RJ Portfolio Online course PBL text excerpt

Sustainable Communities Presentation
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION TO INTEGRATED ECOLOGY CURRICULUM (IEC) AND UNDERSTANDING BY
DESIGN (UBD).................................................................................................................................................................... 2
WEEK 3: OBSERVATION............................................................................................................................................... 11
WEEK 4: LEARNING BY DOING................................................................................................................................... 22
LESSON SUMMARY......................................................................................................................................................... 31
SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES PRESENTATION TEXT ONLINE COURSE 1

Week 1: Introduction to Integrated Ecology Curriculum (IEC) and
Understanding by Design (UBD)
Topic Titles
1. Lesson Introduction
2. Course Overview
3. Integrated Ecology Curriculum
4. Understanding by Design
5. Lesson Summary
Lesson Description
Topics:
• Provide an overview of the course
• Define environment-based education and the IEC approach
• Contrast environment-based education with conventional education
• Introduce Understanding by Design and backward planning
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Lesson Introduction
Welcome to Lesson 1 of the Sustainable Communities course. This first lesson provides a foundation
and context to the approaches and pedagogy used throughout the rest of the course. We will introduce
the two frameworks—the Integrated Ecology Curriculum and Understanding by Design—that will drive
the content and process required to build your ecology instructional units. You will learn the basic
tenets and benefits of each of these frameworks and begin to practice the application of them.
In this lesson we will do the following:
• Provide an overview of the course
• Define environment-based education and the IEC approach
• Contrast environment-based education with conventional education
• Introduce Understanding by Design and backwards planning
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Course Overview
This course is designed to provide teachers and educators with opportunities to understand and
practice student-centered, inquiry-based techniques while learning to develop and implement project-
based units focused around topics in local ecology and that are integrated across subjects.
This approach is similar to the “Environment-Based Education” or “Environment as an Integrating
Context” approach. The Integrated Ecology Curriculum (IEC) adds to this an emphasis on local
environment, use of authentic artifacts, practice of actual research and field techniques, and particular
support for literacy. You will have access to examples of successful units—including specific activities,
resources, and worksheets—that you can modify or use as models to create your own unit for use in
your classroom.
2 SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES PRESENTATIN TEXT ONLINE COURSE

Through readings, peer discussion, hands-on activities, and guided planning sessions, you will learn to
develop activities and materials that build higher cognitive skills, increase student motivation and
participation, and increase intellectual curiosity and independence. Your expert facilitator will lead
weekly interactive planning sessions to provide support as you create the fully implementable unit that
will serve as your final assessment for the course.
Practical guidance will be provided through online examples and models; with expert facilitators
leading weekly “real time” interactive planning sessions to support you in creating the fully
implementable unit that will serve as their your assessment for the course. The focus for this course is
on hands-on and/or field projects that educate students about sustainability in cities and other human-
dominated landscapes.
To help you focus on an ecosystem that will be familiar to your students, three similar courses are
available. This course focuses on integrated units that educate students about urban sustainability. The
other two courses use the same methodology to concentrate on marine ecosystems and deciduous
forests.
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Course Goals
The goals for this course include the following:
• Develop a project-based and hands-on ecology unit using local resources that provides
authentic opportunities for students to “think like scientists”
• Develop professional skills to both recognize and apply best practices to your lesson planning
and teaching
• Learn how to access community resources and extend your science classroom using informal
settings
Successful completion of the course will depend on these four components.
Discussion Participation
Students are expected to participate in all class discussions. Students must post a response of at least
300 words to each week’s given question, by the midnight on Tuesday of that week. By midnight on
Friday of that week, students must post two responses of at least 150 words to the writings of their
fellow students.
Online Exercises
Periodic online exercises will be given to help you work on particular content and skills.
Applied Assignments
As you learn new skills and methods, you will be given specific assignments to practice applying these
skills on your own. Some of these assignments will involve researching locations and resources locally
available to you.
Final Curriculum Unit
You will create a fully implementable unit as the culminating project for the course. You can use this
unit in your school or organization. Heavy emphasis is placed on your participation in group planning

