Round I winners

6th grade students investigate a local creek running through fairly untouched park areas into a very suburban and urban area. Students will use Palms to collect data and to explain specific conditions at the creek, such as high pH, temperature, alkalinity or eutrophication. Students will be able to communicate with each other during these field excursions using the Palm technology as well as use the Palms as real-time data collection devices.

Palms are used to support students, including special needs students, as they transition from elementary school to Junior High School. This transition requires that students increase responsibility for their own learning and manage their own time and assignments. Palms will be used for student self-management, as well as to aid students in science and mathematics class.

Students will use Palms in the creation of a "Viewseum" at a district website. This Viewseum will share the results of an economic survey of all the valedictorians and salutatorians in the history of the Campbell City Schools. Palms will be used to track and analyze data for the survey.

Students will use astronomical software and light and heat probes in conjunction with Palms to understand the patterns and relationships between the sun, earth and moon that result in the seasons of the year and phases of the moon.

This program will use Palm handhelds to help students with Severe Emotional Disorder improve their work place social skills. Fifteen students in a secondary program for students with Severe Emotional Disorder will be selected, and these students will be trained to use hand held computers to monitor social skills relevant to the employment setting to which the student was assigned.

Rural, students will use the handheld devices to carry out visualization and problem-solving investigations that supplement their course curriculum in Chemistry. Investigations will emphasize problem-solving and collaboration skills that will allow students to research, conduct information analysis, and visualize complex classroom theories and concepts.

Ripple Project is a multi-disciplinary grant proposal that brings together art, science and creative writing using the cutting edge technology of the Palm. Students will use the Palm as a canvas to draw trees and leaves that they see outdoors. They will bring these to a nature center, where they will learn more about the specific trees, and will be able to have a naturalist beam them relevant information. The sketches will then be used to create ceramic artwork that will be put on display at the school.

Palm handhelds will help provide special education students with the support they need to master their organizational and academic objectives. The Palm's built-in organizational features will be supplemented by intelligent scaffolding tools and checklists, so that students can focus on their learning the curriculum instead of being stymied by logistics. Assessment tools and reference systems for teachers will help them to keep track of how students are performing, and make on-the-fly notes about useful teaching strategies so they can adjust more easily to their students needs.

Palm computers will be used as one of the primary technological resources within our algebra courses. In so doing, we envision a three pronged approach to Palm use in our extended inquiry classrooms which include curriculum development incorporating probes, modeling tasks and assessment.

Shead High School will partner with the Gulf of Maine Aquarium. Students will work to accurately record significant subjective information in the form of written notes and digital imaging. These observations will act as a springboard towards understanding marine science content (such as the physical, biological, and social effects of changes in earth's oceans and atmosphere ) as well as perspective as it relates to thought and language. Extending these understandings, students will compare the ways various social occupational and cultural groups use language.

The Environmental Science Academy (ESA) is a program for high potential, low achieving high school sophomore students to to attend a 4-week summer science seminar. ESA is a collaboration of UC Berkeley, Yosemite National Park, and GLOBE that teaches students about environmental science. Palm computers will augment the ESA program through: 1) the use of sensors for data collection, and graphing and visualization software for synthesizing that data, and 2) journaling exercises utilizing word processing software on the Palm computers, and 3) as well as testing wireless communication for engaging students in learning.

Working in small groups, QUEST students will develop data-collection kits that will be used to test the health of a local water supply. The use of these kits will be taught to two fifth grade classes at an elementary school to enable them to assess the health of a local stream. The goal of the scientific component of the proposed project is to test the effectiveness of a stream-monitoring project in improving student understanding in ecology. In addition, students will develop a business, Palms will be used for the nanagement of budgets, maintenance of personal calendars, and analysis of business markets.

Students will use Palm handhelds in the creation and use of mathematical models to develop an understanding of the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer in Texas. Students will use probes attached to Palm computers and software that graphs temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, ion specifics, etc. and includes visual representations to get onsite representation of the water quality within different regions of the aquifer.

All in the Palm of my Hand is a pilot program using handheld computers in conjunction with field data collection for science classes exploring air pollution, acid rain, as part of an Environmental Education Learning Experience (EELE). Students will be using handheld computers as data collectors, information organizers, calculators, and for data analysis while developing an understanding of how technology enhances our lives. Additionally, in order to build a better understanding of the processes of incorporating technology in the classroom, student teachers from the education department of Western Carolina University will be invited to participate in the classroom exercises.

The main focus of the semester long project is how the terrain, geology, human interaction, and chemistry of the Arroyo Seco affect the pH along its length. Stretching for a distance of over 40 miles, the Arroyo Seco covers a varied terrain from mountain to desert and encounters a range of human influence from wilderness to urban to industrial, even flowing past the world-famous Rose Bowl in a concrete channel. Students will collect a variety of data including GPS positioning, water and air temperature, dissolved oxygen, flow rate, and, of course, pH. Other data collected includes rock samples and flora samples from the area, located precisely using the GPS/Palm combination. This data will be analyzed in the classroom, and upon completion of the project, a clearer view of how and why the pH of the Arroyo Seco changes along its length will be produced.