Submitted by: Melinda VanDevelder
School: Varina High School
Summary
This lesson can be used in any Biology II or Health classes and works well when discussing immune systems, epidemiology, or the reproductive system. Students create a rap video about sexually transmitted diseases. Students research the various diseases, write the musical rap lyrics, find appropriate images, record their audio and video, and combine it together to produce an educational public service announcement about the STD.
TIPC Ratings
The teacher plans and implements strategies to guide student investigation, acquisition of resources, and ethical use of the information. Students apply research methods to find and evaluate resources and select information from a variety of digital resources. Because of the subject matter, the students needed more guidance on their research and production of the videos.
This lesson was ideal on the TIP chart. Students worked in collaborative teams to research, design and produce their videos. Students worked knowing that they would gear their videos to an audience beyond the classroom that would solve real-world problems.
This was ideal on the TIP chart because students used multiple resources to plan, design and execute their project. They had to overcome many obstacles in using different media to create their videos and work collaboratively to solve problems. Students were able to develop and answer questions concerning STD and recommend real-world solutions through their videos; good use of higher order thinking skills. They also had to create their videos in a tactful way, considering the subject and overcome addressing socially awkward topics.
This project brought out the students’ best creativity. They were able to apply critical thinking, research methods and communication tools to create original work to communicate effectively with an outside audience.
Student Artifact
STD PSA from HCPS Instructional Technology on Vimeo.
