Oh Where Oh Where Does Our Water Flow?
​                                      By:  Ben Kapenga

Project at a Glance :

This project compliments middle school curriculum focusing on Drinking Water. This lesson helps students explore: point source pollution sites in their communities, types of contaminants in their drinking water, where their drinking water comes from, the water cycle, and identifying/brainstorming/prototyping solutions to reduce or prevent damage to our water resources.
       
Driving Question:

How can we reduce or prevent damage to our water resources within the community of Zeeland and beyond?             

Standards:

• Developing and Using Models
• Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
• Engaging in Argument from Evidence
• Identifying Natural Resources
• Using Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
• Connecting Cause and Effect
• Understanding the Influence of Science, Engineering, Technology on  Society and the Natural World
• Human Impacts on Earth Systems

Team / Culture Building:

• Hopes, Fears, & Norms​

• Creative DNA

Entry Event:

• Build a Waterpark (Flow Chart) & 

         Create a Storm Drain Map

Stakeholders:

• Zeeland City Residents with city water
• Ottawa County Residents with well water
• Zeeland City Council Member - Phung Lam
• Ottawa/Allegan County Commissioner -  Dean Kapenga
• Zeeland Board of Public Works Representative/s
• ODC Macatawa Area Watershed Representative -  Keli Goward 
•  Department of Environmental Quality Representative -  Nate Whitmyer
• Parents
• School Board
• Ottawa County DSS System
• State Workers who put in wells in Ottawa County

Empathy Building:

• Storyboard 
• HANDS ON ACTIVITIES - Watershed  Walk - using Chalk Talk protocol
• Zeeland Wastewater Tour 
• Holland Water Plant Guest Presentation​

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

• The 4 C’s
• Speedboat
• 2x2 Matrix
• Brain Firing
• Brainstorm 100 Ideas/Questions 
• Interviews with Stakeholders
• Love Letter / Concerned Letter / Breakup Letter  to their water source

Incubation:

• 3 - 12- 3
  
• Tell it to a Toddler​​

• Modeling (Draw the Problems)
• One Way Ticket (7 minute non-stop writing about thoughts related to the problem)​

• Challenge Cards
• Image-gination

Checking in:

•  Check-In with groups should be every 20 minutes. It will take place during an Investigation Workshop. Each group member reports on his or her role and the teacher(s)/student(s) offers a critique. 
• Start-Stop-Continue - every how with each group.

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Solution Building:

• Poster Session
• Brown Bag Throwdown
• 100$ Test
• Dot Voting – allow authentic audience to dot vote at all times
• Poster Session
• Use a discussion board comments throughout as a way to hold accountable.
• Use Flipgrid or one to one to show on Google suite students.  Also, students can share ideas via Jamboard or Google classroom or share sites.

Critique and Revision: 

• NUF Test
• Critical Friends
• Practice Presentations
• Grading Rubric
• Trial Runs with other groups/companies working on same problem for feedback.

Authentic Audience:

• Zeeland City Council Member(s)
• Zeeland Board of Public Works Representative(s)
• Macatawa Area Watershed Representative(s) 
• Zeeland City Resident
• Ottawa County Commissioner(s)
• Local DEQ Employee
• Parents

Final Presentation:

•  Students will present their final solutions at one of their local city council meetings, sticking to the  allotted time frame given them by the council. 
• Show and Tell real world xxamples: Ted Talks
• Moving On Up Showdown (Object is to get best idea closest to the bullseye)​.

Click here for teacher's full plan.

​Reflection and Feedback:

• $100 Test

• Project Gallery Walk via ZCS BLOGS  
• Yes and . . . protocol for feedback from the authentic audience.

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

Meet the Educator:
Ben Kapenga teaches Science, Social Studies, Bible, and S.E.L. at Zeeland Christian School.

     "PBL acts as a catalyst in my science curriculum - it stimulates students to go deeper and allows for them to apply 100% of what they are learning to real world challenges and problems.