Gardening--PBL ePals

Gardening

ePals: Project-Based Learning 

 

 

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

A second grade class in Phoenix, Arizona

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

Our students will contact the other students in Phoenix at the beginning of the project so they can compare and contrast their entire gardening planning, process, and results.

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

Our students will ask questions about temperature, climate, rainfall, and soil type. They will find out when the growing season is in Phoenix as well as special requirements that their gardens need, such as fertilizer or watering (irrigation) and how much and how often. Our students will share the same information as the questions they will ask.

 

Furthermore, both classes will collaborate once a week about the planning of the garden, the tools needed, what vegetation they're growing (maybe even try the same crops to see which grows better where!), and weekly updates--including pictures--on how the garden is doing along with the weather and if they've had to water or give any other special care to the garden. The students in each class can create a weekly log of temperature, weather, and plant growth and send them to each other at the end of the day on Friday or beginning of Monday.

 

The students will write a weekly reflection in their gardening journal about their gardening experience for that week. The students will then collaborate to create a single reflection to send to the other class with the weekly logs.

What will they do with the information they get from the other students?

Our students will keep a running comparison chart of the two gardens--pictures included. A Venn diagram can be used to compare the land in both cities. One can also be used to compare vegetation in the two gardens: do certain plants grow better in one city than the other? At the end of the project, the students both classrooms will write an individual summary about their gardening experiences. They will compare the outcomes of the two gardens--what was similar and what was different. They will use the pictures taken and their weekly data logs to support their responses.