meetings where you can learn and benefit from the guidance and feedback of your peers and of the
instructor/curriculum facilitator. You will present your completed unit to your peers during the final
week of the course.
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Integrated Ecology Curriculum
What Is Environment-Based Education?
Now that we know what we will be learning in the course, let’s get started looking at the concept of
Environment-Based Education (EBE). Put simply, EBE uses the local environment as the basis around
which students learn about a variety of subjects. Environment-based education focuses students on
learning about the environment, which motivates them to learn other subjects because they can see
that they need the information and techniques in other subject areas to explore their environmental
interests.
The EBE approach allows students to observe and learn within a context that is familiar to them. It also
allows them to practice one of the core tenets of environment-based learning: learning by doing. When
students learn by doing rather than by reading or listening to a lecture, they can more directly relate to
the information. This approach has proven to cut down on discipline issues and to aid in transfer of
knowledge.
“[EE] is an ideal thematic approach to integrating subject areas, and it’s motivating. It’s so good for
kids who don’t do well in traditional classes. EE takes kids who thought they wouldn’t even finish high
school and raises their sights.”
— Jane Eller, Kentucky Environmental Education Council
“Environmental education does cut down discipline problems. Kids relate well to studying the world
around them, and they want to learn reading and math.”
— Estelle Vollmers, Hawley Elementary School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
“Kids make connections across disciplines. We believe this not only brings [learning] alive, but also
reflects real life and allows students to do the kind of thinking that problem solving in the real world
requires.”
— Dan Bodette, Principal, School of Environmental Studies, Apple Valley, Minnesota.
Introduction to the Integrated Ecology Curriculum
The Integrated Ecology Curriculum (IEC) approach distinguishes itself from traditional education in
some important ways:
• Using local versus exotic ecosystems
• Learning by doing, not using models or telling
• Using real ecosystems, not “in a bottle” approaches
• Applying student-centered versus teacher-centered instruction
• Applying inquiry versus known-outcome labs
• Integrating across disciplines
• Implementing project-based learning

The following screens cover each of these concepts in more detail.
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Using Local Versus Exotic Ecosystems
Conventional Education
Conventional education models typically use what can be described as a “far-off ecosystem.” Far-off
ecosystems, such as the tropical rain forest, have the undeniable appeal of being exotic but can
unfortunately also reinforce the impression that nature is something far away, foreign, exotic, or
untouchable. Using exotic ecosystems as a basis for study can also leave the impression that there is
nothing valuable nearby and that local landscapes do not deserve admiration and protection.
Environment-Based Education
In contrast, when we consider an environment-based approach, we integrate local landscapes into the
curriculum. Local landscapes can allow students to do the following:
• Visit, touch, and interact with the ecosystems they are studying
• Directly investigate relevant problems and issues that occur in their own local communities
• Understand first-hand the complexity of real-world issues that involve the intersection of
natural surroundings with the built environment, culture, economics, and politics.
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Learning By Doing, Not Using Models or Telling
In conventional education, students are told the methods and techniques used by scientists for
conducting research and experiments. Things like data collection methods, survey design, and lab tests
are simply described to the student or shown in photos or videos.
In environment-based education, students actually use the same scientific methods and techniques
that scientists and researchers use. Rather than describing the different methods for collecting data,
students collect data themselves using those methods. Students carry out biodiversity surveys,
ecosystem health assessments, lay transects, conduct lab tests, do dissections, and conduct open-
ended research. Students understand what scientists do because they have done it themselves. The
information, insights, and skills they gain stick with them because the learning is anchored in real-world
context and experience.
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Using Real Ecosystems, Not “In a Bottle” Approaches
Conventional education sometimes attempts to model the workings of ecosystems by creating
“ecosystems in a bottle”—enclosed units where two or three species interact in a very limited way.

In contrast, environment-based education focuses on studying the actual ecosystems that occur
naturally. Because it is based on a real, natural ecosystem, this approach conveys the true complexity
and depth of ecosystem communities, interdependencies, and cycles.
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Applying Student-Centered Versus Teacher-Centered Instruction
Conventional education is very much centered around the teacher. The teacher determines the goals
and exactly what questions, lectures, and activities the students will participate in to learn the content.
Environment-based education shifts the focus from the teacher to the student in these ways:
• Leading students through guided inquiry activities, thus helping students build the skills they
need to gain greater independence and to carry out fully autonomous inquiry
• Asking students to define for themselves their goals, outcomes, and definitions of effectiveness
• Instructing students to employ diverse methods of research, investigation, and presentation,
allowing students to practice different learning styles and intelligences, and emphasizing a
culture of learning that recognizes different ways of understanding and representing concepts
and skills
The important question is “how do we know what we know?” and this question has many valid
answers.
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Applying Inquiry Versus Known-Outcome Labs
In a conventional education setting, teachers know the outcomes and plan their instruction to meet
those outcomes.
In environment-based education, the results of investigations and experiments are unknown to the
teacher as well as the students. This approach allows the entire class to experience the authentic
feeling of new discovery and fresh insights and conclusions. Even where an activity is structured with
preset goals, the path to the goal can vary, and the interpretation and meaning of the activities can be
different for each student.
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Integrating Across Disciplines
In conventional education, content and learning activities are broken down by subject or discipline.
There is little or no crossover of learning into other disciplines.

