School: Bayard School
    Wilmington, Delaware, United States of America

24 students, ages 10-12 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 13, 2007. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2007

Classes and Teachers: Room 304, Mrs. Waugh

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.christina.k12.de.us/bayard

1. Description of Our Community

Bayard School is located in Wilmington, Delaware an urban city. We are approximately a half an hour south of Philadelphia, Two hours south of New York City, and about Two and half hours north of Washington D.C. The neighborhood surrounding our school is extremely diverse. The state of Delaware is the second smallest state in size, and has one of the smallest populations in the United States. Wilmington, Delaware has the largest population in the state of Delaware.

2. Summary of Our Project

The students researched the 'Livable Delaware' initiative that was begun by our current governor Ruth Ann Minner. The 'Livable Delaware' initiative seeks to contain urban sprawl. Delaware's population and housing has increased dramatically over the last decade, and there is concern that some of the 'open spaces' in Delaware may be lost if the development continues.

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:not sure

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6

E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):

Soapbox MSN is in Beta version so it does not load try again later.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

The largest obstacle the students and I faced doing this project was time. I only saw the students once a week for 45 minutes. I was able to start having them come two days a week. We also had some problems with research, but the students tried very hard. It was also difficult transferring the vhs video to a computer format; a high school teacher from another school was able to help us with this.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

The students learned a great deal about research, and using higher order thinking skills. The students were able to interview a farmer, developer, and a representative from the governor’s office this helped solidify their learning about “livable Delaware”

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

State Standards and Curriculum:

In doing the cyberfair project on “Livable Delaware” we met the following standards.

State Standards: ELA (English Language Arts) Standard 1: Use written and oral English for various purposes and audiences Standard 2: Construct, examine, and extend the meaning of literary, informative, and technical texts through listening, reading, and viewing Standard 3: Access, Organize, and evaluate information gained through listening, reading, and viewing Standard 4: Use literary knowledge accessed through print and visual media to connect self to society and culture

Social Studies: 5.410: Advocate a position on a current issue and describe possible actions to advance the cause

Economics: Standard 1: Students will understand that prices in a market economy are determined by the interaction of supply and demand, with governments intervening to deal with market failures.

Science: 5.317-Identify changes to a particular ecosystem as resulting from either natural or human made events and explain whether the changes are beneficial or harmful.

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

The technology hardware we used was, 34 classroom computers, a digital camera, a video recorder, and a tape recorder. We used the following computer software: Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop, Ulead Video Studio 10, Microsoft Word, Windows Media Player, Tech4 Learning-Simply VR-Spin Panorama, Google Video, and Soapbox on MSN

For research we mostly used the Internet, focusing on the state of Delaware website, and the local newspaper’s online site: Delaware News Journal online. We also interviewed three guests: Lee Ann Walling from the state of Delaware Governor’s office, Tony Nerlinger a Developer, and Rob Baker a farmer.

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

Students had to interview three people from our community: Rob Baker, Tony Nerlinger, and Lee Ann Walling. Lee Ann Walling is from the Delaware Governor’s office. Lee Ann Walling created a PowerPoint geared to our students; she usually discusses “Livable Delaware” with adults. She was very excited about the project we were creating and even asked us to share our final project with the Governor’s office. In trying to obtain people to interview, students had to share what “Livable Delaware” was with many adults/Teachers, in turn becoming teachers of this initiative themselves

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

The students focused on all aspects of “Livable Delaware” and how it affects people in different ways from Farmer, to Developers, and finally citizens. By sharing all of the perspectives involved we hope to help people better understand the legislature and help in their decision to support, or support it. The students have learned a great deal and have learned that there are many sides to a story. They have also shared their ideas with parents and others from the community including a continuing relationship with the governor’s office. Because they have worked on this project they want to expand what they have learned with this cyberfair project and create a commercial to encourage people to move to the city of Wilmington, one of the Governor’s ideas for containing sprawl.

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

We received a great deal of help from the people we interviewed. They took the time to come talk to our class from the perspective. We would like to thank Lee Ann Walling from the Governor’s office, Rob Baker from Baker farms, and Tony Nerlinger a developer. They gave a wealth of information and really helped the students to understand the people affected by the Livable Delaware initiative. Also we want to thank Mark Freidly for helping us convert vhs to DVD, and to a flash drive.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

In starting the “Livable Delaware” project students did not know what it was or whom it affected, or how it affected them. In doing this project they discovered why sprawl needed to be contained and there is a balance in keeping a strong economy. One of the surprises for both the students and myself was the drive to have people move to the city of Wilmington to help contain the sprawl.