An Eco-Collaboration
By Jacquelin C. Devlin

Beautiful day for a fair (from left to right) – Good weather prevailed, but the Eco-Fair was prepared to move to the gym if necessary and second graders turned old Christmas trees into oyamel firs for their Monarch migration study.

My professional development goals as an elementary school library media specialist have always been to improve the authenticity of student research and to increase collaboration with classroom teachers. Two years ago all those efforts came together and -- like a rogue wave – exceeded my highest expectations: A school-wide ecology fair showcased student research alongside the displays of community organizations devoted to similar topics. Students saw their projects as real-world concerns. They educated not only themselves but also their peers, parents and the public. Teachers saw what could be accomplished with true library/classroom collaboration.

Why an ecology fair? Coordination was often thought of as collaboration at my school. A majority of our 20-teacher staff was extremely busy, and finding time to plan in advance with the librarian was difficult. What if I came up with a library-based research project with several built-in points of collaboration? Teachers would have a framework within which to work and a vision for future collaboration.

Selecting a theme was easy. Our usual science fair was dull and dreaded, and yet I saw how much students liked science. Along with social studies, science is often relegated to a backseat in today's NCLB-conscious classrooms, and I wanted to remedy that. I also wanted to stimulate a good deal of initial motivation because this would be a long-term project. The prospect of a spring day outdoors in a fair-like setting for final student presentations seemed perfect.

The plan. In September, the teachers and I met and we agreed on grade-level research areas. I made sure their selections allowed me to stagger projects throughout the year. Two weeks before each project was to begin, I met with teachers to fill out a chart that outlined 1) who would be responsible for each element of the project, 2) when it would be due and 3) where it would happen. This helped us avoid duplication of instruction and maximized student research time in the classroom, computer lab and library. A nice selling point: Teachers sometimes got three hours of student work for every hour they invested in the classroom!

In the library, students worked in small groups researching one or more questions within the overall project. They shared this information with classmates and within their grade level so that everyone saw the big picture. This required more classroom involvement, but teachers saw students reviewing and correcting what they knew. It also gave teachers a chance to integrate library research with classroom work.

Collaboration took many forms. Local physicians came in to confirm our interpretation of difficult scientific literature. The art teacher taught symmetry and pattern to second graders as they created monarch butterflies for their migration research. This double-duty teaching was the trick to fitting in extras we thought were impossible. Collaboration did not stay within school walls. With the district's business liaison, I located people willing to share their expertise at the fair: members of the local Audubon Society, Regional Water Authority and state Department of Environmental Protection, among others. Girl Scout Troop 268 organized a nature scavenger hunt. One dad risked getting wet to teach students about the relative amounts of salt, fresh and potable water in the world. Another discussed hybrid vehicles. The PTA supplied refreshments in paper, not plastic, cups. Even the gym teacher lead eco-games adapted from Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) materials.

Fifth graders graphed the use of resources in seven countries and discovered that Americans have a very heavy ecological footprint (left image). Students rotated through displays and hands-on demonstrations by classmates and experts like this Audubon Society representative (right image).

Authentic research. Meaningful research for students comes from a connection to the work. So, once we assigned students a research area, I let them determine in the library the direction their research would take. The primary grades started with a KWL format. Upper grades used a variety of brainstorming techniques, and sixth graders carried over an issue they hadn't resolved in fifth grade when they calculated their ecological footprint: "Why does our school use polystyrene cafeteria trays when they are so bad for the environment?" Not only did they tackle library research on polystyrene, pollution, landfills, monomer migration, recycling and corporate responsibility, but they also took their questions to community figures, wrote persuasive letters, defended their positions and ultimately saw the success of their efforts when our school switched to fiber-based recyclable trays.

Research for all grades. Primary students had not done "research" before, but when we did away with preconceived notions of what research looked like, things went well. I read; students listened and studied pictures. We discovered answers together and talked our way to understanding. Chlora and Phyl helped us understand the "energy factory" in all those tree leaves. Oxygen atoms always took a buddy when they left the leaf (O2). Who says you can't teach chemistry to first graders?

My task was to see that projects meshed so that the "needs of living things" objective in first grade's "How Do Trees Work?" was also evident in the monarch migration study in second grade, the water study in third, the pollution problem in fourth and so on. As students rounded the display tables at the fair, they could build on their own work, carrying a constructivist approach to learning through the entire research/presentation process.

Outcomes. Teachers saw how much can be accomplished when instruction is shared. Projects deemed "too difficult" for students before we started were seen as "very well done." When students had to defend their work in front of strangers as well as classmates, their diligence and care in researching increased. Their interest remained high, and retention of material was evident even the following year. Students came to see themselves as original thinkers and successful problem solvers.

Two of our 20 teachers confessed to being more organized as a result of collaboration. Guest speakers praised student work as being "more relevant" than usual. As a result, collaboration was written into the school's strategic plan. The following year, we successfully linked library research to community service projects. Even more satisfying, I now get e-mails -- unrelated to strategic plan directives -- that say, "Can we meet?"

Jacquelin C. Devlin is a library media specialist at Highland School in Cheshire, CT. At the time of the Ecology Fair, she taught at Chapman School in Cheshire.

April, 2007, Vol.37, No.7