Environment-based education is ideally implemented as an interdisciplinary effort conducted
collaboratively by teams of teachers of different disciplines. This integration across disciplines has some
important effects on both the students and the teachers.
• Integration allows content, skills and concepts to be reinforced in multiple contexts provided by
multiple disciplines. Thus students might explore “observation” in scientific terms and also in art
as an artistic skill and application, or in literacy when determining how to present and represent
observations in words. Content is also revisited in different contexts: A student might explore
“adaptation” from the point of view of evolutionary change, from a social or psychological
perspective, or as an engineering precept.
• Integration also makes explicit the links between different disciplines and between human and
natural systems, breaking down rigid separation between them and showing how these systems
must work together if students are to solve problems and view issues from multiple
perspectives.
• Integration provides for collaborative instruction among educators in these ways:
o Encouraging professional learning communities
o Helping teachers learn to work in teams and groups
o Undoing the isolation of the classroom by providing mutual support and feedback as
well as shared goals
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Implementing Project-Based Learning
Conventional education often uses less-complex, discrete learning activities to achieve learning goals.
Tests and separate unit assessments are common in traditional approaches. Although some traditional
approaches include project-based learning, they are the exception and usually not the norm.
Environment-based education emphasizes the importance of project-based learning for the following
reasons:
• Students work toward completion of a final activity or outcome that requires many complex
steps and tasks for success.
• The project is based on real-world issues or problems.
• The project requires hands-on experience of the subject being studied.
• The project requires higher cognitive skills and critical thinking for investigation, problem-
solving, argumentation, and making decisions.
• The final project is usually cumulative, the culmination of many tasks that lead to a final
outcome.
•
•
One example of project-based learning is asking students to plant a garden in the back of the school.
This project is the culmination of many steps, including these:
• Learning how plants grow
• Determining what materials are required to build the garden
• Understanding what the local environmental conditions will support

• Determining the space requirements and other needs of each plant
• Selecting the plants
• Mapping the garden area and plotting the location of different plants
• Obtaining permission from the school to create the garden
• Educating the community about the garden, its use, and its care
The completed garden is a culmination of all the steps and learning that came before.
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Check Your Understanding
Instructional Text
Drag a line from the concept on the left to the appropriate example on the right. Click Submit when you
are finished.
Using local versus exotic ecosystems
A teacher in the Midwest takes her students to a nearby creek to study the effects of erosion rather
than reading about how the Colorado River formed the Grand Canyon.
Learning by doing, not using models or telling
Students plant a series of plants in varying amounts of sunlight to determine the best amount of sun
for the type of plant.
Using real ecosystems, not “in a bottle” approaches
Instead of placing two or three species of insects in a controlled environment, students observe the
location, behavior, and interaction of insects in a nearby field.
Applying student-centered versus teacher-centered instruction
A teacher begins a unit on ecology by asking the students to determine their goals, outcomes, and
definitions of effectiveness.
Applying inquiry versus known-outcome labs
A teacher replaces a lab where vinegar and baking soda are combined to cause a known reaction with a
lab where samples of materials of unknown composition are combined with known chemicals to
observe reactions that give clues to the identity of the collected samples.
Integrating across disciplines
An English teacher and a math teacher combine their efforts to team-teach a unit about reporting an
increase in pine beetle damage to local trees.
Implementing project-based learning
Students plant a garden, learning about planting techniques, horticulture, and the types of plants
supported by local ecosystem. The completed garden is their final project.
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An Introduction to the IEC and Understanding by Design Frameworks
Now that we have a better understanding of environment-based education, we will introduce two key
frameworks that serve as the foundation for how we approach the development of the instructional
units we will create for this course. The remainder of this lesson focuses on introducing the key ideas of
Understanding by Design and the Integrated Ecology Curriculum (IEC) frameworks. We will provide an
overview of the approaches, define some key terms, and share the key tenets of the frameworks. This
lesson simply introduces the concepts—future lessons will provide more details and give you a chance
to apply these concepts as you build your instructional unit.

The Columbia University Center for Environment, Economy, and Society (CEES) has developed the
Integrated Ecology approach, which employs the backward planning method detailed in the
Understanding by Design textbook to ensure that every activity is created with end goals and
competencies in mind.
It takes deliberate planning to create a successful curriculum. In practice, Understanding by Design
offers a three-stage “backward planning” curriculum design process, a set of design standards with
rubrics, and a comprehensive training package to help teachers design and critique their lessons and
support materials. Backward design is a key component of the Understanding by Design approach to
learning. At times, we will use the terms interchangeably but Understanding by Design is the overall
educational approach described in the book by the same name by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe,
while backward design is one of the key concepts of that approach.
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The Essential Aspects of the IEC Approach
The Integrated Ecology Curriculum (IEC) emphasizes the local environment, practice of actual research
and field techniques, and specific support for literacy. This approach combines the concepts of
environment-based education with the backward design method to most effectively use ecological
concepts to engage students in the learning process.
This screen lists the fundamental aspects of the IEC approach.
Learning by Doing
The IEC approach promotes learning that derives from the student’s own experience. Students learn to
do a survey, for example, by conducting a survey, not by reading a description or studying someone
else’s survey.
Grappling with Skills and Content
In the IEC approach, learning is achieved by allowing students to maneuver through and struggle with
the content. Teachers can facilitate learning in these ways:
• Establishing rigorous standards
Rather than develop activities in terms of what students can do now, plan what you hope for
them to be able to do and develop the activities can get them there.
•
• Fight the temptation to lower expectations.
• Allowing students to help develop the standards of achievement
For example, what is a good observation? Several exercises take students through a process of
defining this for themselves and then applying the definition to their own work.
• Valuing persistence
Help students get comfortable with difficulty and with the idea that they won’t be perfect at
first. Practicing skills repeatedly in different activities and highlighting student improvements as
they go helps students see the process and their own progress.
Observation as the Key Gateway Skill to Critical Thinking

