July 2007 — Case Studies
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Curriculum-Based Reform :: West Virginia
Starting in the fall, the funding will go to a wealth of hands-on applications. Students at the county’s two middle schools will use GIS software to digitally map their own experiences with the land relative to Greenbrier County’s Appalachian landscape, its waters, its structure, and its history. Google Earth, a digital mapping system, will help students expand their understanding of their physical place in the world in relation to the place of others. Science and math teachers will work with GPS units, Google Earth, and Microsoft Excel to study karst cave systems on the eastern end of the county, as well as the impact of runoff created by coal waste on the county’s western end, and to evaluate water-quality samples, then present their findings mathematically.
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Social studies teachers will use GPS and GIS units to map local landmarks and study their historical and current social significance, and will present their findings at a Social Studies Multimedia Fair in August. The fair’s goal is to help middle school students better understand their heritage and make them better able to answer the following questions in the context of their role as Greenbrier County residents, West Virginians, Americans, and human beings: Where have I been? Where am I? Where do I want to be? How do I get there?
Meanwhile, English teachers will work with students on depicting the learning taking place in their schools through the use of a variety of publishing technologies: Adobe Dreamweaver to make pages for their school websites; PowerPoint to create presentations for community members; and Microsoft Publisher to produce newsletters for parents.
“Our children must be able to access information through technology, to think critically, to solve problems, and to communicate as members of a collaborative team,” says Superintendent Curry.
