students will communicate with (specific location, grade level)?'

5th grade students in Kalamazoo Michigan will communicate with 5th grade students in Phoenix Arizona. Both classes will be learning about landfills and how it effects the environment. Students in Kalamazoo will be studying landfills such as,"Allied Waste-Republic Services", which is a sanitary landfill, right here in Kalamazoo. Students in Phoenix will be doing the same thing but with a landfill located near them.

When would your students contact these other students (at what point in their project work)?

Possibly one week into our project. The initial contact with the school in Phoenix would be to introduce the classes to each other and give an explanation about the project and what each class would be doing. We could have "focus questions" that both students in Kalamazoo and in Phoenix pay attention to when we are conducting our research in sanitary landfills. We can see how landfills effect surrounding land, water, schools etc. We can also see if temperature or location differences make landfill effects more intense? When the classes have compiled their information, then both classes in Kalamazoo and Phoenix will be able to share what they have found. They can use email or have a comparison table in google docs to help track their information together.

What kinds of questions would they ask each other and what kinds of information would they share?

Do the landfills in Arizona affect the water, vice versa to landfills in Michigan affecting their water? with this question they can share info on past effects landfills have had. How many landfills do you have in the state of Arizona and compare to how many there are in Michigan? Does all waste go into the landfill(s)? Are landfills all trash? How do landfills affect animals, people, the enviornment, pollution, water, schools, etc? What are the benefits of landfills? Can you recognize landfills from the road when driving, is it noticable? Can you smell the landfills? Why do you think there are landfills? (Each class would have these questions and they could share their answers with each other. )

Students from both locations will be able to compare data and the research that they found to see how the landfills differ in Michigan and Arizona. They will also be able to share how the landfills are similar in the different states. Students will be able to see that landfills are everywhere. With the information collected, each class will be able to use the information shared with them to put it into the lesson and be able to recognize more about landfills. Students at both schools can put together presentations on all the information and how each landfill compares to the other one.

Going Green from KLA