Phase I For the Phase I portion of the program, several students took notes about the habitat and any plants and/or animals they found, while a few other students began videotaping the exercise. They interviewed their classmates about what they had found (oyster shells, for example) and asked questions to help form hypotheses for their research. As this continued on, other students moved to a dock and took turns using a small plankton net to collect organisms found in the water. Water samples were then viewed under Digital Blue microscopes. They took notes on what they saw and snapped digital still-shots from the microscope. Each student was given the opportunity to use all of the technology available during the day’s activities, from a video camera to a lap top computer to a digital microscope. These second-graders were completely at ease with all of this equipment, with none of them being intimidated.

Phase II Upon their return to school, the students took their samples to the school’s science laboratory to view them again under microscopes. This useful exercise showed the children how changes had taken place over the course of the day. Again, still-shots were taken with the digital microscopes. The students were then challenged to answer why these changes might have occurred, such as why some organisms may have shrunk in size. These discussions were faciltated by use of SmartBoards where findings could be displayed in a large format for class participation.

Phase III The next phase of this exploration was for the students to go into the computer lab to take the video footage they had shot, as well as the still-shots of the microscopic views, and incorporate them into iMovies. The children developed these short movies based on what they had learned from their hands-on activities. They edited their work, burned the final product to a DVD, and even created the labels! Instead of taking home a piece of paper with a few checkmarks, they were able to take home a DVD with a movie they had created from research they had conducted themselves.

Phase IV Mrs. Barbour's students collected samples from the Lafayette River, but she also took them to the Lake Whitehurst reservoir, adjacent to the Norfolk Botanical Garden, to repeat the exercise. This allowed the students to make comparisons, just like real scientists must do. With the data they collected at both bodies of water, they were able to assess the environmental quality. This taught the students why it is important to care about the condition of our local waters. As for teamwork, the students had to rely on each other to collect the critical data, to ask the right questions, to get the best footage, and to help each other when they put all the pieces together at the end.

Phase V While science, math, writing, and computer literacy were all incorporated into this project, Mrs. Barbour took it a step further to include public speaking and broadcasting. The students created a mock news interview, “CTK Science Live”, to further illustrate what they had learned. In a real broadcast studio, they recited dialogue from scripts they had written. Video footage of their research was playing in the background, as students took turns being “interviewed” about their discoveries. This short video was posted on the school’s web page to add another layer of multimedia technology.

Summary Mrs. Barbour believes in her students and does not set limits on them because of their age. She recognizes the benefits of technology and uses it as a tool to engage her students in hands-on learning. Students are not intimidated by learning through technology because it is fun for them. This gives them confidence to not give up because something is “too hard” or just unfamiliar.