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The science room has several ethernet ports, which simply means the computer system is flexible. This system
allows the teachers to move computers around on the same network. In addition, the network is connected to a
router and an ISDN phone line. That means it is connected to the Internet at relatively high speeds, allowing up
to 40 students to access the Internet at the same time. Students check out notebook computers on a daily basis
and then simply plug them into the network to retrieve their files stored on the server. They have the computers
on their desks every day and they use them to take notes, develop spreadsheets, and create graphical
representations of data. Students are also allowed to take the laptops home, where they can access their files on
the school’s server.
The teams have a number of tools at their disposal. Cathy’s group has located some topographical maps from
City Hall and is examining them for round lakes that have the regular concentric lines typical of kettle lakes.
Randy and his team are using Netscape to search for information about glaciation on the World Wide Web using the
Web Crawler search engine. They found extensive resources and are in the process of winnowing them to those that
apply to Michigan. Another group of students is using a variety of CD-ROMs that contain images and information.
In one corner of the room a group is using Vista Pro. This 3-D rendering program allows the students to
create computer-generated movies of the area they are studying. With the aid of a “wizard,” students
are able to create models independently with little additional guidance from the teachers. By scanning in a
topographical map of the area—for instance the Huron River—and feeding in information about such
things as water sources and where the river and the moraines are, the students are able to “fly”
around the landscape and become familiar with the geography from a bird’s eye view—to see it from all
angles. As John points out to an observer, “I don’t get to go to the Huron River very often, so it is
nice to be able to see the features before we go there so that I’ll be familiar with the area.” Sue
adds, “The view we see from the air is really different from what you see when you’re on the ground.
There are some things I’d never recognize if I was just walking around there.” While the end result
is impressive, the students come away from this experience with much more than a glitzy presentation. The program
helps to highlight the different relationships among land features and how one thing could have caused another.
Students are better able to see the importance of separate factors and variables and to see how they affected
their environment today.
Joshua is comparing soil and rock samples his group gathered to the collection in the lab, noting in his
electronic journal where the samples were taken. He will later transfer this information to the geological map
his group is creating. Edwin is sitting at the computer trying to connect with a professor of geology at the
University of Montana. He wants to know if the professor can explain the evolution and shape of eskers. If he
strikes out at the
©1997-99 North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
1-800-356-2735 NCRTEC
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