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PBL Camp: Grades 9-12 (Week 1)
How will you make the oil spill relevant to your students? This is our brainstorming thread. Any and all ideas and thoughts welcome!
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Gaming
I just signed up for a free account. It is actually really neat! I like this concept of possibly integrating a virtual field trip into the activities for students.
Quote:The more I think about
The more I think about it, we might not be able to identify with the Gulf as easily as local natural resource challenges. I want to give the students the choice of making connections to the Gulf, or work on the local water wars in Georgia/Alabama/Florida after our significant drought, or one of their choice if they're passionate about it. I think a true town preparation document would be incredible. Something with options, like what do we do with the condenser water from our massive air conditioning units, etc.
That is such a great project idea! It would be interesting to start by having them read their own town's preparation documents and those from other towns like it and very different from it. I wonder if disaster preparedness documents are ever written for kids? For seniors? It would be interesting to think about writing to suit different audiences with with different concerns.
Teach Others
I'm located in New Orleans so I would relate it to how it is affecting our city. I was also thinking of going on field trips to the wet lands and while we are out there show pictures of oil in the wetlands or pelicans covered in oil.
[quote]Eric Anderson - Thanks for the link to Boston Globe's The Big Picture website. Amazing photos 2 mths after the spill. A must see for students and adults............Paul Allison - If possible, please explain more about the 10 Self/10 World questions.[/quote]
Candace, the link you are referring to, from Eric Anderson, sound interesting. Could you please post he link to this. I'm just now gett
Thanks, Genn
Quote:Eric Anderson - Thanks
Eric Anderson - Thanks for the link to Boston Globe's The Big Picture website. Amazing photos 2 mths after the spill. A must see for students and adults............Paul Allison - If possible, please explain more about the 10 Self/10 World questions.
Candace, the link you are referring to, from Eric Anderson, sound interesting. Could you please post the link to this. I'm just now getting to participate in this weeks' assignment and I'm trying to catch up.
Thanks, Genn
Quote:Maybe start with having
Maybe start with having the kids research the importance of the Gulf...have them find out how important the gulf is to us...% of food that comes from the Gulf, # of jobs, amount of money brought in through tourism in the Gulf, etc...Then have them research previous oil spills and how much damage the oil can cause on those important resources they found in the first project. Once they have an understanding of both projects have them tie it together and create a short video that explains the impact of the spill.And then asks for some sort of action for the viewer. (not sure what that could be)...
I like you idea. Often students don't know what is important or why. As a Biology teacher I could see adding the study of ecology, ecosystems, biomes, ecological success, secondary succession over a longer period of study devoted to your idea. If students start learning about the importance of both economic issues, and environmental issues concomitantly their questions and ideas may become higher level questions.
I also think it is interesting to add in a part of this project that will showcase examples of environmental recovery and the solutions that have been been employed. It is very easy for young people to give up because it all seems so hopeless. Heck, I feel that way sometimes.
Quote:This summer I am
This summer I am designing the curriculum for a Senior Capstone class for our graduating seniors. Fortunately, that will allow me to take this in any direction-not just from an ELA perspective. Eric is right...I think we can catch their attention with the human stories, whether you are in Lousiana or Bangkok, I think kids can relate, perhaps to other kids and the things that affect them.
You're right. What a fine idea. How do you suggest incorporating this into a PBL project?
Quote:I am developing a
I am developing a project that asks the students to create a Glog that helps to explain the various aspects of the oil spill to children (particularly 4th-6th grade students).
I don't know what a "Glog" is. Is is global blogging or picture blogging?
Quote:I plan to start the
I plan to start the year with the CNN Student news summer video. (http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/)It has a nice segment concerning the oil spill. I will also use the Google Map comparison of the oil spill to my city.(http://paulrademacher.com/oilspill/). I will also do a KWL on the oil spill.
Jason, you have some good ideas. Thanks for the links.
Quote:I've been thinking
I've been thinking about how to invite my students into their own inquiries this fall connected to the BP oil spill in the Gulf. I've also been wondering about how to bring gaming into the curriculum. I'm slowly realizing that these two streams of planning could come together.
Gaming is about empathy, system, making connections, solving problems, and these themes keep coming up as we imagine teaching about the Gulf oil failure this fall. Some of the systems involved are ecological, estuarine, food-chain, weather patterns, economic, engineering... My list is off the top of my head. A lot could be added to it, and that's the point!
I don't know how to build a game that would put the players into different roles, situations, and systems, but isn't it all there to explore?
The thing is, I'm also impatient. I don't think we can wait for this to be developed over the next six months, tested, and then released a year from now.
How could we build a game that is, perhaps, like Evoke or another of Jane McGonigal's games?
Or perhaps, it's about getting students to participate in the research necessary in building such a game? That could happen right away.
A webquest could be a way to create a game for the oil spill.
An example of one I found on google is
(http://camillasenior3.homestead.com/webquest.html)
We could use upscale and downscale it for a differentiated learning experience.