CyberFair Project ID: 3619

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International Schools CyberFair Project Narrative
Title: Genetically Modified Products
Category: 4. Local Specialties
URL: http://www.omsk.edu.ru/schools/sch075/gmp/index1.htm
Bibliography: http://www.omsk.edu.ru/schools/sch075/gmp/POLEZ1.htm

School: Gymnazium #75.
    Omsk, Omsk region, Russian Federation

3 students, ages 15-17 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on February 28, 2005. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2003-2004, 2004-2005.

Classes and Teachers: Alexander , Ksenya , Alexandra , Svetlana Popova (adult coach), Julia Natskevich (adult coach).

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.omsk.edu.ru/schools/sch075/site

Project Overview

1. Description of Our Team

Our team consists of three students. We joined together to investigate the problem that we really worry about. Once we discssed the newspaper article about GMP in our computer classroom after our lessons. Our Computing teacher (Julia) suggested us to explore this question in the more detailed way. Our English teacher (Svetlana) told us about Doors to Diplomacy competition. And we decided to organize a team. Everyone played its special role. Ksenya was our site designer, Alexander explored different resources to explain us different points of view on GMP and to find some laws and political acts that regulate Genetic Engineering in our region, in Russia, in other countries. Alexandra started our practical investigations and was our leader in this part of our project. Our adult coaches helped us to organize our work as a project. They gave us some ideas how we can organize an impact of the project in our local society.

2. Summary of Our Project

Our Web Project came out of the question “How can we know what we eat?” We think that every person has a right to know whtat the products he eats consist of , in order to keep his own health, in order to have an opportunity to choose the better products. But we understood that there should be some laws and other documents that regulate the spreading of the products which should be marked, there are some official organizations who are responsible for testing the products. We really want all the people to have the opportunities to get the correct information about the things they buy in the shop. So we started with exploring the information about Genetically Modified Products. Than we found laws and other documents of Russian Federation, Omsk region that regulate the sale of GMP, their spreading and testing. Further we visited some stores to find GMP which are marked according the laws. We wrote some articles for our local newspapers in order to give our local society some information on GMP. At last we planned to provide some activities to demonstrate the results of our investigation.

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:1

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dial-up modem

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:4-6

E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):

Our computer and Internet access at school are very limited because our Computer classrooms are very busy all day long. So we had to work there late in the evenings or on Sundays. Most of the work was done at home. We managed to use some programmes while creating our web-site. We used Adobe Photoshop, HTML language, FTP.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

During this project we faced some problems. The most difficult for us was the interpretation of the information we had got. We tried to compose it accordingto its importance for our project. But nevertheless we sometimes drowned in it. Lack of the computer access made the greatest technical obstacles.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

The students of our school now know more about Genetic Engineering, they know that some products may contain genetically modified ingredients. All the people of our local community now understand their rights to choose the food they eat and know about possible results of eating genetically modified products.

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

Our project addressed to the content standards in Science, Economics Studies, Computing, English language Studies. This project completely fits the curriculum. The students achieved the educational aims taking part in the project. The student learned to find information in all possible resources, interpret it, combine it and make some conclusions. They learned to write articles for the newspaper in foreign language. They created web-site all by themselves, located it in Internet. We had different roles during our work, but gathered together to exchange the results and make a conclusion. Our coaches did not tell us what and how we must do, but only helped with an advice or an idea. Now we better understand that everyone has some human rights. And their realization depends only on him. People of all the countries should unite nowadays to protect their human rights. This point is very interesting for the students of our school because young people take more care about both their health and their rights. We discovered that our educational system is flexible enough to allow students take part in such projects. Our school community feels the importance of such projects and listens to the opinions of its members. Using the Internet for teaching and learning is rather more effective than traditional methods because it dives the real opportunity for students to communicate, to be in the center of the learning process, to make their real input to the work of the class or group.

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Project Elements

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

One computer Pentium IV computer software Adobe Photoshop, HTML language, FTP. books, newspapers oral interviews with students, members of our local community, clerks of governmental offices. These tools helped us to present the results of our work better. Each tool we located in our resource pack. No tools donated were by businesses or schools The most valuable tool was computer The most helpful technology was HTML. It helped us to create our site.

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.

We really want all the people to have the opportunities to get the correct information about the things they buy in the shop. So we started with exploring the information about Genetically Modified Products. Than we found laws and other documents of Russian Federation, Omsk region that regulate the sale of GMP, their spreading and testing. Further we visited some stores to find GMP which are marked according the laws. We wrote some articles for our local newspapers in order to give our local society some information on GMP. At last we planned to provide some activities to demonstrate the results of our investigation.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

The students of our school and the members of our local community now know more about Genetic Engineering, they know that some products may contain genetically modified ingredients. All the people of our local community now understand their rights to choose the food they eat and know about possible results of eating genetically modified products.

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

We asked our local authorities to help us. They told us what they think about the problem and gave some advice. We interviewed the clerks of some local authority offices and they gave us a lot of information.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

We discovered that many people do not know their human rights. They need someone to lead them to full understanding of some vital problems.

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View our CyberFair Project (Project ID: 3619)

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