Learning: Tips for the Wired Classroom
Environmentally Friendly and Educationally Sound

Vermont students learn all about their environment, especially how the state's watershed is affected by humans and industrial development.

Research on Water
The EPA Web site Surf Your Watershed (www.epa.gov/surf2) focuses on environmental studies. Students in my class are required to conduct different types of research on watershed issues.

Using this site, they located the watershed in which we live and found out the conditions and potential stresses to it. Then they were given a second watershed in our state to research. Finally, they wrote a research report that compared the two watersheds in terms of conditions, stresses, land uses, and identified Superfund sites.

In addition, they printed out graphs of the conditions and vulnerabilities of each watershed and, using topographical maps, outlined and highlighted the different land uses and ecosystems contained within the watersheds they researched.

Students will use this as background information when studying our Batten Kill River, to help them determine the monitoring that needs to be done on a regular basis due to potential stresses to the river.

Laurie Lawrence
Burr and Burton Academy
Manchester, Vermont

By the Buttes
I recently created a "virtual field trip" (at cbutte.freeyellow.com) to help students learn about the interesting geology of Crown Butte, a plutonic formation located in central Montana.

Crown Butte has many interesting features, including columnar jointing, layers of igneous rock, crystals, and an association with an ancient volcano.

The field trip experience provides a real-world context that will make concepts more interesting to students as they learn about volcanic activity. Montana students who are familiar with the many flat-topped buttes scattered throughout the central part of our state may find it especially interesting.

The "virtual field trip" Web site includes a student worksheet that can be used either as an assignment or as extra credit.

The activity worked so well that I hope to develop more "trips" to use with my ninth grade earth science students in the future.

Rod Benson
Helena High School
Helena, Montana

Everything for the Arts
I use ideas from www.janbrett.com quite often. Jan Brett is an illustrator-artist from Massachusetts. Each year, she visits schools in different parts of the country.

The Web site has everything from literature links to project ideas, plus a range of Jan's artwork to print out and use in the classroom (including alphabet sets, number sets, and masks).

It's a wonderful springboard for so many projects in the primary classroom.

Jan also has a wonderful teacher pack that she'll send to teachers and librarians. Jan E-mails site updates and improvements all the time. She also replies very quickly to E-mail letters from teachers and students.

A wonderful site. Check it out!

Vickie Luchuck
Lumberport Elementary
Lumberport, West Virginia

TALK TO US

Have a nifty classroom tip or lesson plan that uses technology? E-mail a description (under 200 words, please!) to wiredclassroom@list.nea.org.

Is there a Web site, CD-ROM, or piece of software you can't live without? E-mail your favorites--and why you love them--to myfavoritetech@list.nea.org.

Or send your responses by regular mail to NEA Today, or by Fax to 202/822-7206, or through the Web at www.nea.org/cet.

Those published here will receive a sparkling NEA Today mug!

Bytes for Beginners

There's got to be an easier way to narrow down the Web search results. How can I improve my searching?

By definition, a search engine is a software program that searches the Net (Web and other Internet-based protocols such as mailing lists). Search engines use software programs called "spiders" or "crawlers" that continuously roam the Net, capture content addresses, and return that data to very large databases. Google is an example of this type of search engine and, therefore, is a good choice if you prefer to cast the widest search for content across the Net. Lycos also employs crawler software to collect links from the Net.

Do you prefer to start your search from an interface that offers you "categories" from which to begin your search? If so, you might want to try Yahoo. At Yahoo, you begin your search from a list of categories and subjects--it's more of a "directory."

The key to getting back the most relevant hits (list of URLs) is to understand how to enter search terms. Most engines accept commands that modify searches. Commands use the + (plus) and - (minus) signs to modify search terms to focus results.

The plus sign tells a search engine to find pages with all the words you enter, not just some of them (for example, if you want to find pages with references to both CATS and DOGS on the same page, you type: +CATS +DOGS).

The minus sign tells a search engine to find pages that have one word on them but not another word (for example, if you want information about CATS but not pages relating to DOGS, you type: CATS - DOGS).

Combining both symbols: PETS + CATS - DOGS tells the search engine to return pages relating to PETS that mention CATS but not DOGS.

My favorite Web site

My favorite site is the one my students and I have made for our school's nature trail--http://mvsd.neiu.k12.pa.us/trail.htm. Other schools can use the site as a guide for their own curriculums. With my students always updating the site, it's very much a work in progress.

Rosann Moskel
Throop, Pennsylvania