rj portfolio online course pbl text excerpt

Sustainable Communities Presentation

WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION TO INTEGRATED ECOLOGY CURRICULUM (IEC) AND UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN (UBD) 3

LESSON INTRODUCTION 3COURSE OVERVIEW 3INTEGRATED ECOLOGY CURRICULUM 5INTRODUCTION TO THE INTEGRATED ECOLOGY CURRICULUM 5Using Local Versus Exotic Ecosystems 6Learning By Doing, Not Using Models or Telling 6Using Real Ecosystems, Not “In a Bottle” Approaches 6Applying Student-Centered Versus Teacher-Centered Instruction 7Integrating Across Disciplines 7Implementing Project-Based Learning 8AN INTRODUCTION TO THE IEC AND UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN FRAMEWORKS 9The Essential Aspects of the IEC Approach 10

WEEK 3: OBSERVATION 12

LESSON INTRODUCTION 12OBSERVATION 13Understanding Sustainability 13Defining Sustainability 13Introduction to Observation 14Levels of Observation 15LEVEL 1 OBSERVATION 16Observations Versus Inferences 16Check Your Understanding 16Observation Activities: Some Suggestions 17LEVEL 2 OBSERVATION 17Level 2 Observation Activity: Asking Questions 17Observation Activities: Using the Worksheet 18Observation Activities: About Inferences 18Observation Activities: Working in Groups 18Observation Activities: Notice What They Notice 19Observation Activities: Discussing as a Class 19Observation: Making Inferences 19Observation-Inference Activity: The Queens Museum Panorama 20LESSON SUMMARY 21

WEEK 4: LEARNING BY DOING 22

LESSON INTRODUCTION 22AUTHENTIC AND CUMULATIVE PROJECTS 22Criteria for Authentic Projects 22Advantages of Authentic Projects 23Cumulative Projects 23AUTHENTIC AND CUMULATIVE PROJECT EXAMPLES 24Examples of Authentic and Cumulative Projects 24Sustainable Design and Community Development: Background 24Sustainable Design and Community Development: Background (cont’d) 25Sustainable Design and Community Development: Beginning the Project 25Sustainable Design and Community Development: Field Studies 26

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES PRESENTATION TEXT ONLINE COURSE 1

Sustainable Design and Community Development: Field Studies (cont’d) 26Sustainable Design and Community Development: Speakers 26Sustainable Design and Community Development: Implementation 27Sustainable Design and Community Development: Year 2 27Sustainable Design and Community Development: Year 2 (cont’d) 27Garden Journalism Project: Background 28Garden Journalism Project: Research 28Garden Journalism Project: Tabletop Labs 28Garden Journalism Project: Math 29Garden Journalism Project: Literacy 29Garden Journalism Project: Community Involvement 30Time to Reflect 30PROJECT-BASED LEARNING 31Benefits of Project-Based Learning 31

Lesson Summary 31

2 SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES PRESENTATIN TEXT ONLINE COURSE

Week 1: Introduction to Integrated Ecology Curriculum (IEC) and Understanding by Design (UBD)Topic Titles

1. Lesson Introduction2. Course Overview3. Integrated Ecology Curriculum4. Understanding by Design5. Lesson Summary

Lesson DescriptionTopics:

Provide an overview of the course Define environment-based education and the IEC approach Contrast environment-based education with conventional education Introduce Understanding by Design and backward planning-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lesson IntroductionWelcome to Lesson 1 of the Sustainable Communities course. This first lesson provides a foundation and context to the approaches and pedagogy used throughout the rest of the course. We will introduce the two frameworks—the Integrated Ecology Curriculum and Understanding by Design—that will drive the content and process required to build your ecology instructional units. You will learn the basic tenets and benefits of each of these frameworks and begin to practice the application of them.

In this lesson we will do the following: Provide an overview of the course Define environment-based education and the IEC approach Contrast environment-based education with conventional education Introduce Understanding by Design and backwards planning

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Course Overview

This course is designed to provide teachers and educators with opportunities to understand and practice student-centered, inquiry-based techniques while learning to develop and implement project-based units focused around topics in local ecology and that are integrated across subjects.

This approach is similar to the “Environment-Based Education” or “Environment as an Integrating Context” approach. The Integrated Ecology Curriculum (IEC) adds to this an emphasis on local environment, use of authentic artifacts, practice of actual research and field techniques, and particular support for literacy. You will have access to examples of successful units—including specific activities, resources, and worksheets—that you can modify or use as models to create your own unit for use in your classroom.


Through readings, peer discussion, hands-on activities, and guided planning sessions, you will learn to develop activities and materials that build higher cognitive skills, increase student motivation and participation, and increase intellectual curiosity and independence. Your expert facilitator will lead weekly interactive planning sessions to provide support as you create the fully implementable unit that will serve as your final assessment for the course.

Practical guidance will be provided through online examples and models; with expert facilitators leading weekly “real time” interactive planning sessions to support you in creating the fully implementable unit that will serve as their your assessment for the course. The focus for this course is on hands-on and/or field projects that educate students about sustainability in cities and other human-dominated landscapes.

To help you focus on an ecosystem that will be familiar to your students, three similar courses are available. This course focuses on integrated units that educate students about urban sustainability. The other two courses use the same methodology to concentrate on marine ecosystems and deciduous forests.

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Course Goals

The goals for this course include the following: Develop a project-based and hands-on ecology unit using local resources that provides

authentic opportunities for students to “think like scientists” Develop professional skills to both recognize and apply best practices to your lesson planning

and teaching Learn how to access community resources and extend your science classroom using informal

settings

Successful completion of the course will depend on these four components.

Discussion ParticipationStudents are expected to participate in all class discussions. Students must post a response of at least 300 words to each week’s given question, by the midnight on Tuesday of that week. By midnight on Friday of that week, students must post two responses of at least 150 words to the writings of their fellow students.

Online ExercisesPeriodic online exercises will be given to help you work on particular content and skills.

Applied AssignmentsAs you learn new skills and methods, you will be given specific assignments to practice applying these skills on your own. Some of these assignments will involve researching locations and resources locally available to you.

Final Curriculum UnitYou will create a fully implementable unit as the culminating project for the course. You can use this unit in your school or organization. Heavy emphasis is placed on your participation in group planning


meetings where you can learn and benefit from the guidance and feedback of your peers and of the instructor/curriculum facilitator. You will present your completed unit to your peers during the final week of the course.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Integrated Ecology Curriculum

What Is Environment-Based Education?

Now that we know what we will be learning in the course, let’s get started looking at the concept of Environment-Based Education (EBE). Put simply, EBE uses the local environment as the basis around which students learn about a variety of subjects. Environment-based education focuses students on learning about the environment, which motivates them to learn other subjects because they can see that they need the information and techniques in other subject areas to explore their environmental interests.