In the IEC approach, observation (and related data collection and analysis) is the central activity that
guides students through ever-more complex tasks, from noticing patterns in order to devise questions,
to analyzing and synthesizing final results.
Authenticity
In the IEC approach, students work with real objects, real locations, and real issues by employing real
methods. They are not given imaginary or far-off subjects for study and research. Everything they do is
rooted in true, real-world circumstances in their local area. There are no canned lessons with pre-
determined outcomes. What students learn has relevance and utility close to home.
Independence
The IEC approach promotes independence. Students move toward independent thought and critical
thinking by making their own choices. They are given choices within activities (with guidance) and are
asked to complete increasingly rigorous tasks, applying skills more and more independently.
Expanded Classroom
By providing learning activities in informal learning settings such as outdoors, in museums, and at
community organizations, the IEC approach promotes a culture of “full-life learning” in which students
value learning in all areas of their lives.
Active Learning
The IEC approach enables students to choose hands-on or exploratory exercises over passive,
secondhand learning. Active learning makes ideas visible and tangible by providing materials and
objects for manipulation and testing.
Emphasis on Literacy and Language Concepts
The IEC approach focuses on content literacy by allowing students to learn by practicing and by using
appropriate vocabulary to describe and write about concepts in their own words. The IEC approach
includes activities to bolster English language literacy in every unit regardless of topical or subject
focus.
Products as an Outcome of Previous Steps in Unit
Rather than repeating or summarizing skills and knowledge in a final short-term project, in the IEC
approach, the project is the unit. Interim assessments are built in and occur during the unit, with the
final project being the result of accumulated knowledge and competency. This approach promotes
persistence by emphasizing the process of continual building, improvement, and refinement leading to
a final product.
Local/Personal Relevance
The IEC approach focuses on issues, locations, and ideas that are within the reach and experience of
the students and that are directly relevant to the student and/or the community.
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Instructional Text
In this exercise, you are given a list of scenarios and IEC approach concepts. To complete the exercise,
drag and drop each scenario to the IEC concept that it best exemplifies. Click Submit when you are
done.
Independence
A teacher allows students to make choices (with guidance) about how best to observe the behavior of
frogs at a nearby pond while ensuring that students complete increasingly rigorous tasks as the unit
progresses.
Expanded Classroom

A teacher includes field trips to the local natural history museum and takes the class outside to study
nature.
Products as an Outcome of Previous Steps in Unit
Students learning about the effect of precipitation on plant life create a report. Throughout the unit,
every assignment they do builds new skills (such as how to measure precipitation and plant growth)
and provides new content knowledge needed to be able to collect information and contribute to the
report.
Emphasis on Literacy and Language Concepts
To begin learning about photosynthesis, students are introduced to some of the key concepts and
vocabulary and encouraged to describe and write about the concepts in their own words.
Local/Personal Relevance
A student investigates the increase of bear sightings in his suburban neighborhood and learns that
housing developments are being built closer and closer to forested areas. He never realized that there
were bears nearby or that they lived in the woods he sees from the road.
Week 3: Observation
2. Observation as a core skill
3. Level 1 Observation
4. Level 2 Observation
5. Lesson Summary
Topics:
• Observation skills
• Using real objects as primary documents
•
•
Lesson Introduction
Welcome to Lesson 3 of the Sustainable Communities course. This lesson discusses one way to
introduce the idea of sustainability to students and to help them define their understanding of the
term. The lesson then explores observation as a keystone skill that underlies all aspects of inquiry and
investigation. From simple description, to classification, to testing hypotheses and supporting
arguments, each level of observation scaffolds increasingly complex thinking, skills, and
understandings.
This week we will explore how to teach students to be perceptive and effective observers and how to
glean insights from what they observe. Activities guide the students step-by-step through the levels of
observation, building mastery that will eventually prepare them for complex investigations.
Observation

