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June 2000: Putting School to Work It's summer—time for many students to get out of the classroom, into the community, and enter the world of work! Check out these interdisciplinary teaching ideas, TV programs, and online resources. Return in July for ideas connected to the theme of Families!
Community Gardens
Don’t miss the final episode of JOURNEY TO PLANET EARTH, "Land of Plenty, Land of Want" on PBS stations in June. This program examines the dilemma of feeding a growing population without exhausting the land itself and exploring new farming techniques being developed to preserve the earth, while yielding higher crop outputs.
Test soil samples in your area using relatively inexpensive materials. Seek assistance from your local Soil Conservation District or your regional Environmental Protection Agency to conduct field testing and to analyze results. Find soil-related lesson plans on the Scientific American Frontiers, Journey to Planet Earth, and Journey to Amazonia Web sites.
Encourage today's students to become plant scientists and horticulturists of the future by planting a community garden. Hands-on gardening experiences may lead students to pursue careers in agriculture. Arrange for classroom visits by guest speakers from a local nursery, landscaping business or a farmer.
Begin the community garden by organizing a group of students and community volunteers. Locate a site (vacant lot or rooftop) and enlist the help of a local farmer or garden club to prepare the soil for planting. Select a theme and ask for seed donations from area hardware stores. Use seed packet information as reading and mathematics lessons in measurement and charts.
While waiting for those first seedlings in your garden to germinate, check out these PBS ZOOMScience activities: Germinator and Compost. Or allow students to plan their own vegetable gardens using the Vegetable Garden activity from PBS Mathline. Working with a buddy, students will use fractions to figure out how many plots need to be assigned to each vegetable. Happy Harvesting!
Community Exploration
Through knowledge of their community, children learn how people live, their transportation and occupations. Transform a wall in your classroom into a map of your community. A printed map of your community is easily obtained by typing in your zip code at MapBlaster.
LivelyhoodUse adding machine tape for large highways, yarn for smaller streets and rivers. Students may indicate where they live by drawing their homes on 3" x 5" index cards. You may wish to divide the map into grids (using yarn or heavy string) and use it to teach coordinates on a grid.
The map may be left in place and used as a reference during the entireschool year. (Use the map in September to show bus routes for a School Bus Safety unit.)
Brainstorm with students to generate a list of careers in your town. Tape a large sheet of craft paper to the wall to illustrate a "Careers In Our Town: A to Z" mural. Add cut out letters of the alphabet and let students complete the artwork.
IdahoPTV and PBS Online Resources:
Sites to See
http://www.pbs.org/livelyhood/ourtowns.html
Learn how life and work in small-town America is changing through twelve case studies and information on industry trends affecting small businesses. Past Livelyhood sites (in the Archive) explore changes in the workplace since World War II; owning a small business; and how Americans are balancing work and family life.Affluenza
http://www.pbs.org/kcts/affluenza/
Afflicted with an appetite for consumption? (Cash, not cookies.) Affluenza's Web site can help with a diagnosis and a cure.Globalization and Human Rights
http://www.pbs.org/globalization/
What effect will globalizing the economy have on the world's workers? Read penetrating interviews with labor leaders, industry heads, and human rights advocates.To Our Credit
http://www.pbs.org/toourcredit/home.htm
Understand the making of a small-business loan and microenterprise around the world.On2 Money
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/on2/money.html
The history of currency, teen entrepreneurs, the stock market, getting a job, and paying for college are all themes in this teen-targeted NewsHour site.Life on the Internet: Young, Smart, and Online
http://www.pbs.org/internet/stories/ng/index.html
A twelve-year-old Web executive? Check out the stories of three young computer entrepreneurs.Scientific American Frontiers: Ask the Scientists
http://www.pbs.org/saf/3_ask/31_ask.html
Students interested in scientific careers have the opportunity to read biographies of scientists and ask them questions (archived on the site).Coach Osborne: More Than Winning
http://www.pbs.org/coachosborne/
Read the inspirational biography of this Nebraska football coach, and learn how he's helping students to balance athletics and academics.Frontline: The Farmer's Wife
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/farmerswife/
"The Farmer's Wife" offers students an intimate look at the lives of Juanita and Darrel Buschkoetter, a farming couple in Nebraska, and explores the opportunities and challenges of modern-day farming in America.Homecoming
http://www.pbs.org/homecoming/
Learn about how African-American farmers in the south are struggling to hold on to family farms.Frontline: The Navy Blues
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/navy/
Are your students thinking about the military after graduation? This site offers an illuminating look at recent transformations in the way the Navy operates; also, students can explore the nation's largest aircraft carrier and learn how to launch and land a jet.Frontline: Secrets of the SAT
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/sats/
Learn about the origin, evolution, and current controversy around this ubiquitous tool.Need.Com
http://www.pbs.org/needcom/
Explore individual welfare through virtual encounters with panhandlers, and stimulating questions for reflection and debate.NOVA: Trillion Dollar Bet
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/stockmarket/
Play the stock market in this virtual online simulation!Frontline: The High Price of Health
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/hmo/
Students interested in medicine will find much food for thought in this site that explores the impact of the managed-care revolution. The site offers a specific focus on how the field of nursing has changed.Frontline: Dr. Solomon's Dilemma
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/doctor/
Learn about contemporary challenges in managed health care with this in-depth case study.
