Project 1:  The Environment

Objective: To create a documentary about a place close to your house or apartment, about your neighborhood, or an ecosystem close to your city.

Length: 4-5 minutes for intermediate students. More than 6 minutes for advanced students. Remember that pauses are necessary.

Format: It can be done in Photostory, Quicktime, iMovie, or PowerPoint.

Instructions
1. Choose a river, a lake, a mountain, an island, a forest, or a park close to you. You may also choose a small town, or any ecosystem close to you.
2. Do your research online, at the local library, or interview individuals who live close by or at the location you chose.   If you write poetry, you may include a short poem about one aspect of this environment.
3. Write your script. Include the following information:

• The name of the place, why you chose it, where it is located.  You may include a map of this location.
  
• The official name or other names the community calls it, who or what organization(s) take care of it, who visits the place most often, etc.  If this is a public area or park, find out when it was declared a public, or include a list of some of the site's important historic facts.
  
• Describe the ecosystem of the place:  type of animals and plants it has, type of soil or water, etc.
  
• Talk about the trash or pollution that this ecosystem has.

Advanced: include at least one of the following ideas

• Take pictures or video of yourself cleaning the site, planting a tree or participating in a community effort to preserve it.  Explain the pictures or the scenes in the video.
• Pretend to interview an expert on the chosen area.  He/she can talk about the positive/negative future of this ecosystem, or tell what this place may have looked like during prehistoric times.

4. Read your script several times.  Record the audio.
5. Decide if you will make a video, a picture story (photostory) or a combination of both.
6. Videotape, take pictures, or gather online pictures.
7. Edit your file. Do not forget to include the credits at the end. The credits must include the name(s) of the student(s) who participated in the video, any individuals who were interviewed on screen, as well as the author(s) of pictures, music or video.
8. Upload it to your e-Portfolio.