A SINGLE-COMPUTER CLASSROOM
Having just one computer in a classroom doesn't have to be an obstacle in making the Internet a crucial part of your curriculum. With careful planning, you can accomplish a great deal - and open up many new horizons for your students.

Some things to keep in mind when you have only one computer:
1. The placement of the computer
2. Your display possibilities
3. The role of the computer in your classroom
4. The best ways to use your computer

• Placement
The computer station should be easily accessible for both student and teacher. This will help identify the station as an integral classroom tool.

The computer should be placed away from direct sunlight, water, and chalk dust.

• Display
A television monitor can be connected to your computer and used to display information. This larger format can help the entire class observe the same information at the same time.

• Implementation
Another way to easily incorporate the Internet into your classroom is to create a Research Station. At the Research Station children will find an ongoing list of student-generated questions for the "researcher" to find on the Internet. At a regularly scheduled time, the class can share the results. In this way the children gain practice navigating the Internet and drawing relevant information from it.

TEAM REPORTS
• Goal: The children will navigate the Bay Trippers website, extract information about the Chesapeake Bay, answer questions on worksheets you prepare, and share their findings with the class.

• Preparation
Prepare several task cards for students that explore some of the key concepts of this site. For example, one task card might ask students to find events happening on the Bay during the current month. Another task card might ask students to explore how the Bay shore line has changed in the last fifty years.

Divide the children into small teams. A group of three usually works well.

• Assign Roles
Each student should be responsible for specific material and perform a specific function. (For example, one uses the mouse, one reads questions, one records information.) Time should be allotted so that each child gets a chance to perform several roles.

• Review
Go over the behavior guidelines for using the computer station.

• Model
Demonstrate the activity by reading a question, finding the answer, and filling out the task card.

• Expectations
Explain the criteria you will use to evaluate the students' work.

• Activity
Give the teams ample time to explore Bay Trippers and gather their information.

A MULTI-COMPUTER CLASSROOM
Having a multi-computer classroom presents many exciting opportunities for a classroom teacher. It can help foster an educational environment that blends ongoing independent and cooperative learning activities. These dynamic learning situations pose some classroom management challenges. Before the students begin to work, you should review:

• Guidelines
Behavioral guidelines for group work at the computer should be reviewed before every session.

• Roles
Each child should be assigned a role such as Keyboard Operator, Mouse Operator, Information Recorder, and Question Reader.

EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS
Over the past decade, national and educational organizations have taken on the challenge of creating educational standards. These voluntary standards help states formulate their own goals and craft their own education standards.

NATIONAL STANDARDS
• For Science (Grades K-8)
Courtesy of the National Academies of Sciences http://www.nas.edu/. These standards can be found, along with other documentation and information at http://books.nap.edu/html/nses/html/.

• Science as Inquiry
As a result of activities in grades K-8, all students should develop:
- Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
- Understandings about scientific inquiry

• Physical Science
As a result of their activities in grades K-8, all students should develop an understanding of:
- Properties of objects and materials
- Position and motion of objects
- Light, heat, electricity, and magnetism
- Properties and changes of properties in matter
- Motions and forces
- Transfer of energy

• Life Science
As a result of their activities in grades K-8, all students should develop understanding of:
- The characteristics of organisms
- Life cycles of organisms
- Organisms and environments
- Structure and function in living systems
- Reproduction and heredity
- Regulation and behavior
- Populations and ecosystems
- Diversity and adaptations of organisms

• Earth and Space Science
As a result of their activities in grades K-8, all students should develop an understanding of:
- Properties of earth materials
- Objects in the sky
- Changes in earth and sky
- Structure of the earth system
- Earth's history
- Earth in the solar system

• Science and Technology
As a result of activities in grades K-8, all students should develop:
- Abilities to distinguish between natural objects and objects
   made by humans
- Abilities of technological design
- Understandings about science and technology

• Environmental Science
As a result of activities in grades K-8, all students should develop understanding of:
- Personal health
- Characteristics and changes in populations
- Types of resources
- Changes in environments
- Populations, resources, and environments
- Natural hazards
- Risks and benefits
- Science and technology in society

MARYLAND STANDARDS (Grades 4-5)
The state of Maryland is engaged in an ongoing process of developing and refining a dynamic set of scientific standards. The goal of these standards is to equip students with a rich body of knowledge, as well as to foster the development of critical scientific thinking skills. To measure how schools were meeting this goal the state created the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program or MSPAP. This test is designed to measure performance in Maryland schools. It focuses on:

- How well students solve problems cooperatively and    individually.
- How well students apply what they have learned to real    world problems.
- How well students can relate and use knowledge from    different subject areas.

MAIN AREAS MEASURED ON MSPAP (Adapted from "School Improvement in Maryland" http://www.mdk12.org/mspp/index.html)

• Concepts of Science
Students will demonstrate their acquisition and integration of major concepts and unifying themes from life, physical, and earth/space sciences.

• Nature of Science
Students will demonstrate the ability to interpret and explain information generated by their exploration of scientific phenomena.

• Habits of Mind
Students will demonstrate ways of thinking and acting inherent in the practice of science.

• Attitudes
Students will demonstrate positive attitudes toward science and its relevance to the individual, society, and the environment and demonstrate confidence in their ability to practice science.

• Processes of Science
Students will demonstrate the ability to employ the language, instruments, methods, and materials of science for collecting, organizing, interpreting, and communicating information.

Chesapeake: A Bay Trippers Adventure is broadcast by MPT's K-12 Educational Video Service.
Click here to check the schedule.