Major Learning Activities

As of September 30, 2005, the North Central Regional Technology in Education Consortium is no longer in operation.

Activity One: Research
This activity requires three class periods (55 minutes each).

Materials:

Computers with Internet connectivity
Criteria handout (see #3)
Pencils
Resources (see Bibliography)
Transparencies
The Amazing Picture Machine (http://www.ncrtec.org/picture.htm)
Other Web sites that may be helpful*
http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/weeddocuments/index.htm
http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/nera/projects/ne-092.htm
http://iisd1.iisd.ca/ic/info/ss9507.htm
http://www.inform.umd.edu/PBIO/Medicinals/harmful.html
http://piked2.agn.uiuc.edu/wssa/
http://www.gov.sk.ca/agfood/weeds/
*Please not that URLs do change; these were all checked as valid at the time this project was completed.
Suggested print materials:
(materials should be requested prior to the activity though an interlibrary loan; ask your media specialist/librarian)
Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research. (1971). Interaction of Herbicides and Soil Microorganisms. Washington: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Poincelot, R. P. (1985). Toward a More Sustainable Agriculture. Westport, CT: Avi.
Anything by Rodale Press using organic farming as the subject; Agriculture Yearbooks published by USDA; and magazine articles, if needed.

Day 1

Divide students into five groups, depending on class size. (See "Management" for suggestions on how groupings might be done.).
Pre-assign three weeds to each group. (You may tailor this number to suit your purposes.) Have students in each group choose which section(s) of the handout they will be responsible for completing. (For example, three students could do all but control methods and the rest could collaborate on control methods.)
Give each student the Criteria handout.
Using The Amazing Picture Machine, and the key word "weeds," have students find and print out pictures of their weeds.
Group Assignments: Three students from each group will be responsible for identifying the names of the weeds assigned to that group, other names for the weeds, and their origin, and for writing the descriptions of each weed. One student will research herbicide controls of all three weeds. The fifth student will write an oral report based on an interview with a person who has been farming since before World War II or research on organic farming methods.
Teacher give handout to each student based on the Rubric Skills (to be found under "Assessment").

Days 2 and 3

Divide groups by the number of computers available. Remember, some students can use print sources while others are on the computers.
Each group will assign a member(s) to draw a picture of each weed using one sheet of paper for all three weeds. Have the students make copies of the pictures for each student in the class. (Each student will end up with five sheets of paper with 15 pictures of weeds and room to write a caption for each weed.) One student in each group will make a transparency of the three weeds for his/her group to use with oral reports.
The teacher will act as a "floater" between groups, making sure each is on task.
Research, research, research.

Activity Two: Oral Reports
This activity requires two class periods (55 minutes each).

Materials:

Days 4 and 5

Ask members of the first group to distribute their weed drawing to their classmates and then give their oral presentation.
Using the transparency and overhead projector, ask members of the first group to take turns reporting their findings to the class. All students should take notes on the weed picture handout.
Allow enough time for discussion during and/or after reports
Repeat for each group.
As the teacher, it is important to encourage interaction between the groups. For example, students need to see that one weed may be common to all grain crops but the means of eradication may differ depending on the type of crop.