Template Type Text with default static image – Use image for this lesson watermarked in this
screen
Deriving a Class Definition of Sustainability
Students will have heard the word sustainability but because the term is used many different
ways, students might have only a vague idea of what it really means. When students begin a
sustainability unit, teachers can add clarity by leading them to create a collective, student-generated
definition that they come to through their own efforts.
Using a student-generated definition can result in several benefits:
• The actual act of deriving the definition causes students to exercise critical thinking skills.
• After the definition is established, it can be posted on the wall to serve as a constant rubric for
students to refer to throughout the class.
• A student-determined definition gives students a sense of ownership and a sense of
independence that encourages buy-in.
• Students will better remember and retain an understanding of this complicated and difficult
concept because they defined it themselves.
Although this is a student-centered activity, as the teacher you must ensure that it results in a
sufficiently accurate, clear, and agreed-on definition. This definition will serve as the basis for many
future discussions about whether various conditions, policies, and actions are “sustainable.”
Comments to Developer Create an animated build of these bullets. Use check marks for the bullets
Observation
Understanding Sustainability
You can facilitate a simple activity to illustrate the facets of sustainability. Although highlights of
the activity are presented in this lesson, refer to the Resources section of the LMS to access the
worksheets and examples for the activity.
The goal of this activity is to come up with a definition of sustainability. This definition, or criteria, will
be used as a standard measure for the rest of the class.
Observation
Defining Sustainability
The Defining Sustainability worksheet provides a step-by-step approach to deriving a working
definition of sustainability. Click the button to see the Defining Sustainability worksheet.
Defining Sustainability Worksheet
To come up with the definition, you will lead students through a collective brainstorming exercise
based on their current knowledge to come up with an initial definition.

Students read a series of statements that use the words sustain and sustainability. Then each student
writes his or her own definition. After students have written their own definitions, the class discusses
their definitions with one another and finally settles on a class definition of sustainability.
Next, they will undertake analysis of various graphs depicting topics such as deforestation or rising
obesity rates in the United States. This analysis provides students with information that might be new
to them and/or cause them to re-think their definition. They will use the worksheet entitled Analyzing
the Data: What Are Some of the Important Issues Connected to Sustainability in Today’s World?
to work through the trends presented in the graphs and the implications of these trends for
sustainability. You can find this worksheet in the Resources section of the LMS.
At that point, you should revisit the graphic organizer on the board and ask students for any revisions
they may want to make to the definition.
Examples of graphs you can use for this activity can be found in the Resources section of the LMS and
include the following:
• World population growth
• Global temperature change
• Asthma rates in specific populations
• Prevalence of obesity in children by decade (National Health Statistics)
• Obesity and high fructose corn syrup
• Portion sizes in the United States
• New hybrid vehicles on the road
• Deforestation
• Rising atmospheric CO2 levels
Link Source Week 3 AssetsWorksheets and OtherDefining Sustainability Worksheet.doc
Image Link SustainabilityWeek 3 AssetsImagesWorld Population Growth Chart
[Chart image]
Caption (optional)
Comments to Developer Make “Worksheet” a button that, when clicked, opens a pdf of defining
sustainability week 3.doc. Make it so that you can click the PDF to download it.
Observation
Introduction to Observation
Throughout the sustainability unit, students are presented with many opportunities to build
their observation skills. They observe the natural and built world and use those observations as a
springboard to understanding larger concepts related to society and the environment.

Observation is a foundational process skill that is part of any curriculum. Each of the other
science process skills requires that students first make a set of observations. For example, in
order to make an inference, there must be observations from which to draw.
Observation as an activity is a critical skill that underlies all aspects of inquiry and investigation.
Observations help us form hypotheses and meaningful questions. Through observation, we can build
increasingly complex thinking skills and understanding:
• Through observation, you notice things: patterns, similarities, differences, deviations from
pattern, or just interesting traits.
• Observation allows you to describe what you notice, with more or less accuracy, nuance, and
vividness.
• Observation allows you to characterize and categorize what you notice, usually by comparing
patterns or similarities to something with which you are already familiar.
• After you observe something, you can wonder and ask questions about it. Asking good
questions and developing testable questions are key to inquiry-based investigation.
• Observation allows you to make inferences about what you see, guessing at the meaning of
phenomena (“I don’t hear songbirds at night. I guess they might be asleep”).
• Observation is needed to create testable hypotheses based on your questions and inferences.
• Observation helps determine what data is needed to answer your question.
• Observation allows you to select and evaluate evidence to support your inferences, arguments,
and conclusions.
Note: You might want to derive the definition of an excellent observation as an introduction to the idea
of careful looking.
Source: Theo Small. "On Observation." NSTA-National Science Teachers Association. 7 December 2005.
NSTA. Accessed 23 May 2012.
Glossary (term + definition)
observation
Viewing with awareness or intentionality, or noting a fact or occurrence.
Link Source
Image Link SCWeek 3Images SC transect surveyers with camera.jpg
[photo]
Comments to Developer Have these bullets be an animated build. Present the first bullet as a block
on the bottom, with the text in the bullet in the block. Then, reveal the second block in the stack, with
the text of the 2nd bullet in that block. Continue until all of the blocks have been built and labeled.
It’s not really a pyramid; it’s more like a stack of blocks.
Observation