The EBE approach allows students to observe and learn within a context that is familiar to them. It also allows them to practice one of the core tenets of environment-based learning: learning by doing. When students learn by doing rather than by reading or listening to a lecture, they can more directly relate to the information. This approach has proven to cut down on discipline issues and to aid in transfer of knowledge.

“[EE] is an ideal thematic approach to integrating subject areas, and it’s motivating. It’s so good for kids who don’t do well in traditional classes. EE takes kids who thought they wouldn’t even finish high school and raises their sights.”— Jane Eller, Kentucky Environmental Education Council

“Environmental education does cut down discipline problems. Kids relate well to studying the world around them, and they want to learn reading and math.”— Estelle Vollmers, Hawley Elementary School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

“Kids make connections across disciplines. We believe this not only brings [learning] alive, but also reflects real life and allows students to do the kind of thinking that problem solving in the real world requires.”— Dan Bodette, Principal, School of Environmental Studies, Apple Valley, Minnesota.

Introduction to the Integrated Ecology Curriculum

The Integrated Ecology Curriculum (IEC) approach distinguishes itself from traditional education in some important ways:

Using local versus exotic ecosystems Learning by doing, not using models or telling Using real ecosystems, not “in a bottle” approaches Applying student-centered versus teacher-centered instruction Applying inquiry versus known-outcome labs Integrating across disciplines Implementing project-based learning


The following screens cover each of these concepts in more detail.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Using Local Versus Exotic Ecosystems

Conventional EducationConventional education models typically use what can be described as a “far-off ecosystem.” Far-off ecosystems, such as the tropical rain forest, have the undeniable appeal of being exotic but can unfortunately also reinforce the impression that nature is something far away, foreign, exotic, or untouchable. Using exotic ecosystems as a basis for study can also leave the impression that there is nothing valuable nearby and that local landscapes do not deserve admiration and protection.

Environment-Based EducationIn contrast, when we consider an environment-based approach, we integrate local landscapes into the curriculum. Local landscapes can allow students to do the following:

Visit, touch, and interact with the ecosystems they are studying Directly investigate relevant problems and issues that occur in their own local communities Understand first-hand the complexity of real-world issues that involve the intersection of

natural surroundings with the built environment, culture, economics, and politics.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Learning By Doing, Not Using Models or Telling

Conventional EducationIn conventional education, students are told the methods and techniques used by scientists for conducting research and experiments. Things like data collection methods, survey design, and lab tests are simply described to the student or shown in photos or videos.

Environment-Based EducationIn environment-based education, students actually use the same scientific methods and techniques that scientists and researchers use. Rather than describing the different methods for collecting data, students collect data themselves using those methods. Students carry out biodiversity surveys, ecosystem health assessments, lay transects, conduct lab tests, do dissections, and conduct open-ended research. Students understand what scientists do because they have done it themselves. The information, insights, and skills they gain stick with them because the learning is anchored in real-world context and experience.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Using Real Ecosystems, Not “In a Bottle” Approaches

Conventional EducationConventional education sometimes attempts to model the workings of ecosystems by creating “ecosystems in a bottle”—enclosed units where two or three species interact in a very limited way.

Environment-Based Education


In contrast, environment-based education focuses on studying the actual ecosystems that occur naturally. Because it is based on a real, natural ecosystem, this approach conveys the true complexity and depth of ecosystem communities, interdependencies, and cycles.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applying Student-Centered Versus Teacher-Centered Instruction

Conventional EducationConventional education is very much centered around the teacher. The teacher determines the goals and exactly what questions, lectures, and activities the students will participate in to learn the content.

Environment-Based EducationEnvironment-based education shifts the focus from the teacher to the student in these ways:

Leading students through guided inquiry activities, thus helping students build the skills they need to gain greater independence and to carry out fully autonomous inquiry

Asking students to define for themselves their goals, outcomes, and definitions of effectiveness Instructing students to employ diverse methods of research, investigation, and presentation,

allowing students to practice different learning styles and intelligences, and emphasizing a culture of learning that recognizes different ways of understanding and representing concepts and skills

The important question is “how do we know what we know?” and this question has many valid answers.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applying Inquiry Versus Known-Outcome Labs

Conventional EducationIn a conventional education setting, teachers know the outcomes and plan their instruction to meet those outcomes.

Environment-Based EducationIn environment-based education, the results of investigations and experiments are unknown to the teacher as well as the students. This approach allows the entire class to experience the authentic feeling of new discovery and fresh insights and conclusions. Even where an activity is structured with preset goals, the path to the goal can vary, and the interpretation and meaning of the activities can be different for each student.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Integrating Across Disciplines

Conventional EducationIn conventional education, content and learning activities are broken down by subject or discipline. There is little or no crossover of learning into other disciplines.

Environment-Based Education


Environment-based education is ideally implemented as an interdisciplinary effort conducted collaboratively by teams of teachers of different disciplines. This integration across disciplines has some important effects on both the students and the teachers.

Integration allows content, skills and concepts to be reinforced in multiple contexts provided by multiple disciplines. Thus students might explore “observation” in scientific terms and also in art as an artistic skill and application, or in literacy when determining how to present and represent observations in words. Content is also revisited in different contexts: A student might explore “adaptation” from the point of view of evolutionary change, from a social or psychological perspective, or as an engineering precept.

Integration also makes explicit the links between different disciplines and between human and natural systems, breaking down rigid separation between them and showing how these systems must work together if students are to solve problems and view issues from multiple perspectives.

Integration provides for collaborative instruction among educators in these ways:o Encouraging professional learning communitieso Helping teachers learn to work in teams and groupso Undoing the isolation of the classroom by providing mutual support and feedback as

well as shared goals

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Implementing Project-Based Learning

Conventional EducationConventional education often uses less-complex, discrete learning activities to achieve learning goals. Tests and separate unit assessments are common in traditional approaches. Although some traditional approaches include project-based learning, they are the exception and usually not the norm.

Environment-Based EducationEnvironment-based education emphasizes the importance of project-based learning for the following reasons:

Students work toward completion of a final activity or outcome that requires many complex steps and tasks for success.

The project is based on real-world issues or problems. The project requires hands-on experience of the subject being studied. The project requires higher cognitive skills and critical thinking for investigation, problem-

solving, argumentation, and making decisions. The final project is usually cumulative, the culmination of many tasks that lead to a final

outcome.

One example of project-based learning is asking students to plant a garden in the back of the school. This project is the culmination of many steps, including these:

Learning how plants grow Determining what materials are required to build the garden Understanding what the local environmental conditions will support


Determining the space requirements and other needs of each plant Selecting the plants Mapping the garden area and plotting the location of different plants Obtaining permission from the school to create the garden Educating the community about the garden, its use, and its care

The completed garden is a culmination of all the steps and learning that came before.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Check Your UnderstandingInstructional TextDrag a line from the concept on the left to the appropriate example on the right. Click Submit when you are finished.

