Community Gardens
	SNAPSHOT It's Saturday morning, April 7th, and the parents, students and teachers of Andover School have gathered at the vacant lot on the corner of Hemlock Street. Brenda, from the Villager News, is even here. "Here he comes!" shouts Tommy. Sure enough, down the street the children see Mr. Misener, driving his farm tractor. The big day has arrived for the children to begin the garden they've been planning for the last six months. It's Community Gardens Day in Fairfield and, across the town, the scene is repeated as every school gets ready to plant. UNIT OF PRACTICE Invitation How can we help students understand their role in solving a community problem? How can they harness the power of the Internet to foster communication and raise awareness of a social, economic, or political issue in their community, state, country, or even the world? How can we foster authentic learning? Community Gardens leverages learning about plants in science, the history of community gardens in social studies, and the power of the Internet to involve students in a social problem in their own community. Situation Fairfield is a mid-sized town that includes four neighborhood elementary schools, located several miles apart but connected by a wide area computer network. The town has a Community Garden which is planted in the spring by adult volunteers. The Community Gardens project involves elementary grade students from all four schools. Planning a unit about Plants, Food, and Gardens begins in the winter among science teachers. The unit is started with students in early spring when the garden is planted, and concludes in the fall, when the garden is harvested. The project may take place in a science unit, or may be interdisciplinary: social studies teachers may wish to have students learn about the history of community gardens by researching Victory Gardens during World War II; language arts teachers may wish to develop a reading or literature unit around this theme as well. Tasks Students use the Internet and other sources (ie, local gardening experts) to find out what grows well in their area. They explore the KinderGarden site at the University of Texas A&M where they find out about gardening and can follow links to Urban Horticulture, Community Gardens, 4-H, and Seeds of Garden Change. They also explore sites and talk to experts on the nutritional value of the plants they wish to grow (such as the National Gardening Association site which focuses on the nutritional value of having your own school snack garden). Guest speakers from the Fairfield elderly housing complex and online mentors from the SeniorNet are invited to share their memories of Victory Gardens. Students may have keypals from the other schools with whom they share information through their HotLine server or e-mail. Students publish a report and planting plan for their garden plot converting it to HTML using Myrmidon to post to their community Web site, or a brochure "advertising" their garden's produce which is distributed to the community through local supermarkets, community centers or even through the community newspaper. They can use ClickBook to print their report and their advertising brochure in the format of their choice. Students and parents join the community when the garden is planted. In the fall, the food is distributed to local food pantries and the senior Centers. Interactions Students in each class work in cooperative groups to conduct their researchÑstudent tasks in the group can be assigned around research questions, like "What will grow best in this area?" "What are the nutritional value of our crops?" "What is the history of community gardening?" The classes in each school exchange their findings and planting plans through their HotLine server, or through NetCard. Each group publishes a plan of their garden plot, a report on the kinds of food they will harvest, and its nutritional value. These reports may be posted to a community Web site using Myrmidon to convert them to HTML, or the groups can create an advertising brochure for their part of the garden. Standards In Fairfield, as in many towns, students are expected to engage in some form of community service each year. This unit fulfills this requirement. In addition, teachers in Fairfield incorporated national curriculum standards as they planned this unit. Social studies standards call for students to learn about people, places, and environments; global connections and interdependence; and relationships among science, technology, and society. English standards call for students to use a variety of technical resources to create and communicate knowledge; to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences, and to use spoken, written and visual language to accomplish their own purposes. Science standards call for students to experience the richness and excitement of knowing about and understanding the natural world, and have many and varied opportunities to explore nature in ways that resemble how scientists themselves go about their work. Assessment Students are assessed at many checkpoints during this unit. Research skills, writing skills, communication skills, and full participation in all phases of the project form the basis for teachers' assessment. Tools ¥ Computers, printers, modems, Internet connection, wide area network ¥ Encarta Deluxe; Scholastic Network; HotLine; and ClickBook ¥ Seeds, seedlings, gardening tools Getting Started: The teachers began this unit with a desire to involve their students in a social action project, using the Internet to foster and build community between the participants. To develop a social action unit, you need to do the following: ¥ Decide what the project will be. It's important to the authenticity of the unit that it responds to a real need that your students can understand. You can determine the appropriate focus by engaging your students in a brainstorming session to get their ideas, and calling your local community action agencies or social service agencies to offer your help. Projects can focus on community issues, state or national issues, or issues of international concern. ¥ Finding a Partner Class: Collaboration with other classrooms gives students a greater sense of empowerment to affect the problem. The other classrooms may be as close as down the hall or may be other schools in your area. More remote partners may be found using Scholastic Network. Refer to the "How To..." section of this guide which gives you pointers on how to find another classroom for a collaborative project, and how to use the several software titles in this kit to facilitate a collaborative project. ¥ Introducing the Internet: The Internet enhances this unit by allowing for email connections, providing resources for research and online experts. Make Internet, the CityÑsections on the World Wide Web and e-mailÑavailable to your students to introduce these areas of the Internet. ¥ Assign students to collaborative groups for conducting the research and planning their garden plots. Individual tasks may be organized around different research questions, like "What will grow best in this area?" "What are the nutritional value of our crops?" "What is the history of community gardening?" and so on. Assign each group in your class a partner group in the partner class, for purpose of information exchanges. ¥ Collaboration Strategies: You can use NetCard to send pictures and plans to partners via e-mail. If you do not have the facility to have students send e-mail messages, set up a HotLine server for exchanging student files between participating classes. The "How To..." section of this guide provides ideas for collaboration strategies in your classroom. ¥ Student Research: Students can use Encarta Deluxe, Electric Library and Scholastic Network as places to start their research. Use DragNet to make URL folders to collect, archive, and distribute good Internet sites for students to use. Share these lists with the other classrooms in the project. If your partner class does not have DragNet, create a text document with them in it and convert it to HTML using Myrmidon. Other sources, such as experts from the community, can be contacted and interviewed. Invite community guest speakers to address the class. Use ClearPhone to set up a videoconference between the participating classes so they can hear your guest speaker. Experts from a distance might "visit" the classes using ClearPhone, too. (See the "How To..." section of this guide for how to set up your computer for a videoconference) ¥ Publish: Use ClickBook to publish students' advertising brochures. Experiment with different formats, then offer students choices as they publish their work. Use Myrmidon to convert students' planting plans and reports to HTML so they can be posted to a school or community Web site. Extensions and Adaptations Using the Internet to foster social action amongst students can be adapted for student participation in other kinds of community service projects (community health services for seniors, families or kids; fund-raising for local charities) or broader social action projects involving current national (environmental, political, or educational) or issues of international concern (global environmental concerns, political advocacy).