World Lighthouse - Fort Amherst

I. Briefly review the project form. Discuss the project theme, outline and time line; review the project and curriculum objectives.

Our idea came from an online discussion with Dr. Les Cake. Our thought was to develop a web site with information about lighthouses (ours was the Fort Amherst Lighthouse in St. John's, NF) and share our results with students around the world. The project is part of a larger Networking project called the "World Lighthouse Project".

We started by gathering print resources about the Fort Amherst Lighthouse from the school library, public library and the Internet. Students read print resources where appropriate, or the teacher read to them. In some cases the print resources were above the reading level of the students; teachers and parent volunteers used the resources to provide child-appropriate material for the unit. We took a field trip to the lighthouse and recorded the trip with a film and digital camera. We located a community member who grew up in the lighthouse, and she came for a class visit to describe her days at the lighthouse. Finally we published the Fort Amherst Lighthouse study resources for teachers and the report on the lighthouse itself for the "World Lighthouse Project".

II. Show the audience the outcome of the project proposal.

Results and a tour of the project can be seen at: http://www.k12.nf.ca/stpiusx/lighthouse/

III. Briefly comment on any successes or problems that were encountered throughout the life of the project.

This project was hugely successful. The resources were easy to find. Mrs. Power's visit was very interesting and the lighthouse field trip was the culmination of the whole project. As ususal, lack of time is always the worse enemy. We did not get much time to develop class projects, artwork, crafts or science experiments.

IV. Comment on any aspects of the project that you would do differently.

We had a few technical glitches. Mrs. Powers voice was very light and we should have put a microphone on her. Like most great online activities that take place at the primary level, most of the project took place off line. If we had more time and more training we could have had the students more involved in building and designing the web site, working with the graphics, etc. It would also have been nice to get them involved in designing some graphics or in doing some creative writing.

V. Comment on if and how the project can be expanded next year.

The project can definitely be expanded next year. We plan to add more activities to the site and to repeat the activity with the students again. We will also focus more energy on getting other schools involved in doing the research and creating virtual field trips to lighthouses in their areas for us to link to.