Using local versus exotic ecosystemsA teacher in the Midwest takes her students to a nearby creek to study the effects of erosion rather than reading about how the Colorado River formed the Grand Canyon.Learning by doing, not using models or tellingStudents plant a series of plants in varying amounts of sunlight to determine the best amount of sun for the type of plant.Using real ecosystems, not “in a bottle” approachesInstead of placing two or three species of insects in a controlled environment, students observe the location, behavior, and interaction of insects in a nearby field.Applying student-centered versus teacher-centered instructionA teacher begins a unit on ecology by asking the students to determine their goals, outcomes, and definitions of effectiveness.Applying inquiry versus known-outcome labsA teacher replaces a lab where vinegar and baking soda are combined to cause a known reaction with a lab where samples of materials of unknown composition are combined with known chemicals to observe reactions that give clues to the identity of the collected samples.Integrating across disciplinesAn English teacher and a math teacher combine their efforts to team-teach a unit about reporting an increase in pine beetle damage to local trees.Implementing project-based learning

Students plant a garden, learning about planting techniques, horticulture, and the types of plants supported by local ecosystem. The completed garden is their final project.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An Introduction to the IEC and Understanding by Design Frameworks

Now that we have a better understanding of environment-based education, we will introduce two key frameworks that serve as the foundation for how we approach the development of the instructional units we will create for this course. The remainder of this lesson focuses on introducing the key ideas of Understanding by Design and the Integrated Ecology Curriculum (IEC) frameworks. We will provide an overview of the approaches, define some key terms, and share the key tenets of the frameworks. This lesson simply introduces the concepts—future lessons will provide more details and give you a chance to apply these concepts as you build your instructional unit.


The Columbia University Center for Environment, Economy, and Society (CEES) has developed the Integrated Ecology approach, which employs the backward planning method detailed in the Understanding by Design textbook to ensure that every activity is created with end goals and competencies in mind.

It takes deliberate planning to create a successful curriculum. In practice, Understanding by Design offers a three-stage “backward planning” curriculum design process, a set of design standards with rubrics, and a comprehensive training package to help teachers design and critique their lessons and support materials. Backward design is a key component of the Understanding by Design approach to learning. At times, we will use the terms interchangeably but Understanding by Design is the overall educational approach described in the book by the same name by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, while backward design is one of the key concepts of that approach.

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The Essential Aspects of the IEC Approach

The Integrated Ecology Curriculum (IEC) emphasizes the local environment, practice of actual research and field techniques, and specific support for literacy. This approach combines the concepts of environment-based education with the backward design method to most effectively use ecological concepts to engage students in the learning process.

This screen lists the fundamental aspects of the IEC approach.

Learning by DoingThe IEC approach promotes learning that derives from the student’s own experience. Students learn to do a survey, for example, by conducting a survey, not by reading a description or studying someone else’s survey.Grappling with Skills and ContentIn the IEC approach, learning is achieved by allowing students to maneuver through and struggle with the content. Teachers can facilitate learning in these ways:

Establishing rigorous standards Rather than develop activities in terms of what students can do now, plan what you hope for them to be able to do and develop the activities can get them there.

Fight the temptation to lower expectations. Allowing students to help develop the standards of achievement

For example, what is a good observation? Several exercises take students through a process of defining this for themselves and then applying the definition to their own work.

Valuing persistenceHelp students get comfortable with difficulty and with the idea that they won’t be perfect at first. Practicing skills repeatedly in different activities and highlighting student improvements as they go helps students see the process and their own progress.

Observation as the Key Gateway Skill to Critical Thinking


In the IEC approach, observation (and related data collection and analysis) is the central activity that guides students through ever-more complex tasks, from noticing patterns in order to devise questions, to analyzing and synthesizing final results.AuthenticityIn the IEC approach, students work with real objects, real locations, and real issues by employing real methods. They are not given imaginary or far-off subjects for study and research. Everything they do is rooted in true, real-world circumstances in their local area. There are no canned lessons with pre-determined outcomes. What students learn has relevance and utility close to home.IndependenceThe IEC approach promotes independence. Students move toward independent thought and critical thinking by making their own choices. They are given choices within activities (with guidance) and are asked to complete increasingly rigorous tasks, applying skills more and more independently.Expanded ClassroomBy providing learning activities in informal learning settings such as outdoors, in museums, and at community organizations, the IEC approach promotes a culture of “full-life learning” in which students value learning in all areas of their lives.Active LearningThe IEC approach enables students to choose hands-on or exploratory exercises over passive, secondhand learning. Active learning makes ideas visible and tangible by providing materials and objects for manipulation and testing.Emphasis on Literacy and Language ConceptsThe IEC approach focuses on content literacy by allowing students to learn by practicing and by using appropriate vocabulary to describe and write about concepts in their own words. The IEC approach includes activities to bolster English language literacy in every unit regardless of topical or subject focus.Products as an Outcome of Previous Steps in UnitRather than repeating or summarizing skills and knowledge in a final short-term project, in the IEC approach, the project is the unit. Interim assessments are built in and occur during the unit, with the final project being the result of accumulated knowledge and competency. This approach promotes persistence by emphasizing the process of continual building, improvement, and refinement leading to a final product.Local/Personal RelevanceThe IEC approach focuses on issues, locations, and ideas that are within the reach and experience of the students and that are directly relevant to the student and/or the community.

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Check Your UnderstandingInstructional TextIn this exercise, you are given a list of scenarios and IEC approach concepts. To complete the exercise, drag and drop each scenario to the IEC concept that it best exemplifies. Click Submit when you are done.IndependenceA teacher allows students to make choices (with guidance) about how best to observe the behavior of frogs at a nearby pond while ensuring that students complete increasingly rigorous tasks as the unit progresses.Expanded ClassroomA teacher includes field trips to the local natural history museum and takes the class outside to study nature.


Products as an Outcome of Previous Steps in UnitStudents learning about the effect of precipitation on plant life create a report. Throughout the unit, every assignment they do builds new skills (such as how to measure precipitation and plant growth) and provides new content knowledge needed to be able to collect information and contribute to the report.Emphasis on Literacy and Language ConceptsTo begin learning about photosynthesis, students are introduced to some of the key concepts and vocabulary and encouraged to describe and write about the concepts in their own words.Local/Personal RelevanceA student investigates the increase of bear sightings in his suburban neighborhood and learns that housing developments are being built closer and closer to forested areas. He never realized that there were bears nearby or that they lived in the woods he sees from the road.

Week 3: Observation1. Lesson Introduction2. Observation as a core skill3. Level 1 Observation4. Level 2 Observation5. Lesson Summary

Topics: Observation skills Using real objects as primary documents

Lesson Introduction

Welcome to Lesson 3 of the Sustainable Communities course. This lesson discusses one way to introduce the idea of sustainability to students and to help them define their understanding of the term. The lesson then explores observation as a keystone skill that underlies all aspects of inquiry and investigation. From simple description, to classification, to testing hypotheses and supporting arguments, each level of observation scaffolds increasingly complex thinking, skills, and understandings.

