Keystone Weekly
volume 4, issue 28        May 5, 2003

This week's Key Points: *Web Pick of the Week* and *Earth Day in the Classroom*
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This quick site is a fun and easy addition to any study of technology, design, or inventions. PBS asks you to think about how much time you spend at a computer, listening to the radio, or using a microwave, and then says, "Try to imagine going through a day without these items. They all make use of technologies developed in the 20th century. This activity lets you go back through the century to find out when everyday items such as these first appeared in homes."

The activity requires Shockwave (a free download) and allows students to manipulate the scrolling timeline and watch as the household items of the era pop up in the scene. Students can mouse over the objects and learn about when they were invented, why, and what came before it. Back on the home page, there are links to historical information about these inventions and inventors.

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Adrienne Gordy from Lynnewood Elementary School wrote to us last week in response to the Earth Day Web Pick to share what she did with her first graders to celebrate Earth Day. Thanks, Adrienne!

She writes:
"Another site of interest might be www.earthdaybags.org. My class, along with most of the rest of the school, participated with an Earth Day grocery bag project and decorated about 500 grocery bags that were donated from the local Super Fresh. Their bags with Earth friendly messages and pictures were being used on Earth Day to bag the groceries of the patrons. I happened upon the site looking for a few extra ideas of something to do with my class. The site has directions for getting started with the project, a powerpoint slide show and tells you how to register and send pictures once you've completed the project. My class picture has been in two newspapers. We would have made the news but I returned the bags too soon."

Take a look at the site and find out how your class could get involved with this neat project next year!

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 9819641.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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