1. Description of Our Community
Our Community is our classroom, our school, our neighborhood, and local businesses. The students in our class come from across Albuquerque. Important parts of our community are the mountains, rivers and facts and history that existed before the school existed. These things helped to build the area, and in the 1930's to build our school. Local businesses sprang up around our school because Historic Route 66 is only a few blocks away. Nob Hill is a local area where there are a lot of fun shops and different restaurants. Our class loves Nob Hill. The University of New Mexico is just two blocks away and provides us a place to explore. There are museums, a discarded pile of cool rocks and other minerals for us to collect, a duck pond to inspect algae and animals, statues and art work galore, and free food and concerts when we're lucky. We love to go on walking field trips to UNM! Our school was built in the 1930's and has a lot of history. There are myths carried down from generation to generation... the haunted bell tower, the missile in the basement, etc, but there is no answer as to why our school mascot is a penguin. We plan on creating our own legend to share with our school! Albuquerque is our town. From the mountains to the valley, it provides us with everything we need.
2. Summary of Our Project
How is our community different for each of us? Are there things that stand out to some of us? All of us? We're gong to explore our community through our eyes, each and every one. Through photography, poetry and short stories, art and research, we'll discover a community "Through Our Eyes."
3. Our Computer and Internet Access
A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%
B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:4-6
C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection
D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:2-3
E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):
Our school recently recieved a grant for technology. We are very lucky to have at least three computers in every classroom, as well as a great computer lab. We also have access to digital cameras and scanners (one for every two classrooms to share.) We are very appreciative of the Technology advantage given to our school and wanted to give something back to the community through technology.
4. Problems We Had To Overcome
Time! We learned about this project only a month before the due date. We have been focusing on community as a part of our curriculum from the first week of school and this was something that sounded right up our alley! We worked very hard taking pictures, writing stories and poetry, doing research, and creating our web site! Another problem that didn't occur until the very last day, at the last second, was that our school network failed. There was no way for us to upload the re-done pages of our web site. We were frantic! A month of work... what could we do? Thankfully, one of the employees from Don Mickey Designs came by to help us out. He was able to provide us with space on his server to host our site. We are so thankful. Thank you Fermin!
5. Our Project Sound Bite
This project has allowed us to see that everyone sees things differently. It has helped us to appreciate everyone in our class and our school, as well as the different things and people that surround us everyday.
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
In the third grade, our social studies IS community. We have been exploring the meaning of community (both in our classroom and in context of the city) from the beginning of the year. For us, this was just an extension to a year-long study of community. It fit right into state curriculum guidelines, allowing us a more creative and expressive outlet to guide us. During our time spent on this project we learned that it encompassed a lot more than just social studies. The kids were reading and researching material all the time. They read and wrote daily on the subject. We learned all about photography and how to use a camera. We incorporated art as well. We had a great time exploring our community!
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