Nature Walk Project

This project will be completed in a group of two. If and only if there is an odd number of students in the class, one group may contain three people.

During class, we are going to take a guided nature walk. We will bring a digital camera (sorry, we only have one for the entire class). Each group will have its own disk to use with the digital camera. You will also need paper and something with which to write. As we walk, you will complete the nature walk form and take notes and pictures as directed on the form. When you return to class, your group will create a nature walk booklet, using all the information you collected on the form. You will use Word or AppleWorks/ClarisWorks to create maps, Venn diagrams, and tables as directed in the nature walk form. You will then use AppleWorks to create a booklet (with at least four pages folded in half and stapled together) that includes all the information you collected on your walk as well as the information you gathered from your Internet research.

This project is an example of the kinds of data collection, synthesis, and presentation that elementary students do. Note that the focus is on a variety of content, and the technology is merely used to support that. In your future classroom, you are likely to have specific goals for nature, mapping, graphing, etc., and you can modify this to meet your specific goals when you do it with your students.

Your booklet will be created in AppleWorks or Word and include at a minimum:

• at least four pages folded in half and stapled together (making a booklet with 8 half-size pages)
• a map of the route of the nature walk, with locations of items you photographed and other locations of interest
• descriptions of the trees you saw, including pictures of the two trees you photographed
• a table of the critters you found that includes the information listed on the nature walk form
• a short creative story (one to two paragraphs) about the most interesting critter you saw
• a Venn diagram of the leaves you found as describe in the nature walk form accompanied by the pictures of the leaves
• a professional presentation that you would be proud to use as an example for your students who might complete a similar project

Meeting these criteria in a minimal way will earn the grade of C. Grades of A and B are reserved for excellent and very good work.

You should hand in a large envelope containing the following:

• two printed copies of the booklet (one for the instructor to keep)
• an electronic copy (either sent via email or turned in on a Zip disk or CD) of the booklet on disk (be sure that each group member retains an electronic copy)
• for each group member, a copy of the "Group Self-Evaluation" form enclosed in a sealed envelope (not to be shared with your other group members)

This page was prepared by Dr. David M. Marcovitz.

Last Updated: August 29, 2003