This week we will explore how to teach students to be perceptive and effective observers and how to glean insights from what they observe. Activities guide the students step-by-step through the levels of observation, building mastery that will eventually prepare them for complex investigations.

Observation

Template Type Text with default static image – Use image for this lesson watermarked in this screen


Deriving a Class Definition of SustainabilityStudents will have heard the word sustainability but because the term is used many different

ways, students might have only a vague idea of what it really means. When students begin a sustainability unit, teachers can add clarity by leading them to create a collective, student-generated definition that they come to through their own efforts.

Using a student-generated definition can result in several benefits: The actual act of deriving the definition causes students to exercise critical thinking skills. After the definition is established, it can be posted on the wall to serve as a constant rubric for

students to refer to throughout the class. A student-determined definition gives students a sense of ownership and a sense of

independence that encourages buy-in. Students will better remember and retain an understanding of this complicated and difficult

concept because they defined it themselves.

Although this is a student-centered activity, as the teacher you must ensure that it results in a sufficiently accurate, clear, and agreed-on definition. This definition will serve as the basis for many future discussions about whether various conditions, policies, and actions are “sustainable.”

Comments to Developer Create an animated build of these bullets. Use check marks for the bullets

Observation

Understanding SustainabilityYou can facilitate a simple activity to illustrate the facets of sustainability. Although highlights of

the activity are presented in this lesson, refer to the Resources section of the LMS to access the worksheets and examples for the activity.

The goal of this activity is to come up with a definition of sustainability. This definition, or criteria, will be used as a standard measure for the rest of the class.

Observation

Defining SustainabilityThe Defining Sustainability worksheet provides a step-by-step approach to deriving a working

definition of sustainability. Click the button to see the Defining Sustainability worksheet.

Defining Sustainability Worksheet

To come up with the definition, you will lead students through a collective brainstorming exercise based on their current knowledge to come up with an initial definition.


Students read a series of statements that use the words sustain and sustainability. Then each student writes his or her own definition. After students have written their own definitions, the class discusses their definitions with one another and finally settles on a class definition of sustainability.

Next, they will undertake analysis of various graphs depicting topics such as deforestation or rising obesity rates in the United States. This analysis provides students with information that might be new to them and/or cause them to re-think their definition. They will use the worksheet entitled Analyzing the Data: What Are Some of the Important Issues Connected to Sustainability in Today’s World?

to work through the trends presented in the graphs and the implications of these trends for sustainability. You can find this worksheet in the Resources section of the LMS.

At that point, you should revisit the graphic organizer on the board and ask students for any revisions they may want to make to the definition.

Examples of graphs you can use for this activity can be found in the Resources section of the LMS and

include the following: World population growth Global temperature change Asthma rates in specific populations Prevalence of obesity in children by decade (National Health Statistics) Obesity and high fructose corn syrup Portion sizes in the United States New hybrid vehicles on the road Deforestation Rising atmospheric CO2 levels

Link Source Week 3 AssetsWorksheets and OtherDefining Sustainability Worksheet.doc

Image Link SustainabilityWeek 3 AssetsImagesWorld Population Growth Chart[Chart image]

Caption (optional)Comments to Developer Make “Worksheet” a button that, when clicked, opens a pdf of defining sustainability week 3.doc. Make it so that you can click the PDF to download it.

Observation

Introduction to ObservationThroughout the sustainability unit, students are presented with many opportunities to build

their observation skills. They observe the natural and built world and use those observations as a springboard to understanding larger concepts related to society and the environment.


Observation is a foundational process skill that is part of any curriculum. Each of the other science process skills requires that students first make a set of observations. For example, in order to make an inference, there must be observations from which to draw.

Observation as an activity is a critical skill that underlies all aspects of inquiry and investigation. Observations help us form hypotheses and meaningful questions. Through observation, we can build increasingly complex thinking skills and understanding:

Through observation, you notice things: patterns, similarities, differences, deviations from pattern, or just interesting traits.

Observation allows you to describe what you notice, with more or less accuracy, nuance, and vividness.

Observation allows you to characterize and categorize what you notice, usually by comparing patterns or similarities to something with which you are already familiar.

After you observe something, you can wonder and ask questions about it. Asking good questions and developing testable questions are key to inquiry-based investigation.

Observation allows you to make inferences about what you see, guessing at the meaning of phenomena (“I don’t hear songbirds at night. I guess they might be asleep”).

Observation is needed to create testable hypotheses based on your questions and inferences. Observation helps determine what data is needed to answer your question. Observation allows you to select and evaluate evidence to support your inferences, arguments,

and conclusions.

Note: You might want to derive the definition of an excellent observation as an introduction to the idea of careful looking.

Source: Theo Small. "On Observation." NSTA-National Science Teachers Association. 7 December 2005.

NSTA. Accessed 23 May 2012.

Glossary (term + definition)observation

Viewing with awareness or intentionality, or noting a fact or occurrence.Link Source

Image Link SCWeek 3Images SC transect surveyers with camera.jpg

[photo]

Comments to Developer Have these bullets be an animated build. Present the first bullet as a block on the bottom, with the text in the bullet in the block. Then, reveal the second block in the stack, with the text of the 2nd bullet in that block. Continue until all of the blocks have been built and labeled.

It’s not really a pyramid; it’s more like a stack of blocks.

Observation


Levels of ObservationObservation is not limited to the initial stages of a project. Each level of inquiry based on

observation leads to increasingly complex thinking skills and understandings. As noted earlier, the first step could be helping students derive their own definition of an excellent observation just as they derived a definition of sustainability. Refer to the worksheet, What Must We Notice to Make an Excellent Scientific? in the Resources section of the LMS for notes on how to conduct this activity.

Beyond simply describing observations, however, students need to master higher levels of observation before they can undertake inquiry:

Level 1: What makes an excellent observation? Level 2: Asking questions Level 3: Making Inferences

We will describe each level of observation and then walk through sample activities that demonstrate them.

Level 1 Observation

Observations Versus InferencesBefore we move on to discuss the higher levels of observation, it is important to examine the

distinction between observation and inference. Whereas observation is simply noticing facts, inferences are the conclusions drawn from those observations. For example, a student might observe that a branch has some bark missing. This observation might lead them to the inference that small animals have been gnawing on the branch. Such an inference could then be supported by data or other observations.

