Fourth graders at Halifax Elementary School become part of an Earthwatch documentary.
By Linda Redding
Library Teacher
Halifax
Elementary School
464 Plymouth Street
Halifax,
MA 02338
781-293-2581
Fourth graders at Halifax Elementary School become part of an Earthwatch documentary. One of the best things about being a library teacher is working closely on projects with classroom teachers and their students. There are projects that I look forward to each year like the grade five cross curricula project on the American Revolution and grade three students researching animal facts. Last school year I was involved in a once in a lifetime project, helping a fourth grade class prepare for their part in an educational documentary. Robin Steele and her fourth grade students were selected by EarthWatch to be a Teach Live class for the first ever EarthBound 3 project. This amazing project took three high school students on twelve Earthwatch expeditions around the world with the job of reporting back the state of the environment to classrooms across the United States. Earthwatch is an environmental organization that supports scientific field research around the world. What makes this organization unique is that in addition to placing scientist around the world, they place everyday people on expeditions to work in the field along with the scientist. Robin has taken part in three Earthwatch expeditions. Each expedition usually runs an average of two weeks.
 |
| Students take direction from Emmy Award Director John Heminway. |
The fourth graders were the contact for the Malaysian Bat Conservation Project. Robin and her students did not waste anytime. Their first task was researching bats for an edition of the Boston Globe Fun Page They spent a lot of time in the school library utilizing print and online resources. Lead scientist at the Malaysian Bat Conservation Center and Boston University instructor, Tigga Kingston, was invited to Halifax Elementary School where she shared her research. Students were able to ask her questions and see a presentation introducing them to the Malaysian Bat Conservation Center. In November, a few of the students and their parents joined Robin and me at the annual Earthwatch Conference in Cambridge. The fourth graders were able to meet and interview field scientists from Earthwatch expeditions all around the world. They even had a chance to meet Arsen, Jamie, and Tyler, the three high school students traveling the world. The trio had just arrived from Botswana and shared first hand with the Halifax fourth graders their experience of studying crocodiles up close.
 |
| Arsen, Jamie,
and Tyler visit Halifax Elementary School after spending
the school year traveling the Globe.
|
The fourth graders followed, via Internet, the EarthBound 3 students as they traveled from expedition to expedition. They were able to send questions, read the journal entries, and view the photographs and video footage posted by the high school students. When it came time for the EarthBound 3 students to travel to Malaysia, Robinā's class was ready! They already created a web site with teacher and student links, lessons, and a copy of the Fun Pages created by the students. In addition, Robin and her students were responsible for posting the journal entries and photographs from the field sent to them by the EarthBound 3 students allowing classrooms around the world to interact with EarthBound 3. Robin’s fourth graders participated in two satellite phone conversations with the EarthBound 3 students stationed in Malaysia. The thrill of talking to the EarthBound 3 students was further enhanced with the presence of the award winning film crew from Bahati Productions, under the direction of Emmy Award winner John Heminway, filming a documentary highlighting the experience of the three high school students. The film crew captured the excitement of the fourth graders as they learned that a new species of bat had just been discovered in Malaysia.
 |
| Robin Steele's class constructed Bat Houses as part of an Earthwatch Documentary |
The project
didn’t end then, after all, the mission of EarthBound
3 was to empower young people to take action to help the
environment by starting in their own community. With
that in mind, Robin and her students were inspired to build
bat houses to help keep the mosquito and insect population
in control around the school grounds. They researched
what type would be best for
Massachusetts and spent
a day in the courtyard constructing the houses. They
even got a little help from the three high school students
who stopped by Halifax Elementary School for a surprise
visit after returning to the United States.
A
Year on Earth is the title of the documentary. It
premiered in September at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film
Festival. The film begins with three high school students
from three different places in the United States starting a
journey to report on crucial environmental issues facing
our world and it ends in Halifax, Massachusetts with a
group of fourth graders who learned that with knowledge and
action they can make a difference.
As
the library teacher at Halifax Elementary School, I was
lucky enough to be a small part of this project. Our
administration and teaching staff were very supportive of
Robin and her students. The last week of school three
truckloads of production equipment showed up in the faculty
workroom. The film crew spent two unforgettable days
working on location at Halifax Elementary School.
Look for A Year on Earth to be released
around Earth Day 2006.
Earthwatch offers
grants to teachers to participate in Earthwatch expeditions
around the world. Please visit www.earthwatch.org
for more information on the
teacher grants and for updates on the documentary and
educational film series that also features the high school
students.
To view Robin’s class web site
and the postings of the EarthBound 3 students, visit
www.halifax.mec.edu/steele.htm
.
Linda
Redding
Library Teacher
Halifax Elementary
School
lredding@sl-regional.k12.ma.us