Levels of Observation
Observation is not limited to the initial stages of a project. Each level of inquiry based on
observation leads to increasingly complex thinking skills and understandings. As noted earlier, the first
step could be helping students derive their own definition of an excellent observation just as they
derived a definition of sustainability. Refer to the worksheet, What Must We Notice to Make an
Excellent Scientific? in the Resources section of the LMS for notes on how to conduct this activity.
Beyond simply describing observations, however, students need to master higher levels of observation
before they can undertake inquiry:
• Level 1: What makes an excellent observation?
• Level 2: Asking questions
• Level 3: Making Inferences
We will describe each level of observation and then walk through sample activities that demonstrate
them.
Level 1 Observation
Observations Versus Inferences
Before we move on to discuss the higher levels of observation, it is important to examine the
distinction between observation and inference. Whereas observation is simply noticing facts,
inferences are the conclusions drawn from those observations. For example, a student might observe
that a branch has some bark missing. This observation might lead them to the inference that small
animals have been gnawing on the branch. Such an inference could then be supported by data or other
observations.
It is important to make sure that your students do not confuse inference and observation. This is a
common mistake and should be corrected immediately to make the distinction clear. For example,
when examining a snake shed, students might say “the scales on the top of the snake are larger than
the scales on the belly of the snake.” However, they don’t know which part of the snake shed is from
the top or bottom of the snake. They are inferring (guessing) where the top of the snake is, based on
their observations and previous knowledge. They might have decided that the holes they noticed on
one end were the mouth and eyeholes and deduced the location of the top and bottom of the snake
from that observation (and from previous knowledge of what snakes look like). However, you should
emphasize to them that the two processes are different—first they made an observation (holes) then
they made an inference based on that observation (“I think that the holes are the eyes; if so, I think
that this is the top of the snake”).
This distinction becomes crucial when they encounter an unfamiliar object because they won’t have
previous knowledge to support their inferences. They should be able to explain what they noticed to
defend their inference.
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Instructional Text Classify each item as an observation or an inference by dragging each
item to the appropriate category. Click Submit when you are finished.
Correct Answers
(5 pairs max)
Observation Inference
There are no trash cans on this street. People probably litter a lot on this street.
Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are rising. Global temperatures will rise as a result of the
rising CO2.
A hamburger at McDonalds is cheaper than
buying hamburger at the grocery store. Low-income families eat more fast food than high-income
families do.
5% of commuters get to work by bicycle. It’s faster to commute by car or train than by bicycle.
Comments to Developer Have one column be labeled Observation, and one labeled Inference.
Randomize each of the items, and have students drag the items and place them in the appropriate
column.

Level 1 Observation
Observation Activities: Some Suggestions
Instructional Text (Optional)
Note that you can provide many opportunities for students to practice making observations of
different objects, photos, and other items. This repetition should help improve students’ written
descriptions and diagrams. You might also want to create a classroom definition of observation, using
the same exercise used to derive the classroom definition of sustainability.
Students are often asked to observe and describe in science and other disciplines. It’s important to help
them make the explicit effort to create questions and make inferences based on those observations.
This is a scientific and generally inquisitive habit of mind. One example of this is, “I noticed that the
street has lots of trash on the sidewalk. I wonder where it came from and why it’s not in a trash can.” In
this way, students extend the practice of observation to the next level of inquiry and practice their
written descriptions and diagrams. By creating questions based on their observations, students build
skills that help them form scientific inquiry questions and testable hypothesis later in the unit.
Level 2 Observation
Level 2 Observation Activity: Asking Questions
Instructional Text (Optional) Click the button to see the blank worksheet and an example of a
completed worksheet.
One way to lead students into making inferences is through the use of a T-chart. Click the
button to see an example of a completed T-chart worksheet for an observation of a neighborhood
street in a web-based maps program. The worksheet not only allows students to record their
observations, it goes one step further and prompts students to write a question about what they are
observing. Note how the observations are related and lead to inferences and questions.
Neighborhood Photos: Chart Sample
Supplementary Links SustainabilityWeek 3 AssetsWorksheets and OtherT-chart Blank
SustainabilityWeek 3 AssetsWorksheets and OtherT-chart Filled In
Comments to Developer Insert a button called “Neighborhood Photos: Chart Sample” that opens a
PDF of SustainabilityWeek 3 AssetsWorksheets and OtherT-chart Blank.
Make the PDF clickable so that the blank chart is replaced by SustainabilityWeek 3
AssetsWorksheets and OtherT-chart Filled In document