It is important to make sure that your students do not confuse inference and observation. This is a common mistake and should be corrected immediately to make the distinction clear. For example, when examining a snake shed, students might say “the scales on the top of the snake are larger than the scales on the belly of the snake.” However, they don’t know which part of the snake shed is from the top or bottom of the snake. They are inferring (guessing) where the top of the snake is, based on their observations and previous knowledge. They might have decided that the holes they noticed on one end were the mouth and eyeholes and deduced the location of the top and bottom of the snake from that observation (and from previous knowledge of what snakes look like). However, you should emphasize to them that the two processes are different—first they made an observation (holes) then they made an inference based on that observation (“I think that the holes are the eyes; if so, I think that this is the top of the snake”).

This distinction becomes crucial when they encounter an unfamiliar object because they won’t have previous knowledge to support their inferences. They should be able to explain what they noticed to defend their inference.

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Check Your UnderstandingInstructional Text Classify each item as an observation or an inference by dragging each item to the appropriate category. Click Submit when you are finished.

Correct Answers (5 pairs max)Observation InferenceThere are no trash cans on this street. People probably litter a lot on this street.Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are rising. Global temperatures will rise as a result of the rising CO2.A hamburger at McDonalds is cheaper than buying hamburger at the grocery store. Low-income families eat more fast food than high-income families do.5% of commuters get to work by bicycle. It’s faster to commute by car or train than by bicycle.

Comments to Developer Have one column be labeled Observation, and one labeled Inference. Randomize each of the items, and have students drag the items and place them in the appropriate column.


Level 1 Observation

Observation Activities: Some SuggestionsInstructional Text (Optional)

Note that you can provide many opportunities for students to practice making observations of different objects, photos, and other items. This repetition should help improve students’ written descriptions and diagrams. You might also want to create a classroom definition of observation, using the same exercise used to derive the classroom definition of sustainability.

Students are often asked to observe and describe in science and other disciplines. It’s important to help them make the explicit effort to create questions and make inferences based on those observations. This is a scientific and generally inquisitive habit of mind. One example of this is, “I noticed that the street has lots of trash on the sidewalk. I wonder where it came from and why it’s not in a trash can.” In this way, students extend the practice of observation to the next level of inquiry and practice their written descriptions and diagrams. By creating questions based on their observations, students build skills that help them form scientific inquiry questions and testable hypothesis later in the unit.

Level 2 Observation

Level 2 Observation Activity: Asking QuestionsInstructional Text (Optional) Click the button to see the blank worksheet and an example of a completed worksheet.

One way to lead students into making inferences is through the use of a T-chart. Click the button to see an example of a completed T-chart worksheet for an observation of a neighborhood street in a web-based maps program. The worksheet not only allows students to record their observations, it goes one step further and prompts students to write a question about what they are observing. Note how the observations are related and lead to inferences and questions.

Neighborhood Photos: Chart Sample

Supplementary Links SustainabilityWeek 3 AssetsWorksheets and OtherT-chart Blank

SustainabilityWeek 3 AssetsWorksheets and OtherT-chart Filled In

Comments to Developer Insert a button called “Neighborhood Photos: Chart Sample” that opens a PDF of SustainabilityWeek 3 AssetsWorksheets and OtherT-chart Blank.

Make the PDF clickable so that the blank chart is replaced by SustainabilityWeek 3 AssetsWorksheets and OtherT-chart Filled In document


Level 2 Observation

Observation Activities: Using the Worksheet To perform the observation activity, follow these steps:

1. Pass out printed photos from “Google Street View” of different streets from your city or town. Make available 4 or 5 street views so that several students have the same photo to analyze.

2. Provide each student with a copy of the What Can We Learn About Sustainability by Looking at a City Street? worksheet.

3. Ask students to work individually on their worksheets to describe the streets in detail.4. Bring students’ attention to the right column of the worksheet that asks them to form questions

based on their observations. Explain that students should write down not only what they notice but what that observation makes them wonder or ask.

Comments to Developer Reveal the number list as a staggered reveal.

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Observation Activities: About Inferences Explain to students why asking questions is important—why scientists need to wonder about

what they observe. When we wonder about something, we naturally start to think of possible answers to our questions. These initial “guesses” are inferences—the conclusions we draw from our observations. Early inferences can become testable questions and hypotheses; we can conduct research and collect data to see whether those inferences turn out to be correct.

Inferences can be about very small, precise facts: “I infer that a caterpillar created the hole in the leaf because I observed a caterpillar on that leaf.” Inferences can also be about broad ideas and theories: “Darwin’s observations about the natural world led him to infer that some species evolved from others. He inferred the theory of evolution; scientists look for evidence that either supports or undermines that theory. So far, it is strongly supported.”

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Observation Activities: Working in Groups The next step in the observation activity is to have students form groups based on the photo

they analyzed (all students with photo 1 in a group, students with photo 2 in another group, and so on). Have the students in each group compare their observations and questions with each other. In the space for the last question on the worksheet, students should note which observations were shared and which were different from the other students who observed the same photo.

As a class, share these differences and similarities and discuss the types of observations that are important in evaluating community issues. Emphasize the complexity of ways in which humans and the environment influence each other.


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Observation Activities: Notice What They Notice Sometimes one student notices the physical conditions of the street while another focuses on

people more than the landscape. Recognize that it’s important to consider both humans and the physical environment and the relationship between the two. You can’t look at just one or the other.

Students might notice a number of aspects of their photos: Differences from what they are used to:

o Very clean or very dirty streetso Many people or fewer people than they’d expecto Different types of businesses or buildings they don’t see in their daily travels

They might not notice things that seem “normal” to them and that they take for granted: o If they live in a residential area, they may not ask why there are no stores, whereas a

city-dwelling child might find that same street view unusual because it lacks stores.o City-dwellers might not remark on the height of a building because they are accustomed

to seeing tall buildings. However, they should take notice of tall apartment buildings because housing many people in limited space is an important tenet of land-use policy with sustainability implications.

oo

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Observation Activities: Discussing as a Class Helping students to recognize their “filters” is an important aspect of this exercise. After

students have shared what they noticed and the questions these observations raised, bring the class back together and lead a discussion. Ask students the following questions:

1. What determines what a person observes?2. What seems important to notice?3. Why?

Discuss any observations that might be missing thus far. It can be fruitful to think about what we don’t see in the photos as well. Not only “missing” things (such as a lack of garbage cans) but the processes and factors invisible in daily life. For example, inside all those building, water is flowing out of taps and through toilets. Electricity is powering lights and appliances. Where is the garbage going to go—outside the frame of the photo? Where are the cars coming from or going to? Also, point out to students that different observations are more useful in different circumstances: If you are investigating green space in New York City, it might not be relevant to notice the clothes people are wearing. However this would be a useful observation if you were investigating fashion trends.

Level 2 Observation


Observation: Making InferencesWhereas the first two levels of observation focus on simple observation and basic questions,

the third level of observation asks students to make inferences based on what they observe, using criteria they have been given. They are told what different observations might mean (providing content knowledge) and they apply their observation ability to making and supporting inferences based on information they have been given.

