School: Sandy Creek High School
    Tyrone, GA, USA

4 students, ages 18,17,16,16 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 23, 2009. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2009

Classes and Teachers: Students: Dustin, Zach, Kyle and Chris; Teacher: Alexandra Vlachakis

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.sandycreekhighschool.com/

1. Description of Our Team

Everyone one us has a special talent in web design and we have been in Mrs. Vlachakis' class for two years so it really was a natural process to choose each of our tasks. Dustin helped give each of our team members their specific tasks: Dustin H., 17, project manager, researcher and writer. Kyle E., 16, researcher, voices of characters, and writer. Zach B., 18, Animator & Coder. Chris M., 16, Animator & Coder.

2. Summary of Our Project

The team was created because we care about the environment and we were affected by the drought in Georgia last year. We wanted to help students all over Georgia and the world learn about water conservation. We also wanted to make sure we did not forget how hard it was to go through a drought and not have a readily available water supply. Georgia still has not recovered completely from its drought and it is vital for Georgians and others to realize that water is a limited precious resource and that people take it for granted. When we experienced a major drought in the state of Georgia we realized that we needed to make a site that would help everyone learn from our lack of preparedness for our drought.

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:more than 6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

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

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

Probably the hardest part about this project was that we had to stay on a deadline and on task. We had to keep up with the webpage and all our other class work. It has helped that we have Mrs. Vlachakis to motivate us to finish and keep us on schedule. The next obstacle was to learn all the extra coding and tools to create our animations. Mrs. Vlachakis was there to facilitate us but we did a lot of research and learning on our own. We especially worked hard at making our characters move, talk and in researching our information.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

This site was created by the students of Mrs. Vlachakis' Sandy Creek High School Web Design class. Our mission is to spread the word to the future and present kids of Georgia, no the world about the consequences of a drought and how we can help conserve water.

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

The following are the Georgia Standards covered in our site and the technology standards listed are the standards covered while we created our site for Web Design. The standards included are listed for high school students but the content does cover standards in the lower grades. We have included a teacher resource section where our standards are listed and the standards it might match up to if a teacher were to decide to use the site in their classroom as a resource. SEV4 Grade: 9,10,11,12, Description: SEV4 Students will understand and describe availability, allocation and conservation of energy and other resources. Elements: Describe the need for informed decision making of resource utilization. (i.e. energy and water usage allocation, conservation, food and land, and long-term depletion) BCS-AWD-5 Grade: 9,10,11,12, Description: BCS-AWD-5 Students will examine and apply website testing, publishing, and maintenance concepts. Elements: a. Develop and apply a testing plan. b. Identify the steps and tools for publishing a web site. c. Discuss key issues in maintenance. BCS-AWD-9, Grade: 9,10,11,12,Description: BCS-AWD-9 Students will demonstrate advanced website development with HTML editors and scalable vector graphics programs. Elements: a. Identify and compare and contrast site development software. b. Use advanced features of site development software. c. Create animation using Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) programs. MKT-EM-7,Grade: 9,10,11,12, Description: MKT-EM-7 Students will plan an ad campaign for a website launch. Elements: a. Define the purpose of the website. b. Recognize the value of branding. c. Decide the best use of media for promoting a new website launch (TV/radio/print/direct). . Define and evaluate sticky content and dynamic content and the value these provide to e-marketers. . Discuss the use of online contests to promote a website. . Evaluate the use of banner ads. StandardMKT-EM-9, Grade: 9,10,11,12, Description: MKT-EM-9 Students will explore professional design and website development from a marketing perspective. Elements: a. Understand the importance of planning and designing prior to building a website (ease of use/navigation).b. Define ASCII and WYSIWYG. c. Choose appealing images for the website based on the target market. d. Distinguish between image/graphic files (i.e. jpg, tiff).

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

We used: 4 computers, headsets with a microphone, Windows Sound Recorder, Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Scanner, Digital Movie Camera, Internet Connection - for research and to learn how to animate our characters. We also purchased captainwater.com from webhero.com and used an FTP program to upload our files.

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

Our group has been using social media to advertise our site and we have also taken our site to a 4th grade class at R.J. Burch Elementary School. We reviewed the site with them and asked them to give us input. We also asked them to help us fill out some Water Saver charts and hope to give them some Water Saver Badges from Captain Water when we revisit them in a couple of weeks. We also hope that this will generate some traffic to the site and help spread the word amongst other kids at R.J. Burch Elementary School. It would be wonderful to have the opportunity to be able to take the site to other schools and more classrooms. We are in the process of raising funds to help take this web page to other schools.

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

Upon completion of our site we took the site to an elementary school. On Monday, March 23rd, 2009 we shared the site for the first time with a 4th grade classroom and we will be taking the site to a 1st grade classroom on March 27, 2009. We hope the kids will fill out some water charts and hope to give them some Water Saver Badges from Captain Water once they have completed their charts. It was really great to see the young students' excitement as they watched our characters read the information to them. The teacher we were working with also commented that having the characters read the information was wonderful and that she wished other sites did the same thing. She will be sharing it with other classes and we are excited to see how all our hard work is paying off. It is a nice feeling to think we are making a small impact in student’s usage of water and hope that they learn from their exposure to the site and change some of their water usage ways. We are looking into the opportunity to go to other classrooms or schools but for this we need funding. We are exploring the possibility of fundraising to see if we can pay for our transportation to other elementary schools but in the meantime we are happy we are taking this to Burch Elementary and hope to continue to spread the word on the internet. This contest will hopefully also generate awareness and help spread the word. Plus the Georgia Department of Education has offered to send the link to other schools in the state to help us spread the word.

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

We contacted the Georgia Drought Response Unified Command Joint Information Center to let them know we completed this site. We would like for them to include us on their website and hope that in the future they do. We also contacted Mr. Barry E. Gillis. He gave us permission to use his wonderful pictures of the Georgia drought. The Georgia Department of Education has offered to send the link to other schools in the state to help us spread the word. We have also shared the site with ABC Science Networks in Australia http://www.abc.net.au/science/. Victoria in Australia is in the grip of a 10 year drought and Melbourne's water storage's went below the 30% mark the other day which is of great concern. We hope that the project will help inform the communities in Australia and all over the world on how to save water. We will continue to share our site and find other contacts to help us share Captain Water's important message.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

Teamwork was essential in completing this project. The deadlines helped us to stay focused but the time limitation was a barrier. We had to be sure we could complete the project within the required allotted time in class. Our biggest discovery was learning how to make animations. We realized how much work this was, and it helped us to improve our skills. Our other biggest discovery was how much water we waste on a daily basis. We each completed a Water Saver chart to see how much we actually consume. It is an eye opening experience and we hope that others who visit the site will take the time to do the same. We have geared our site towards children because we know that their generation will have the biggest challenges with water in the future. We hope that filling out the Water Saver charts will have an impact in their young lives. We also hope that the children will remember the activity so that they can protect their precious water resource. We also hope that the site can help all age groups learn about water conservation and that we receive some Water Saver charts sent to Captain Water in the future.