Techreachnc Team B (Jeff, Steve, Amelia)

Grade Level: 6-8

Subject: English, Science, Language Arts

Learner Outcomes:

1) Students will trace the history of herbal medicine.

2) Students will develop a method for analyzing and determining the effects of the diminishing rain forests on their everyday lives and demonstrate specific results from their research.

3) Students will learn if herbal medicines have any worthwhile scientific benefits.

4) Students will learn how the encroachment of "civilization" has affected their view of herbal medicines and the ability to collect them.

5) Students will learn that the cost of "civilization" usually comes at the price of their natural resources.

6) Students will learn that as plants in the rainforest become extinct, the knowledge regarding their use is also lost.

Authentic Student Task: Students will investigate the consequences of the destruction of the tropical rain forest and the subsequent extinction of useful herbs and other medicinal plants. Students will learn where most of our medicine has come from , and if there is any scientific basis for the use of herbal medicines. In collaborative research groups, students will identify potential topics and generate research questions relating to the use of herbs and medicinal plants and how they will affect them in the future. In addition, students will be asked to consider any parallels between what is happening to the rain forests around the world and what might be happening in their own community, state, or region. Also, they will interview parents, grand parents, and neighbors to collect information on home remedies and uses of herbs. Since the information they hold is purely oral history, what will happen to the rich oral tradition after the destruction of the rainforest?

Hook: Save the rain forest! As little as 5 percent of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil may remain as pristine forest by 2020! Every year more and more Americans are using herbal medicines for cures and every day aches and pains. Third World countries that do not have modern medicines have been using herbal medicines all the time. You have noticed over the years that with development in third World countries comes a cost of loss of the natural resources. You have been given a grant by the CDC to investigate whether these herbal medicines are actually a cure or not. Remember that your parents and grandparents will be an excellent resource in completing this project. Student Direction: Although this pattern of destruction seems to occur in remote locations, students will determine in what ways the loss of the rain forest will affect their lives. Will modern science be able to compensate for the loss of these traditional healing plants that have been used since the beginning of recorded time? Students will structure a plan for gathering information on the healing herbs and medicinal plants that can be found in the rain forest and how they have been used in the past and are being used in the present. Students will determine the framework, audience, and process to preserve these medicines and the tradition that they evolved from.

Best Use of Technology: Students will collaborate with students in other regions of the world via email, virtual chat, and discussion boards to compare cultural trends in their respective areas. Students will use streaming video, digital camera, and other electronic resources in their research. Students will use the internet as a medium for publishing their work and as a valuable research resource. They will also put a discussion board on their website where people can post questions about herbs or herbal medicine. The students will be responsible for maintaining the website and answering all questions truthfully and knowledgeably.