Lighthouse Project
                         
​                                  by:  Rebecca Sandee

OVERVIEW:

Students embarked on a learning journey to discover how humans have used light to communicate over distances both presently and in the past.  The project provided several peak moments for students to layer new knowledge over pre-existing foundation.  An interdisciplinary approach was implemented mindfully with the goal of appealing to all learners and at a variety of levels.  Students created a fully-functioning lighthouse and wrote a code to use it to communicate with others.    

• 1-PS4-4 Use tools and materials to design and build a device that uses light or sound to solve the problem of communicating over a distance.
• CCSS W.1.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of "how-to" books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of instructions).
• CCSS 1.G.A.2 Compose two-dimensional shapes or three-dimensional shapes to create a composite shape, and compose new shapes from the composite shape.​

Driving Question: How do humans use light to communicate over a distance?

• Students did not use a specific tool for critique and revision.  However, after they wrote their codes, they shared the code with a classmate and then tried to send a message.  In this way, they could see if their code was comprehensible and made changes before presenting the lighthouses to the U.S. Coast Guard. ​

• Students visited White River light station, a local lighthouse and toured the facility.  They showed interest in learning about shipwrecks that have happened in Lake Michigan and explored how those could have possibly been prevented. ​

• Students presented their lighthouses to the USCG in our school’s media center. 

• Students studied a variety of lighthouse designs from around the world before deciding what type of lighthouse they wanted to build themselves.  Students also got to choose the messages that they wanted their lighthouse to convey to boaters.  There were your typical distress calls, but also they gave fishing recommendations and warnings of invasive species through their creativity.  
• Students also could post any wonderings they had on our “Wall of Wonder” to be answered during a portion of our day we call “Inquiry” class.​

• Career Tech Center, MAISD 
• Jason Herbert, D BMC United State Coast Guard

        ​STUDENT REFLECTIONS

     "Making a lighthouse was really memorable and we got to show it off to people it mattered to.  It was much more meaningful than worksheets about lights."  ~Hope

     "It was really fun to make a lighthouse and working with friends made it even better.  It was the best part of the whole school year.  My favorite part of making a secret code."  ~Ariella

• Students reflected through Google Slides that were shared with the teacher throughout the project.  We carved out several minutes of time after meaningful activities and experiments to free write about the experience and process the many multi-sensory opportunities.    
• In early elementary, discussion is a meaningful way to reflect as well, since getting words down on paper can be difficult, so students did have a work buddy to converse with as well.  The work buddy also provided feedback periodically. ​

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• Project sequence link 
• Project planning template
• Project Photos 
• Project Video - student simulation                                                       

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Meet the Educator:

Rebecca Sandee teaches a 1st/2nd grade split at Reeths Puffer's Central Elementary. 

     "The strength of the lighthouse project lies in its interdisciplinary components.  If one part of the project did not appeal as much to a learner, there were so many other parts that did!  It appealed to the designers, engineers, communicators, artists, writers and more.  I loved leading learners through the history of the Great Lakes."