Lesson Activities
Lesson Activity 1: Launch
Students are assigned to groups at the teacher’s discretion and stay with these groups for the duration of the project. Careful consideration should be given to the composition of the groups with respect to English language status, special education status, behavior, and personality. Groups of three to five will work best. Using the Project Based Learning model, present the following problem statement. How can we retrofit our school to better adapt to and mitigate climate change? Design a model of the school to show your choices. Give students the written prompt on paper and in large print on the board. Have students brainstorm the problem statement writing down what they will need to ask, answer and know to be able to complete this assignment. Here are some guiding questions for teachers: What do we understand about this statement? What do we need to find out more about through research? What does “design a model” mean? What is a retrofit? What is the difference between adaptation and mitigation? What do we need to know to be able to complete this task? Who needs this and why? Once students have had a chance to write their questions regarding this prompt, have each student from a group read one of their questions while the teacher records responses on a piece of chart paper. Collect student responses to see if all questions have been reported. Potential student questions generated will likely fall into several categories: questions about climate change, questions about how Philadelphia will specifically be impacted by climate change, questions about the school building, questions about the specifics of the project: materials, time frames, grading, presentations, questions about mitigation and adaptation. In a learning model such as this, there is room for students to explore at different levels. It is possible that some students will ask other questions about renewable energy, about building design, about how to construct models. Subsequent lessons are designed to help students find answers to these questions and also to give some important information about specifics relating to the project. For this project it would be wonderful to have students create a scale model, it depends on the comfort level of the teacher and students with the extra work involved.
Lesson Activity 2: Building Knowledge, Understanding and Skills
During this phase of the Project Based Learning model, the teacher starts by providing direct instruction on key scientific concepts on global warming, reviewing solar radiation and the greenhouse effect. The teacher then presents information on fossil fuels and how the consumption and combustion of fossil fuels is contributing to climate change. Teachers should point out that weather and climate are two separate but interrelated ideas. Videos, lectures and slide show demonstrations, information that are presented can be referred back to for facts as students make decisions about design choices. This is aimed at helping students understand climate change sufficiently to be able to answer questions later about mitigation and adaptation. Using graphs from Climate.gov have students examine graphs. Climate.gov has an exceptional set of live/animated graphs if more complex graphs are desired. Have students document what they notice and what they wonder about each graph. They will work within their groups and must analyze and report back to the other groups. Student groups then draw a conclusion based on what they have learned in one statement with an argument to back it up. Students can then summarize their key findings in writing. Teacher will give the following writing prompt: What have we learned today about climate change? How will climate change impact me, my family, and my community? Teacher records conclusions on chart paper, looking for accuracy and correcting as she goes. Students will have access to this information posted in the classroom or on a shared digital document.
The following two science investigations will also strengthen understanding regarding heat reflection, absorption, and insulation necessary not only to understand climate change but also to consider the response to it. During the first lab, have students compare the temperature under two sheets of construction paper that have been placed in direct sunlight, one black and one white. Using a thermometer, have students record the temperature at regular intervals. Students will notice that the temperature increases more quickly and stays warmer under darker colors. They can use this information to help inform the design changes for the school model, asking when a darker color would be helpful, and when a lighter color might be helpful. For the second science investigation, students will use an insulated cup or thermos to test the rate at which frozen water warms and hot water cools when compared against the same samples placed in cups with no insulation. This too will help students understand why insulation is a helpful tool in heating and cooling buildings, thereby lowering fossil fuel consumption and the school’s carbon footprint. This information will also be used for student school retrofit design choices. Finally, students should be familiar with the school and its systems, examining the physical facility for heating, air conditioning, ventilation, water, windows, landscaping, etc. Tours of the school to examine these systems may help students see the building in a new way, as a facility to be managed. At teacher and principal discretion, students should interview building engineers, maintenance facility managers, custodial staff, and other key facility managers to determine how the building is heated and cooled, existing problems in the building, heating bills, water issues, shade structures, and trees and plant life, shades, windows, etc. Students will need to weigh their retrofit choices carefully. Enhancing insulation may reduce airflow, which may in turn require increased ventilation. Planting trees for shade may take up valuable play space. This is an opportunity for students to think through their decisions and recognize that each choice comes with a consequence. Teachers will want to be familiar with the specific issues of their locale regarding climate change. As Philadelphia will face more intense storms and flooding is an issue, students will want to look at the way water is managed in and around the building. As students progress in their knowledge of climate change, teachers can foster conversations about what students have learned and how to connect this to the assignment.
Lesson Activity 3: Developing and Revising Ideas and Products and Presenting
Students summarize what they have learned so far about climate change and how it will impact their school through a short written assignment assigned by the teacher. Students should also write about what considerations they need to keep in place regarding their specific school building. The teacher will read each essay and make comments or ask questions to get students to think more deeply. Teacher will meet with each group to discuss their plans for a retrofit, how students will work together and clarify any misconceptions. Students bring their essays to their group with teacher comments and suggestions. In their groups, students are ready to discuss what they found out and what they believe they need to keep in mind about the school. They can begin designing retrofit solutions for the school building and talk about how they are going to accomplish showing them on the model. Student groups then work to make a first draft of their design on paper. Through a series of iterations, which may take a few weeks, the teacher requires more and more refinement by asking student to clarify their sketches, determine what materials students will need for construction of the model. This will be a good point to contact parents and inform them of their student’s progress and goals. Seeking feedback from other teachers, building engineer, principal, availability, other peers as part of this iterative process will be beneficial to each group.
For the final, three-dimensional model, encourage students to use recycled or discarded materials, not purchase materials. The final model allows students to add creativity, color, style and design to their presentations and to fully formulate justifications for each choice they have made. Students should have a format for writing or displaying each retrofit choice they have made. Students can use a carousel method for showing off their final products with half of a team staying behind to show their work and the other half listening to presentations then switching groups. Teacher will score final projects using a rubric and may want to organize a show (could be a photographic show) for other building participants.
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