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Virginia Department of Education

Information on this page is provided by the Office of Standards, Curriculum & Instruction.

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Lessons from the Bay

Project Action Guide

The Project Action Guide is a roadmap for teachers and administrators planning extended activities and long-term projects related to the watershed, along with instructions for several specific projects, including information about organizing student teams, selecting a project, and teaching skills related to project success (keeping records, doing research, connecting with businesses, and promoting a project). It is adapted from Virginia Institute of Marine Science's Rally Round publication.

Project Action Guide Parts

• Part 1: To the Teacher
  The introduction explains the purpose of this book and gives some general information about its use. Teacher as Team Leader and Authentic Assessment give teachers ideas for guiding student teams as they plan, carry out, and evaluate their environmental project.
• Part 2: Getting Started
  Getting Started: Choosing a Project will help in deciding what kind of environmental project to do and what kind of plan to design. Linking with Established Programs tells about some existing programs that classes may want to join or learn from. Some organizations provide materials, training, and advice to groups who wish to participate in their projects. Most have at least some free materials. It can be helpful to review some of these established programs before making final decisions.
• Part 3: Projects
  This section contains detailed plans for several large-scale environmental projects. Teachers may wish to use these projects as extensions of earlier lesson plans, or they may prefer to use them as resources for independent class or schoolwide initiatives.
  Projects include:
  • Build Your Own Rain Garden
  • Conducting a Stream Quality Survey
  • Recycling to Protect the Watershed
  • Precycling to Prevent Environmental Clutter
  • Restoring the Environment through Land Cleanups
  • Improving Streams through Waterway Cleanups
  • Building an Outdoor Classroom
• Part 4: Project Recognition
  In this section, Obtaining Project Recognition through Promotioncontains information on sharing information with local newspapers and television stations. Obtaining Project Recognition through Awards and Contests contains information about organizations in Virginia and around the country that give awards to school groups for efforts to protect and improve the environment. A class may be so enthusiastic about their project that they will want the teacher or school to nominate them for special recognition.
• Part 5: Tool Kit
  The Tool Kit is designed to help teachers incorporate some basic research, organizational, and communication skills into the environmental projects.
  The section includes instructional resources for activities including:
  • Videotaping a Project
  • Keeping a Journal
  • Using Maps
  • Mapping the Schoolyard
  • Using the Library Media Center for Project Research
  • Using the World Wide Web for Project Research
  • Writing Business Letters
  • Getting Help from Guest Speakers
  • Making Business Telephone Calls
  • Speaking to Promote a Project
  • Writing Publications to Promote a Project
  • Preparing Graphs and Charts
  • Choosing and Using Clip Art
  • Preparing a Press Release
  • Designing a Web Page

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