To demonstrate an example of a level 3 observation, let’s consider an activity that asks students to think about urban planning and land use decisions.

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Observation-Inference Activity: The Queens Museum PanoramaThis activity asks students to examine a birds-eye view of their city or town and to look for clues

that indicate different types of land use. Students use their observations to make inferences about what they see. For example, they might guess that a large building surrounded by parking lots is has a commercial or industrial use.

Students are asked to describe these clues in the graphic organizer/worksheet (available in the Resources section of the LMS) and also make guesses about how humans are using that land. This activity helps students identify salient observations and justify inferences based on those observations.

Finally, students estimate what percentage of the city/town is devoted to which land use. This exercise is a springboard to understanding the different ways that humans need to use land and allocate resources. It also illustrates the extent to which humans impact the land. This activity helps students think about which uses are positive and which are negative; which are necessary and which are not.

Note

Link SourceImage Link SustainabilityWeek 3 AssetsImagesNYC Panorama

[photo]

Comments to Developer Insert a button titled: Note. When the button is clicked, reveal the following statement:

This activity uses a 3D model of New York City (found in the Queens Museum of Art) to teach about how land is used for residential, commercial, and industrial purposes—as well as for parks and other green spaces. You can develop a similar exercise using Google Earth to show a “birds-eye view” of your location. You might also want to use the “<Name of City> from Above” photographs that are popularly available.


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Time to ReflectInstructional Text Reflect on these items.

Question Now that you know the importance of observation and the role that different levels of observation play in scientific inquiry and investigation, think about how you can design and implement observation activities into your lesson plans. Make a list of three activity ideas you can test in your own classroom.

Lesson Summary

We’ve reached the end of Lesson 3. This lesson examined the importance of observation, the different levels of observation, and how to use real objects as primary documents.

This week’s group work will give you a chance to collaborate with your colleagues to derive a definition of sustainability. The term is contentious and debated by many, so don’t assume that you will all agree. It’s not only an interesting exercise but one that is necessary to ensure that you have some clarity about the topic before you explore it with your students. You will be instructed to post your initial ideas about the essential meaning of sustainability online in a class Wiki. Then you will analyze the different contributions and comment on them. Read the Group Work for Week 3 document in the Resources section of the LMS for further instructions on this week’s group work.


Week 4: Learning by Doing

1. Lesson Introduction2. Authentic and Cumulative Projects3. Authentic and Cumulative Project Examples4. Project-Based Learning5. Lesson Summary

Lesson Description Topics: Authentic and cumulative projects Benefits of project-based learning

Lesson Introduction

Lesson IntroductionWelcome to Lesson 4 of the Sustainable Communities course. This lesson explores authentic

investigation, also known as learning by doing. In traditional classrooms, science and other forms of investigation and research are often presented in a second-hand, contrived, abstract, or less-than-authentic way. By learning by doing, the IEC approach emphasizes authenticity in all its activities in the following ways:

Focusing on local ecosystems and resources where the students live Applying content to real-world questions and issues that are relevant to your students Conducting research in real-life settings with real-world objects and organisms Conducting the same research methods and activities that real-world scientists use to collect

data and investigate questions

The IEC approach promotes cumulative projects that clearly rely on the skills and content students have acquired previously, either before the class started or sometime earlier in the class. Cumulative projects allow students to build their skills and connect what they are learning to a larger context with more meaningful application. They also promote persistence over time as students see how their efforts build toward an end result, and as they witness their own improvement over time.

In this lesson we will do the following: Explore examples of learning by doing Describe the benefits of project-based learning

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Authentic and Cumulative Projects

Criteria for Authentic Projects

The IEC approach uses authentic projects, which are projects that focus on real-world issues, centered on local ecosystems and resources where the students live.


According to the Understanding by Design authors Wiggins and McTighe, a project is considered authentic if it has the following characteristics:

Is realistically contextualized, or based in a real-world context Requires judgment and innovation Asks the student to “do” rather than “watch” or read about a topic Replicates real-world challenging situations that truly test students Assesses the student’s ability to effectively use knowledge or skills to complete a complex or

multistage task Provides opportunities to rehearse, practice, reference resource materials, get feedback, and

refine the skills being taught [UbD, p 154]

Source: Wiggins, Grant and McTighe, Jay. Understanding by Design. Expanded 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education, Inc., 2006.

Glossary (term + definition)authentic projects

Projects that focus on real-world environments or situations where one lives.

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Advantages of Authentic Projects

Authentic projects can offer many advantages over more traditional projects that are based solely on exercises. Wiggins and McTighe assert that authentic projects are beneficial in that they allow students to discover two important things:

How the knowledge and skills of the lesson are really applied (or not applied) in the real world. How each discrete lesson is meaningful, that is, how mastery of the tasks of each lesson can

lead to higher performance in more important or complex tasks [UbD, p 155].

By applying content to real-world questions and issues that are relevant to students and by conducting research in real-life settings with real-world objects, students see that projects pertain to them and are relevant to the world with which they interact. When students carry out the research methods and activities that real-world scientists use to collect data and investigate questions, they are learning real-world, transferable skills.

Source: Wiggins, Grant and McTighe, Jay. Understanding by Design. Expanded 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education, Inc., 2006.

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Cumulative Projects

In addition to authenticity, the IEC approach favors cumulative projects, with activities that contribute toward a final outcome. The IEC approach also helps students build their skills over time. Just as the continuum of instruction leads students from introduction, to practice, through mastery and assessment, the trajectory of a good project should lead students through tasks and outcomes that will contribute to or be expressed in the final project output.


For example, early observation activities build skills and a content base that students will need to carry out the neighborhood surveys, which in turn will provide the data they use to assess the community in terms of health and sustainability. Students will see how—and should be reminded that—everything they learn during the unit is useful and necessary to reach their outcome.

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Check Your UnderstandingInstructional Text Drag a line from each concept on the left to the example demonstrating that concept on the right. Click Submit when you are finished.

Correct Answers (5 pairs max) Concept ExampleLearning by doing Students learn about conducting surveys by actually developing and administering a survey about the health of people residing near a highway.Cumulative project Over the course of a unit, students compile information about the wildlife in a park, including their interactions and the conditions they need to survive. They then use this information to assess the effect that a new parking lot next to the park would have on the wildlife.Authentic project Students study pollution levels of the reservoir that supplies the water they use at home to drink and bathe in.

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Authentic and Cumulative Project Examples

Examples of Authentic and Cumulative Projects

Now that you understand the nature and benefits of authentic and cumulative projects, we will examine sample projects that apply the principle of learning by doing within the context of cumulative projects that focus on authentic objects and activities.

