Element Survivor

TIPC Ratings

In this lesson students were provided with the opportunity to find information about their element. They had to use that information in an ethical way to create a product that clearly demonstrated their understanding of their assigned topic/information they found online. Research opportunities were open-ended, and students defined their own process for how they conducted research and evaluated/used/cited the information they found. They had to critically think about what they found and use that information to illustrate the importance of their element to real world applications.

Throughout this lesson students were challenged to creatively communicate information to their peers. They worked together to implement the peer evaluation process and provide collaborative feedback that was used to fine tune informational products. Student products were submitted to a class website that provided universal access and enabled students to view each others’ work, comment, recommend and justify their element and their consumer choice. They actually voted on their favorite and most essential elements, providing data that they were able to discuss and compare.

Throughout the lesson students were challenged to interact with information to make quality decisions. They justified their choices and attempted to persuade their peers to pack their element. This lesson inspired
students to create meaningful connections; their study of elements became more relevant and meaningful through this real-world application. The advertisement provides students the opportunity to explain, justify and recommend an element. The classwide “shopping,” vote and letter encouraged students to prioritize the most important elements, rate their classmates work and justify their choices.

Creativity is at the core of this lesson. Students were responsible for their own learning and individually applied critical thinking and research to communicate key information about a specific element on the periodic table. They not only have to investigate the importance of their element, but they had to take risks with how the shared that information with their peers in a way that was not only engaging, but persuasive (they were trying to persuade their peers to include their element on the “packing list”). The student samples really demonstrate the creativity of students and how they used their individual skills and understandings to create novel products. Student creativity is also clearly demonstrated in their “Dear Earth” letters that represent the impact of products on their decisions and ultimately their understandings of the elements. At the end of the assignment, students reflected on their creative process to help generate ideas for future work.