Model+Lesson+Refresh

=Middle School Science Lesson Refresh:= Refer to "Thinking Skills Classification Chart" This is also in alignment with a thought provoking article "Engage Me or Enrage Me" -**SEE 2 Part BLOG** including a Passion Based Learning instructional Approach which is a tweak on the Project Based Learning. [|Assessing PBL.pdf] article.

I. Science Lesson for 8th Grade students, age 13-14yr olds

__**Lesson Objectives:**__ I wanted to create a project that would assess understanding of chemistry concepts and bridge into an energy unit I used International Baccalaurette criteria in addition to Colorado Science Standards to guide and assess this project. When I plan a unit, I choose up to two IB criteria to assess. Here are the IB criteria that were emphasized and assessed: __**A One World**__ This objective refers to enabling students to understand the interdependence between science and society. Students should be aware of the global dimension of science, as a universal activity with consequences for our lives and subject to social, economic, political, environmental, cultural and ethical factors.

__**B Communication in Science**__ This objective refers to enabling students to develop their communication skills in science. Students should be able to understand scientific information, such as data, ideas, arguments and investigations, and communicate it using appropriate scientific language in a variety of communication modes and formats as appropriate.

The first part of this project assessed learning in chemistry. After that, we bridged into energy. Here are the standards from the Colorado 8th Grade Physical Science: 2. There are different forms of energy, and those forms of energy can be changed from one form to another – but total energy is conserved 3. Distinguish between physical and chemical changes, noting that mass is conserved during any change

Additionally, all of my units use IB "lenses" to relate them to authentic learning. The first part of the project was the IB "Area of Interaction" of Environments. The AoI for the second part (the service learning) is Community and Service. From the IB Sciences Guide:
 * Community and service
 * How do we live in relation to each other?
 * How can I contribute to the community?
 * How can I help others?
 * The emphasis of community and service is on developing community awareness and a sense of belonging
 * and responsibility towards the community so that students become engaged with, and feel empowered to
 * act in response to, the needs of others.


 * Environments**
 * What are our environments?
 * What resources do we have or need?
 * What are my responsibilities?
 * This area of interaction considers environments to mean the totality of conditions surrounding us, natural,
 * built and virtual. It focuses on the wider place of human beings in the world and how we create and affect
 * our environments. It encourages students to question, to develop positive and responsible attitudes, and to
 * gain the motivation, skills and commitment to contribute to their environments.

__**TEACHER REFLECTION:**__ This project taking on a life of its own means that I am only half a step ahead of the kids. The language for the rubrics originate from the IB Personal Project assessment (a long term project completed by sophomores), the Team 8.3 Work Habits rubric, and the state standards. __**Traditional Instruction:**__ In the past, this unit would feature some class notes, a few demos, and an investigation into some articles. We would probably conduct a class discussion - perhaps in the "fishbowl style" - regarding the issues brought to light in the articles. I would typically be very pleased with a discussion that lasted around 30 minutes, with each student commenting about 3 times, and would jot notes as the kids engaged each other in the classroom.

=**Lesson Refresh with ICT Skills:**= The students researched fossil fuel energy and nuclear energy. Each group of students became experts on a specific aspect (i.e. the cost, the effect on the environment, etc.) - The students presented their learning in a multimedia format to the class, while the others took notes and asked questions - I posed the following hypothetical situation to the kids, "Our town is growing quickly and needs more energy. Which type of energy plant should we build: fossil fuels or nuclear?" - The kids were each assigned a specific stakeholder role to represent in a town hall meeting/live blog (this is what you witnessed) In one class of 30, we had over 600 comments!

A.) READ **Cover it Live Archive** from this "Scenario". This classroom


 * B.) More Sections of snychronous blog and polling.**

- As we conducted the blog, the students expressed an interest in taking action - I created a class Ning to facilitate discussion and capture the passion of all 150 students, rather than just discussing in a class of 30 - I have attached some class notes and a SMART response quiz to demonstrate some of the other learning and formative assessments that took place in the classroom. I explained to the kids that investigation is the first step of moving forward. Thus, the concepts we were going to investigate in class would be crucial to preparing for action! You need SMART Notebook software and the SMART clickers to use this - but with FREE download of SMART Notebook you can see the assessment questions for: [|energy quiz.notebook] [|Energy Service Learning Project.doc] [|Energy Class Notes on SMART board_2.17_and_2.18.10.pdf] [|Service Learning Energy Rubric.doc] This is used with the NING Project Based Learning.

We used a phet simulation, to great extent, to conduct our inquiry into energy. My initial instructions to my students were, "Investigate energy using this simulation. Try changing all the variables and make observations. You must turn on the bar graph." This learning is guided and captured in the class notes that are attached. We also conducted a few exciting demonstrations in class, including the bowling ball pendulum demo. Each demo led to a small group discussion and a large group share. We are going to continue to relate our learning back to energy as we progress through the units of Forces, Electricity, Light, and Sound. PROJECT BASED LEARNING instructional approach. Tweaked to include Challenge Based Learning- students find and actively get involved in a call to action.
 * @http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Energy_Skate_Park**

**Week 1:** Decision Making-
Students decide Types of Energy, Energy Issues. BEGIN Investigation with student generated questions, create a focus of inquiry. All students joined the class NING as a collaborative platform to form groups, participate in forums.

**Week 2:** Investigation, Experimental Inquiry
Week 3: Begin to Construct, Invent, Produce

__**Week 4**__ : Reflective Thinking
Students Reflect- self assess on learning process and projects created. Share projects and provide peer feedback, questions, suggestions.

- We started to brainstorm, and I used those ideas to create action groups: Elementary outreach, Mesa Outreach, Community Outreach, Energy Policy, Sustainable Classrooms, and Personal Stewardship - The students joined the group that most interested them, regardless of whether other students in their period shared that interest - We began investigating all forms of energy. We created group Evernotes to collect and organize their research. They discussed their ideas and findings on the comment walls of the action groups within Ning. - The students wanted to contact experts and interviewed the Keystone Organization, NREL personnel, and the spokesperson for our electric association (and former state senator). Their interview notes have been entered into the group Evernote accounts - Some students have created group email accounts and calendars (without prompting from me) to better manage their interaction with outside resources and each other.

__**Now and the future...**__ - The students are writing specific action proposals to be approved by our team of teachers. We will use these proposals to assign them to ELT classes with a specific teacher advisor who will be their advocate and guide. The teacher assignment will correlate with their subject. The humanities teacher will guide the "energy policy" groups because he has the best understanding of government. The math teacher will guide the "sustainable classrooms" groups because they will need assistance with their calculations... And so forth. - All of the responsibility belongs to the students - we expect them to be fairly autonomous and to collaborate in person and on Ning - All projects are due at the end of April.

Beyond that, I'm not sure how our end result will look. We are still working out some of the presentation details. The students and teachers are really excited. Ning: To join my Ning, click this link. @http://bit.ly/8Z4l6E I will have to approve you before you may access the site. Once you are approved, I would suggest that you peruse the discussions in the Forum, which I use for content knowledge grades, and the various groups. My favorite part is probably reading the discussions within the groups. I keep telling the kids that they need to be challenging and engaging each other. After all the research and interviews they have completed, they have far more knowledge collectively than I have as an individual. Part of their grade is posting comments and questions that reflect their learning.

Ultimately, this experience has been like catching lightning in a bottle: All the right people were available to collaborate and had great ideas, we found a topic that genuinely interested my students, and we have had the support of our administration. None of us has ever attempted any project like this before, and yet, we're finding that the risks are totally paying off. I'm excited to see what happens next.