Level 2 Observation
Observation Activities: Using the Worksheet
To perform the observation activity, follow these steps:
1. Pass out printed photos from “Google Street View” of different streets from your city or town.
Make available 4 or 5 street views so that several students have the same photo to analyze.
2. Provide each student with a copy of the What Can We Learn About Sustainability by Looking at
a City Street? worksheet.
3. Ask students to work individually on their worksheets to describe the streets in detail.
4. Bring students’ attention to the right column of the worksheet that asks them to form questions
based on their observations. Explain that students should write down not only what they notice
but what that observation makes them wonder or ask.
Comments to Developer Reveal the number list as a staggered reveal.
=========================================================================
Observation Activities: About Inferences
Explain to students why asking questions is important—why scientists need to wonder about
what they observe. When we wonder about something, we naturally start to think of possible answers
to our questions. These initial “guesses” are inferences—the conclusions we draw from our
observations. Early inferences can become testable questions and hypotheses; we can conduct
research and collect data to see whether those inferences turn out to be correct.
Inferences can be about very small, precise facts: “I infer that a caterpillar created the hole in the leaf
because I observed a caterpillar on that leaf.” Inferences can also be about broad ideas and theories:
“Darwin’s observations about the natural world led him to infer that some species evolved from others.
He inferred the theory of evolution; scientists look for evidence that either supports or undermines
that theory. So far, it is strongly supported.”
=========================================================================
Observation Activities: Working in Groups
The next step in the observation activity is to have students form groups based on the photo
they analyzed (all students with photo 1 in a group, students with photo 2 in another group, and so on).
Have the students in each group compare their observations and questions with each other. In the
space for the last question on the worksheet, students should note which observations were shared
and which were different from the other students who observed the same photo.
As a class, share these differences and similarities and discuss the types of observations that are
important in evaluating community issues. Emphasize the complexity of ways in which humans and the
environment influence each other.

=========================================================================
Observation Activities: Notice What They Notice
Sometimes one student notices the physical conditions of the street while another focuses on
people more than the landscape. Recognize that it’s important to consider both humans and the
physical environment and the relationship between the two. You can’t look at just one or the other.
Students might notice a number of aspects of their photos:
 Differences from what they are used to:
o Very clean or very dirty streets
o Many people or fewer people than they’d expect
o Different types of businesses or buildings they don’t see in their daily travels
 They might not notice things that seem “normal” to them and that they take for granted:
o If they live in a residential area, they may not ask why there are no stores, whereas a
city-dwelling child might find that same street view unusual because it lacks stores.
o City-dwellers might not remark on the height of a building because they are accustomed
to seeing tall buildings. However, they should take notice of tall apartment buildings
because housing many people in limited space is an important tenet of land-use policy
with sustainability implications.
o
o
=========================================================================
Observation Activities: Discussing as a Class
Helping students to recognize their “filters” is an important aspect of this exercise. After
students have shared what they noticed and the questions these observations raised, bring the class
back together and lead a discussion. Ask students the following questions:
1. What determines what a person observes?
2. What seems important to notice?
3. Why?
Discuss any observations that might be missing thus far. It can be fruitful to think about what we don’t
see in the photos as well. Not only “missing” things (such as a lack of garbage cans) but the processes
and factors invisible in daily life. For example, inside all those building, water is flowing out of taps and
through toilets. Electricity is powering lights and appliances. Where is the garbage going to go—outside
the frame of the photo? Where are the cars coming from or going to? Also, point out to students that
different observations are more useful in different circumstances: If you are investigating green space
in New York City, it might not be relevant to notice the clothes people are wearing. However this would
be a useful observation if you were investigating fashion trends.
Level 2 Observation

Observation: Making Inferences
Whereas the first two levels of observation focus on simple observation and basic questions,
the third level of observation asks students to make inferences based on what they observe, using
criteria they have been given. They are told what different observations might mean (providing content
knowledge) and they apply their observation ability to making and supporting inferences based on
information they have been given.
To demonstrate an example of a level 3 observation, let’s consider an activity that asks students to
think about urban planning and land use decisions.
=========================================================================
Observation-Inference Activity: The Queens Museum Panorama
This activity asks students to examine a birds-eye view of their city or town and to look for clues
that indicate different types of land use. Students use their observations to make inferences about
what they see. For example, they might guess that a large building surrounded by parking lots is has a
commercial or industrial use.
Students are asked to describe these clues in the graphic organizer/worksheet (available in the
Resources section of the LMS) and also make guesses about how humans are using that land. This
activity helps students identify salient observations and justify inferences based on those observations.
Finally, students estimate what percentage of the city/town is devoted to which land use. This exercise
is a springboard to understanding the different ways that humans need to use land and allocate
resources. It also illustrates the extent to which humans impact the land. This activity helps students
think about which uses are positive and which are negative; which are necessary and which are not.
Note
Link Source
Image Link SustainabilityWeek 3 AssetsImagesNYC Panorama
[photo]
Comments to Developer Insert a button titled: Note. When the button is clicked, reveal the
following statement:
This activity uses a 3D model of New York City (found in the Queens Museum of Art) to teach about
how land is used for residential, commercial, and industrial purposes—as well as for parks and other
green spaces. You can develop a similar exercise using Google Earth to show a “birds-eye view” of your
location. You might also want to use the “<Name of City> from Above” photographs that are popularly
available.

