Submitted by: Jenny Smyth
School: Holman Middle School
Summary
In this real-world assignment students serve as Public Relations Ambassadors for Mother Earth. The students collaborate, research and problem solve to determine possible strategies for encouraging water conservation. The students work in small groups to keep track of personal and family water usage statistics both at school and at home over the course of a week. They focus on a specific area of water usage and brainstorm ways in which water can be conserved as it relates to this area of usage. They research methods already in place for alleviating the water problem as well as inventing their own unique ideas for conservation. They collaborate with their teammates on effective strategies for conservation to share with their peers. They decide on a form of technology to best illustrate their campaign for water conservation. Students have the creative freedom to create movies, public service announcements, commercials, slogans, or any other suggested form of media. The students brainstorm resources needed to complete their assignment and assign roles within the group. The students share their campaigns with classmates and other students in the school with the goal of promoting water conservation among their peers and society.
TIPC Ratings
Developing: The students assemble and synthesize information related to water conservation gained through research. The students choose their internet resources to determine average water usage statistics and strategies for water conservation. The students use various resources and tools of their choice and display their information and suggestions for ways in which they and their peers can conserve water. The teacher formatively assesses the students completion of tasks related to the project. This includes research, brainstorming, documentation, and execution of ideas. The teacher provides guidelines for research but the students have an unlimited amount of resources for gathering data and creating unique ideas for water usage and conservation.
Approaching: The students select technology resources and digital tools to collaborate with their team members and develop their campaign. They are able to choose their own tools for researching water conservation and usage. They have the freedom to communicate with their group members and determine the most effective digital media format to portray their ideas. They are able to assign roles within the group to maintain effective collaboration. They determine ways to share their ideas with other classmates and the rest of the school. They work together to set up goals for future growth in the field of water conservation. The teacher monitors group interaction and facilitates tasks with the students are working together. This is done through research, brainstorming strategies, and discussion of how to best create a final product.
Approaching: One of the key goals throughout the course of the lesson is to engage in problem solving and come up with solutions to the problem of water usage. The students respond to questions related to usage statistics and evaluate suggested strategies for cutting back on water usage. The students work together and engage in critical thinking and decision making based on which area to highlight in the public service announcement, which strategies to include in their complete project, and which form of digital media to use. The teacher supports the students as they engage in problem solving.
Approaching: The students use existing and self-generated knowledge by completing the water usage survey and analyzing the results of the survey. They brainstorm ideas as a group and reflect on their creative and innovative suggestions for water growth as well as determining more effective ways to promote their ideas. They have complete freedom to choose which conservation ideas to highlight, create their own public service announcements and creatively decide how to portray their ideas. Some groups used their creativity to create commercials using ideas, visual displays, and props to enhance their ideas. They were able to further enhance their products using audio accompaniment.