Although each of the following projects addresses a different set of circumstances, note that all the projects focus on local, real-world activities that allow students to learn by doing. Here are the sample projects we will study in this lesson:

o Project 1: Sustainable Design and Community Development o Project 2: Garden/Journalism Project

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Sustainable Design and Community Development: Background

Our first sample project took place at Lyons Community School in Brooklyn. Lyons was a newly founded school that had been open for only one year when Columbia curriculum specialists began to work with its faculty. The school staff included many first- and second-year teachers, and the SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES PRESENTATION TEXT ONLINE COURSE 2

5

administration hoped to provide professional support and curriculum development guidance through collaboration with the IEC program. Lyons is unusual in that the school devotes a half day each week to integrated, cross-disciplinary “field studies” units, with a different theme each quarter. In the following IEC collaboration, the school chose the theme of community sustainability.

This unit was created with the intention that it become a permanent fixture in the curriculum, to be conducted every year by each 7th grade class. Columbia guided development of two quarter-long field studies units over the course of two years. Five different instructors led the units overall. Meryl and Rob were the designated field studies instructors who coordinated the unit planning with science teachers Zach and James. Robert was the instructor for a section of English Language Learning students who participated in the unit.

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Sustainable Design and Community Development: Background (cont’d)

The Lyons School administration has a particular vision for the school that focuses on ensuring the development of critical and scientific habits of mind and transferable cognitive skills. These skills bolster student performance in all subjects. Therefore, many of the field studies lessons and activities are aimed at sharpening students’ skills of observation, questioning, and analysis. Although these activities are first developed in the science department, they are expanded and practiced across disciplines as a result of the integrated field studies program.

This new school was housed in an old building, with deteriorated, asphalt-covered exterior lots that had lost usefulness and certainly beauty over the years. The faculty decided on a project that invited students to redesign one of the lots with sustainability, utility, and aesthetics in mind. Each student would complete the unit by writing a proposal to submit to the NYC Department of Education for approval. A winning proposal—voted on by the class—would be sent to the DoE and would be implemented by the school the following year.

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Sustainable Design and Community Development: Beginning the Project

Students began the unit by collaboratively deriving a class definition of sustainability based on their existing knowledge and ideas. They were then asked to analyze graphs depicting data about topics such as population growth, waste, and energy use. This data analysis prompted revision of the class definition as a result of the new understandings gained during the exercise. This introductory lesson also acted as a springboard for later classroom discussions about how personal choices relate to sustainability issues.

After gaining a basic understanding of sustainability in the classroom, students were taken to visit various community organizations and local groups devoted to developing and demonstrating solutions for various sustainability issues. Students could use these experiences as models and inspiration for their school space redesign. Each trip or activity focused on a specific aspect of sustainability.

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Sustainable Design and Community Development: Field Studies

Students visited Solar 1, a local educational organization that advocates use of renewable energy sources. There they examined the science and mechanics of solar energy generation by studying solar panels for general energy production and by building solar cars to understand the transfer of solar to kinetic energy. Back in school, they built their own solar ovens—and cooked a snack with them—as another illustration of the applications of solar energy.

A trip to the Brooklyn Bridge Conservancy focused on waste reduction using low-process recycling. In the Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass (DUMBO) section of Brooklyn, an entire public park and education center had been built using reclaimed and reused materials, including stone from a bridge and wood and metals taken from a demolished coal storage facility and other defunct buildings on the pier.

Students discussed the benefits and disadvantages of different materials and sources. They focused not only on the re-use of materials, but also on the energy savings realized by using locally reclaimed items rather than materials shipped from distant locations. Building the park with locally procured materials also helped retain the historically accurate cultural and natural character of the area.

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Sustainable Design and Community Development: Field Studies (cont’d)

The students next examined issues of community investment and self-sufficiency in a visit to East NY Farms. East NY Farms is an urban farm in the heart of Brooklyn that provides land for locally grown crops that are sold at a community-run farmers’ market. The proceeds go directly back to the farmers. The farm is conceived as an economic project that provides jobs for neighborhood residents who raise and sell produce for profit. The farmer-residents receive these profits as income to be spent and reinvested locally, creating a cycle of community benefit.

Not only does the farm encourage local economic development, it also supplies lower-cost, healthy food to a neighborhood with proportionally few grocery stores and food markets. The farm expands its pursuit of self-sufficiency and sustainability by harvesting rainwater for irrigation and conducting other profitable activities such as bee-keeping.

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Sustainable Design and Community Development: SpeakersIn addition to these offsite trips, the Lyons faculty also invited special speakers to come into the

classroom and present topics of interest to the students. Speakers included representatives from the Bamboo Bike Studio, the NYC Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, and a New York representative of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA).

The speakers, tours, and demonstrations at site visits provided ample opportunity for students to practice careful listening. They gathered information from visual and spoken sources and related new information back to the larger project at hand: how to best redesign the school space.


Every trip and speaker had a related worksheet or activity to ensure that students would synthesize and reflect on the content presented.

Moreover, exposure to community organizations illustrated the many ways that people organize together to work for desired changes: as non-profit, for-profit, educational, and governmental advocates.

Thus informed and inspired, the class entered into the planning phase of the activity.

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Sustainable Design and Community Development: Implementation

The students conducted a survey of the space to define baseline conditions, identify structures and items that were already present, and think about ways that the space could be put to better use—whether by making it more aesthetically pleasing or by fulfilling specific identified needs. Students wrote initial proposals, deciding on goals for the space, arguing the merits for the uses they proposed, and outlining specific actions to meet those goals.

Student priorities varied: some wanted to provide green space in general, while others wanted to grow food for the cafeteria. Some preferred to install solar panels to provide energy for the school, while others wanted to create a community gathering place with benches and recreational areas built from reclaimed materials.

Each student wrote their own proposal following a structured outline. The class then voted on a winning proposal to present to the principal and to the DoE as a blueprint to carry out the following year. They hoped to develop similar proposals for a vacant lot in the neighborhood in subsequent years.

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Sustainable Design and Community Development: Year 2

Unfortunately, the DoE did not approve the proposed redesign of the school space, so the planned implementation portion of the project for year 2 was not carried out. Instead, students turned their efforts toward addressing sustainability needs in the general neighborhood around the school. They undertook a survey along a transect of the neighborhood to identify environmental burdens and amenities. After an analysis of those results, the students opted to focus their efforts on addressing the lack of green space nearby.

Armed with the experiences of the previous year, students reviewed various options to create green space, taking to heart the logistic difficulties they’d already encountered in getting official sanction and support for changes. Thus they decided to pursue small-scale, individual, and small-group solutions that could be implemented without need for permissions and that might demonstrate to the community and decision makers the benefits that could be gained from even small changes.

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Sustainable Design and Community Development: Year 2 (cont’d)

Students particularly liked the concept of “seed bombing”: creating small balls of compost, clay, and wildflower seeds that self-germinate when it rains. Spreading these “flower bombs” in vacant lots, tree pits, and other barren areas was an easy and inexpensive way to beautify the neighborhood. Students promoted the practice more broadly by distributing seed balls to members of the community. The final project involved identifying appropriate lots to “bomb” and creating a publication to educate the community about the benefits of green spaces.

