Joint Network Study Program among Schools in Different Environments

抄録

Concrete, not rice paddy, surrounds Minamisuna-Higashi Primary School (now renamed Minamisuna Primary School) at the center of a large housing complex near Tokyo's central business district. Ishikawa Prefecture's Tokuta Primary School and Tottori Prefecture's Karo Primary School, however, serve the neighboring countryside and farm families' children. To study interconnections between humans and nature, each school's pupils grew rice and shared their experiences by Internet and teleconferencing. The results revealed consumer and producer differences as well as area-specific environmental attitudes. Through peer interactions, studentsbecame aware of their differences and considered better ways of living, thus fulfilling the study's purpose.