Building a Greener Community

Submitted by vharada on Sat, 03/31/2012 - 00:00Printable version Bookmark and Share
Created By:
Violet Harada
Title/Role:
Professor
Organization/School Name:
University of Hawaii
Location:
Hawaii

Grade Level:
8
Type of Lesson:
Lesson in a unit
Type of Schedule:
Combination
Collaboration Continuum:
Intensive
Content Area:
Science, Social studies
Content Topic:
Eco-friendly communities, civic action
Standards for the 21st-Century Learner
Skills Indicator(s):
1.1.6 Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (e.g., textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather meaning.
2.1.3 Use strategies to draw conclusions from information and apply knowledge to curricular areas, real-world situations, and further investigations.
3.1.4 Use technology and other information tools to organize and display knowledge and understanding in ways that others can view, use, and assess.
Dispostion Indicator(s):
2.2.3 Employ a critical stance in drawing conclusions by demonstrating that the pattern of evidence leads to a decision or conclusion.
Responsibilities Indicator(s):
2.3.1 Connect understanding to the real world.
Self-Assessment Strategies Indicator(s):
1.4.1 Monitor own information-seeking processes for effectiveness and progress, and adapt as necessary.
Scenario:
Students plan to participate in a community-sponsored fair focusing on the sustainable future of the community. The LMS and teacher collaborate on this project as students investigate how to create a sustainable community. Students explore strategies to maintain a healthy and eco-friendly environment. They conduct their investigation in teams focusing on different aspects of community life and how to use existing resources more efficiently. Their tasks include: collecting information from diverse and current sources, and devising methods to communicate their findings. Researched topics include: saving energy in our homes, reducing and recycling waste in our community, growing and eating local foods, adopting transportation that is less dependent on fossil fuel, and creating a greener school. While the teacher monitors the daily progress of the teams in meeting deadlines for this project, the LMS focuses on helping students with locating and using resources. She also assists the students in communicating their findings using tech tools to produce infographic displays.

Overview:
Students delve into different areas of community life and the importance of using existing resources in effective and efficient ways. They also consider alternatives to creating greener environments that may be innovative approaches. In their investigations, they address the following essential questions: What does greening a community involve? How green is our community at this time? How can we build a greener community?

Final Product:
Students communicate their findings and recommendations using the medium of information graphics (aka infographics). The infographics will be displayed in a special Green Day celebration at the local shopping mall. Note: Infographics is a way of presenting information using visuals, graphs, and text.

Library Lesson:
At this point in the unit, students in grade eight have collected information and are ready to create pieces that eventually become part of the inforgraphic displays. This particular lesson introduces different types of graphs and their possible uses. The students will use collected data to prepare graphical displays that represent and interpret the information. NOTE: Although this specific lesson has not been taught, variations of it have been taught at several middle and high schools in Hawaii.

Estimated Lesson Time:
60 minutes
Assessment
Product:
Students use a check-log (combination of a checklist and a learning log) to assess their graphs.

Process:
Students reflect on how well they performed, difficulties they experienced, and next steps in the log portion of the check-log.

Self Questioning:
What parts of the graph-making process were easy to manage? What was difficult? How might I do things differently next time?

Instructional Plan
Resources students will use:
Dataset (ie. lists, tables, databases)
Still image (i.e.paintings, drawings, plans, and maps)
Interactive Resource (i.e. webpages, multimedia learning objects, chat services)

Interactive Resource URL:
http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/

Resources instructor will use:
Projector
Laptop
Smart board
Other

Other instructor resources:
http://ded318spring2012.cdkedplace.info/Spring_2012_DED_318/Week-by-Week/Entries/2012/1/25_Week_3_files/Learning%20and%20Leading%20-%20February%202012.pdf

Instruction/Activities
Direct instruction:
The LMS introduces different types of graphs, e.g., line graphs, bar graphs, pie charts, and pictographs. In pairs, students study examples of different graphs and do the following with each of them: 1) identify the type of graph, and 2) describe the major information communicated in the graph. As a class, they share their responses regarding the different graphs. They summarize how each type of graph might be effectively used. Examples: the line graph shows how something changes in value over time; the pie graph shows the relative size of each value as slices of a whole pie.

Modeling and guided practice:
The LMS and teacher provide an example of information they wish to graph (e.g., survey results of amount of recyclable trash in the average community household). They use a thinkaloud technique to engage the students in deciding the best type of graph to present this information. They create the graph using an online graphing tool. In their research teams, students identify the key points they wish to communicate through their infographic displays. They also brainstorm how they might communicate some of these points using graphs. The LMS and teacher circulate to provide feedback.

Independent practice:
Each member of a team works on at least one graph for the team’s infographic display. Students use a check-log devised by the LMS and teacher to assess their work on the graphs.


Have you taught this lesson before:
No

Strategies for differentiation:
The teacher and LMS allow students in a team to help one another on the graphs. They also provide informational resources at different reading levels to accommodate the range of students in the class. In addition, they encourage students to do pair-reading where a more able reader can assist a struggling reader in interpreting and summarizing textual material.