ANN ARBOR—From third-graders to graduate students; from Pinckney, Mich., to Costa Rica in Central America, Eco-Explorers will be using Internet technology to bring the “field” into the classroom. This unique collaboration between the University of Michigan’s School of Art and Design and the Pinckney Community Schools, will aid university and regional public school students in learning about local and distant ecologies through an unusual application of distance learning on the Internet. During May 3-20, three Pinckney third-grade and one sixth-grade teachers will travel with 15 U-M students and two faculty members to the rain and cloud forests of Costa Rica where they will engage in experiments that will be conducted simultaneously in the schoolyards of Pinckney. “This collaborative project will create a new hands-on experience for students that will enhance their appreciation of the environment and allow them to use skills in art, science, and written and verbal communication,” says Joseph Trumpey, assistant professor of art at U-M and director of Eco-Explorers and Scientific Illustration. “I want more students to engage in the scientific learning and appreciation of the environment by using art and artistic exploration to facilitate that learning.”

The public’s access to this Web site with its “live” feedback will allow others to follow along with the explorations and to learn from the discoveries. The site can be accessed at http://www.lib.umich.edu/ummu/costarica.

The basic structure of Eco-Explorers sets up a contrast between Michigan (any geographical area will work) and a distant system. This year Costa Rica, next year the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. Collaborating classes can choose at what level they wish to participate. They can conduct daily experiments and exercises designed by U-M students and Pinckney teachers or just follow the daily progress on the Web site and ask questions.

The lesson plans, included on the Web site, cover ongoing measurements and experiments that include weather measurement, seedling observation, decomposition experiments, and bird watching. Lessons also include studies of soil, plants, trees, ants, conservation, light, erosion, frogs, water and birds through “Splendid Soil,” “My Life as a Forest Plant,” “Towering Trees,” “The Ant Cafeteria,” “How Big Was the Forest?” “Light for the Living,” “Saving the Soil,” “Fantastic Frogs,” “Wonders of Water,” and “Beautiful Bountiful Birds.”

From observing and drawing to keeping journals, graphs, and creating wall murals, students in Pinckney will compare their Michigan backyards to the rain and cloud forests of Costa Rica.

“All people, especially students, should spend more time observing and learning from nature,” Trumpey says. “There is so much beauty and so much we can learn. The urbanization of our society continues to disconnect us from the earth and makes us tourists in our own backyards. Eco-Explorers is designed to fight that trend and get students outdoors observing, drawing and experimenting.”