Rock the Ages: The Journey – 5078

TIPC Ratings

Throughout this lesson students were engaged in meaningful research. Research was conducted on specific rock transformations and major events of geologic time as deemed necessary by the groups. Student groups were given complete freedom in the tools they used and what information they used. They conducted individual and group research and had to work together to come to a collective conclusion as to what information to use in their informative products. They created guiding questions and keywords to drive their research and used their findings to have cooperative discussions about what they found. They not only acquired information from their research, but from the research of their peers as well. They paraphrased information and cited sources throughout the project. Throughout this portion of the lesson students were asked to consider (individually/collectively) their research process and used that experience to plan future research.

Students had complete freedom to use any digital tool(s) that they deemed appropriate for successful group work. The were encouraged to try novel or familiar digital tools. Additionally, students had the opportunity to contribute and communicate on a class Google document that provided groups with the opportunity to have asynchronous communications that supported each groups efforts. They not only learned and communicated with their peers in their group, but other groups throughout the class. Because of this communication structure, they were able to use different ideas/perspectives to help reflect and refine their own work. Students reflected on their roles as communicators and collaborators and used that reflection to help plan future steps for their work.

This lesson challenges students to tell the story of a rock as it passes through geologic time. This puts students at the highest level of Bloom’s and really challenges them with the material. The process was quite complex as it challenged students to not only consider major eras, but the geologic process that occurred along the way. Students had to really delve into the content, form their own understanding, and then creatively use that information to tell a story appropriate for their peers and 5th graders at a neighboring elementary school. Our student artifact clearly represents the level of critical-thinking and problem-solving (how can we demonstrate a complex concept appropriate for 5th graders) at the highest level. The students are heavily vested in an authentic task that serves each other as well as others in the learning community. Students were responsible for reflecting on their role as a critical thinker/problem solver (individual and collective) and used this reflection to identify areas for future work.

Students collaboratively created informative products (through the development of their own, original ideas) that demonstrated complex content appropriate for 5th graders. They were given complete choice in what they wanted to create and how they wanted to tell their “story.” Students used their research, collaborative process, and problem-solving skills to develop an original “story” that not only clearly articulated a complex topic and ignited interest in geology, but also exposed younger learners to higher level and creative concepts that they could understand. Students took risks in how they told their story and what they used to create it. They also reflected on their creative process and used their reflection to identify steps for future work. Our student sample shows just how creative and innovative students were – check it out!