Articles in the publication covered topics such as using green cover to prevent flooding of combined sewer overflow, to limit runoff of pollutants into the waterways, and to cool the local microclimate through transpiration. As hoped, the project promoted community involvement and buy-in.

The owner of one of the identified empty lots saw the class conducting its neighborhood survey and asked about the project. He supported their efforts and invited them to go beyond “seed bombs” and to undertake a full-fledged sustainable landscape design in his lot that included planting. This example showed students how small educational and demonstration efforts can ignite the nascent desire of the community to improve conditions, thus creating a snowball effect. After neighbors saw the effective initial efforts, they were motivated to join in, increasing the scope and success of the project.

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Garden Journalism Project: Background

The Garden Journalism Sustainable Communities unit was introduced at a 500-student middle school in Brooklyn, NY, with the science, English language arts (ELA), and math teachers collaborating on the project curriculum. The final project included designing and planting a garden plot at a local community garden and creating a neighborhood newsletter that educated the community about the value of green space for human and environmental health.

Image Link SCWeek 4 Assets Community Garden 1.jpg [photo]

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Garden Journalism Project: Research

Students learned about the personal and community benefits of community gardens through a close reading and analysis of the fictionalized but highly realistic stories presented in the novel, Seedfolks. The book presents the perspectives of diverse members of an urban neighborhood as they slowly transform an empty lot into a working garden for the community. Each gardener has different reasons for joining the gardening project and brings motivations and viewpoints unique to his or her personal and cultural history.


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Garden Journalism Project: Tabletop Labs

With the Seedfolks stories as backdrop and motivation, students worked in science class to understand basic plant science and nutrition. Tabletop labs demonstrated primary concepts such as photosynthesis and plant physiology. For example, the albino corn lab and the celery lab illustrated the mechanisms by which plants create and distribute energy and nutrients for survival. This information guided student selection of plants appropriate to the light, water, and soil characteristics of their garden plot and helped them understand the health and human benefits of gardens and fresh produce.

The tabletop labs bolstered science process skills while providing practice using models and creating inferences from observations. A trip to the Science Barge provided an outdoor counterpart to the labs, allowing students to see sustainable methods of horticulture in action, including aquaculture and other less land-intensive strategies. The trip also reinforced science content by highlighting how a plant’s need for water, nutrients, and sunlight can be met in unconventional ways. The labs and the Science Barge trip together provided practical horticultural information and ideas for sustainable agricultural practices that the students could consider when planning their garden.

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Garden Journalism Project: Math

Math teacher Mr. Smalls developed applied-math content. Smalls led students through the process of creating accurate to-scale blueprints of the garden plots after students had roughly sketched out their plans “by eye.” The blueprints included the outer dimensions of the plots and mapped the precise locations of each different plant or species as appropriate to the space required by each to grow.

Before planting their crops, students tested their soil for essential nutrients and compared the existing nutrient profile (a ratio of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium) to what is considered optimal for the various plants. They then had to calculate whether they needed to add fertilizer and how much would be needed to reach the desired nutrient ratios.

Thus the unit successfully incorporated the math concepts—including proportions, fractions, geometry, and measurement—that Mr. Smalls needed to cover in his scope and sequence and provided ample application of the concepts to this real-world problem.

Image LinkSC Week 4 Assets Community Garden 2.jpg

[photo]

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Garden Journalism Project: Literacy

With the garden planted, literacy took center stage once again as students reported on their garden project in a community newsletter that they wrote, designed, and printed in color. The newsletter was distributed to cafes, restaurants, and retail stores in the area. ELA teacher Betsy Kelly designed a framework for the journalism unit that gave students the freedom to choose their preferred topics, relating the garden-planting project to issues of health, green spaces, or nutrition.

Ms. Kelly needed to differentiate her activities to include special education learners in her classroom. The flexible structure of the newsletter allowed students of different abilities and learning styles to showcase their strengths while demonstrating their learning. For example, in addition to written articles, some students created crossword puzzles, cartoons, an advertisement about healthy alternatives to processed foods, and educational captions for photos.

Literacy was also supported in science class as students wrote informative essays to explain specific plant processes. These were included in the newsletter to support the project goal of educating the community about the benefits of gardens and green spaces, especially with regard to environmental conditions, personal health, and nutrition. The newsletter also served as an outreach tool by encouraging personal and civic investment in the gardens through volunteering and by advocating on the behalf of community gardens.

Link SourceImage Link SC Week 4 asset news magazine_Page_01

[photo]

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Garden Journalism Project: Community Involvement

It is worth noting that this project became a real-world demonstration of how community involvement created support networks that mutually benefited the school and the community. In preparation for the unit, the school’s teachers reached out to various neighborhood gardens and learned that the Patchen Avenue garden was sorely in need of volunteers. This venerable garden had been in existence for so long that membership was in decline because of its aging volunteers.

The school was able to provide literally dozens of new, young, and eager volunteers to help plant neglected plots and maintain the public spaces. Students’ tasks included weeding and watering, harvesting vegetables and fruit, and turning the compost. In return, the school got a living learning studio where students witnessed and practiced first-hand all they had learned in their literacy, science, and math activities…with delicious results.

Image Link SC Week 4 Assets Community Garden 3.jpg

[photo]

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Authentic and Cumulative Project Examples

Time to Reflect

Question Based on what you learned in this lesson, what activities can you implement into your instruction that allow students to learn by doing? What are the advantages of this approach?

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Project-Based Learning

Project-Based Learning

Although the projects we examined in this lesson differ in approach and goals, they are similar in that each provided an example of project-based learning. Whether the end result of the project was a community garden, a newsletter, or improved community space, the common thread is that students worked toward a cumulative end product that showcased what they learned.

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Benefits of Project-Based Learning

Here are some of the many benefits to project-based learning: Increases motivation by providing valid, valuable, real-world work that is applicable to issues Allows students to see first-hand the results of their efforts Provides opportunity for independence and accomplishment Allows for building of real transferable skills (not limited to science), including collecting data,

evaluating information, presenting and analyzing data, and drawing and supporting conclusions Allows students to become familiar with broadly applicable tools and methods, including how to

design a survey, how to do a tally, how to outline a study plot, and how to define a question Exposes students to the concept of stewardship by giving them a sense of place

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Lesson Summary

We’ve come to the end of Lesson 4. This lesson explored the benefits of learning by doing and using project-based learning.

This week’s group work will give you a chance to discuss your project ideas and possibilities for collaboration. You will start to think about and share ideas on how you are going to build the skills and


content your students need to master your lesson. Read the Group Work for Week 4 document in the Resources section of the LMS for further instructions on this week’s group work.

SourcesWiggins, Grant and McTighe, Jay. Understanding by Design. Expanded 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education, Inc., 2006.


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