Too Hot to Handle
                                                                             By:  Aaron Eling

Project at a Glance :

How do humans modify physical environments? This is a question posed in our 6th grade social studies unit on Human Environment Interactions. In this project, students will learn about the Urban Heat Island phenomenon and the effect it has on climate and climate change. The purpose of this project is to incorporate Project Based Learning (PBL) into our existing social studies curriculum in a way that is both meaningful and impactful to others. I plan on implementing this project within the first few weeks of school when the building, which has no air conditioning, is unbearably hot. The project should take about two weeks due to the shorter class periods.

Driving Question:
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How can we redesign our school to minimize the effects of climate change?            

Standards:

• G4.3.1 Explain how people have modified the environment and used technology to make places more suitable for humans, as well as how modifications sometimes have negative/unintended consequences.
• ​G5.1.3 Analyze ways in which human-induced changes in the physical environment in one place can cause changes in other places.

• G6.1.1 Identify global issues.

Team / Culture Building:

• Use the Creative DNA protocol to quickly get students into balanced groups which can get started right away.
• Once students are in their groups,  each student will complete the Creative Types online assessment  to help them further identify their natural gifts and challenges and, hopefully, find an “ideal collaborator” within their group. ​​

Entry Event:

• Whole group instruction: use the NASA Global Climate Change site to observe past and present pictures of urban and rural areas and examine data charts showing the average temperatures (past/present) of these areas, (optional activity with electronic worksheet for students, post in Google classroom.)

• Students will independently complete the Analyzing Surface Temperature Differences - Part One activity in class. (post in Google classroom)
• Student Groups will complete the Analyzing Surface Temperature Differences - Part Two activity outside.

Stakeholders:

• Students within the building
• Teachers within the building
• Families with school-age (K12) children in the community
  
• Families without school-age (K12) children in the community

Empathy Building:

• Students will complete the Stakeholder Maps BEFORE Empathy Maps with the hope that students will be able to identify the stakeholders on their own.​

• In order to understand and empathize with ALL of our stakeholders, the plan is to divide the class into groups of four (4) and complete an Empathy Map based on each of the following points-of-view - students, teachers, administration, and support staff.

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

• Once the Need to Knows have been established, use the Pain/Gain activity so students have a solid understanding of how ALL of the stakeholders are or will be affected by the driving question and potential solutions.

Incubation:

• Use the analogy of a funnel - dump ALL your ideas in the top and your BEST ideas come out the bottom. ​​
• Idea Quota

• Students will explore the Climate Kids Guide to Climate Change to generate ideas.

• This happens naturally as student progress throughout the Creative Sequence toward their solution.

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Solution Building:

• Begin with the Affinity Mapping protocol -  because it helps the students quickly identify patterns or themes within their ideas. 
  

Critique and Revision: 

• The Filtering and Objectives protocol is very similar to criteria and constraints found throughout the Science and Engineering Practices in Next Generation Science Standards and is often one of the quickest and easiest ways to help students narrow down their solutions and ideas.

Authentic Audience:

• Students
• Teachers
• Families with school-age (K12) children in the community
• Families without school-age (K12) children in the community
  

Final Presentation:

• Groups will share their solutions using the “3P’s” - Poster, Prototype, and Pitch. ​

Click here for teacher's full plan.

​Reflection and Feedback:

• Student groups will self-evaluate using the NUF Test prior to their presentation.  There will be an informal Q&A with the audience following their presentation at which time groups will receive feedback from each audience member based upon the NUF Test as well.​
• The teacher will use a  Single Point Rubric to assess individual students.
  

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

Meet the Educator:

Aaron Eling teaches 6th grade Science and Social Studies at White Pines Intermediate School in Grand Haven, MI.

     “My goal is to help my students shift from being passive users to active creators and help them understand how STEAM and PBL in the classroom can lead to positive change in the real-world.”