Collecting Rainwater & Sustainability
          By:  Jamie Troth & Jillian Duffy

Project at a Glance :

This project has students applying math standards to help the school become more sustainable by designing a system to collect and utilize rainwater.
       
Driving Question:

​How can your school collect and utilize rainwater to be more sustainable? How can we design a device to collect and utilize as much water as possible to become more sustainable?             

Standards:

• CC.9-12.N.Q.1, CC.9-12.N.Q.2, CC.9-12.N.Q.3,  CCSS.HSG.MG.A.3, & CCSS.HSG.GMD.A.3 

Team / Culture Building:

• Create Demographic Teams
• Marshmallow Challenge
• The Imposter Icebreaker
• Lost at Sea Team Building Activity​

Entry Event:

• Tally water usage in a day at home. (Every time they use shower, drink water, brush teeth, wash hands, etc)
• Share - What water do you drink? Water sustainability video

Stakeholders:

• Representative from their “home” school district
• Students

Empathy Building:

• Innovator's Compass​

• Create Empathy Maps for Stakeholders​

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

•  Using Stormboard - brainstorm What they know... What they wonder… about the driving question.
• Direct instruction of mathematical standards students need to know to better understand the driving question.

Incubation:

• Anti-Problem protocol to diver deeper into the real problem

• Idea Quota - generate 100 solution ideas in 5 minutes
• Rule of Thirds​

•  3-12-3  ​​

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Solution Building:

• Each person chooses their best 3 ideas, so there is a total of 9-12 idea per group.
• Students will use Dot Voting to pick the top three ideas per group.
• Create an  Elevator Pitch for their solution idea and share with another group for feedback.​

Critique and Revision: 

• Point of View Statement - bring in an expert to share - I like, I wonder, I wish feedback 

Authentic Audience:

• Representative from their “home” school district
• Students
  

Final Presentation:

• Students will present ideas for use of the water in a method of their choice. They showcase their final product with a model, poster, website, etc. Then they present it in a pitch.

Click here for teacher's full plan.

​Reflection and Feedback:

• The authentic audience will fill out feedback or record video feedback including what worked, what they could improve, questions they have and ideas that were sparked by their presentation. Students will also fill out a feedback form about the process and final product. 

Click here for the  teacher's Journey through PBL on Padlet.

Meet the Educators:
​Jillian Duffy and Jamie Troth both teach Mathematics for the Academically Talented Youth Program (ATYP) for the Kent Intermediate School District.  

     "I am passionate about Design Thinking because it takes the students out of the monotony of traditional learning and gets them actually applying the math they are learning to real-life situations in a way that also promotes the practice of life skills and creative thinking."  ~ J. Duffy

     "I am passionate about making the connections between real life and mathematics in the classroom."  ~ J. Troth