Author: Keven Ledee

Trees have been called the lungs of ourplanet, and it is because of trees that we have life.  Not only are they essential, but they arebeautiful and diverse.  At ISD, we pride ourselves on being a diverse department, so what better way to celebrate that diversitythat each student doing research about a different tree that exists on ourplanet. 

To celebrate the Arbor Day holiday,students were tasked with a research project to find specific information abouta unique tree of their choosing.  Theyalso had to find new vocabulary related to their research, and write an opinionpiece about what Arbor Day and trees in general meant to themindividually.  To conduct research,students used multiple resources online, including the massive tree informationdatabase.  This not only provided much ofthe required information for the research element of the project, but it alsohelped to build key research techniques, including how to use search words andnarrow down a search. 

The final result would be presented on aninfographic for each student.  Studentscombined their skills in technology and design to create a visually appealingdisplay for their hard research.  Thisproject combined various classes including English, Science, Technology and Artand allowed the students the flexibility and creativity to incorporate theirown personal preferences about trees while still meeting all the requirementsfor successful marks. 

Although we have been studying from multiplecountries around the world in our online classroom, this has not hindered theprocess of discovery that makes school so great for young learners.   This overcoming of obstacles in the face ofadversity is what makes our students so strong and will help them becomeinnovators and world leaders of tomorrow!