=========================================================================
Time to Reflect
Instructional Text Reflect on these items.
Question Now that you know the importance of observation and the role that different levels of
observation play in scientific inquiry and investigation, think about how you can design and implement
observation activities into your lesson plans. Make a list of three activity ideas you can test in your own
classroom.
Lesson Summary
We’ve reached the end of Lesson 3. This lesson examined the importance of observation, the
different levels of observation, and how to use real objects as primary documents.
This week’s group work will give you a chance to collaborate with your colleagues to derive a definition
of sustainability. The term is contentious and debated by many, so don’t assume that you will all agree.
It’s not only an interesting exercise but one that is necessary to ensure that you have some clarity
about the topic before you explore it with your students. You will be instructed to post your initial ideas
about the essential meaning of sustainability online in a class Wiki. Then you will analyze the different
contributions and comment on them. Read the Group Work for Week 3 document in the Resources
section of the LMS for further instructions on this week’s group work.

Week 4: Learning by Doing
2. Authentic and Cumulative Projects
3. Authentic and Cumulative Project Examples
4. Project-Based Learning
5. Lesson Summary
Lesson Description Topics:
• Authentic and cumulative projects
• Benefits of project-based learning
Lesson Introduction
Lesson Introduction
Welcome to Lesson 4 of the Sustainable Communities course. This lesson explores authentic
investigation, also known as learning by doing. In traditional classrooms, science and other forms of
investigation and research are often presented in a second-hand, contrived, abstract, or less-than-
authentic way. By learning by doing, the IEC approach emphasizes authenticity in all its activities in the
following ways:
• Focusing on local ecosystems and resources where the students live
• Applying content to real-world questions and issues that are relevant to your students
• Conducting research in real-life settings with real-world objects and organisms
• Conducting the same research methods and activities that real-world scientists use to collect
data and investigate questions
The IEC approach promotes cumulative projects that clearly rely on the skills and content students
have acquired previously, either before the class started or sometime earlier in the class. Cumulative
projects allow students to build their skills and connect what they are learning to a larger context with
more meaningful application. They also promote persistence over time as students see how their
efforts build toward an end result, and as they witness their own improvement over time.
In this lesson we will do the following:
• Explore examples of learning by doing
• Describe the benefits of project-based learning
=============================================
Authentic and Cumulative Projects
Criteria for Authentic Projects
The IEC approach uses authentic projects, which are projects that focus on real-world issues,
centered on local ecosystems and resources where the students live.

According to the Understanding by Design authors Wiggins and McTighe, a project is considered
authentic if it has the following characteristics:
• Is realistically contextualized, or based in a real-world context
• Requires judgment and innovation
• Asks the student to “do” rather than “watch” or read about a topic
• Replicates real-world challenging situations that truly test students
• Assesses the student’s ability to effectively use knowledge or skills to complete a complex or
multistage task
• Provides opportunities to rehearse, practice, reference resource materials, get feedback, and
refine the skills being taught [UbD, p 154]
Source: Wiggins, Grant and McTighe, Jay. Understanding by Design. Expanded 2nd ed. Upper Saddle
River, N.J.: Pearson Education, Inc., 2006.
Glossary (term + definition)
authentic projects
Projects that focus on real-world environments or situations where one lives.
=============================================
Advantages of Authentic Projects
Authentic projects can offer many advantages over more traditional projects that are based
solely on exercises. Wiggins and McTighe assert that authentic projects are beneficial in that they allow
students to discover two important things:
• How the knowledge and skills of the lesson are really applied (or not applied) in the real world.
• How each discrete lesson is meaningful, that is, how mastery of the tasks of each lesson can
lead to higher performance in more important or complex tasks [UbD, p 155].
By applying content to real-world questions and issues that are relevant to students and by conducting
research in real-life settings with real-world objects, students see that projects pertain to them and are
relevant to the world with which they interact. When students carry out the research methods and
activities that real-world scientists use to collect data and investigate questions, they are learning real-
world, transferable skills.
Source: Wiggins, Grant and McTighe, Jay. Understanding by Design. Expanded 2nd ed. Upper Saddle
River, N.J.: Pearson Education, Inc., 2006.
=============================================
Cumulative Projects
In addition to authenticity, the IEC approach favors cumulative projects, with activities that
contribute toward a final outcome. The IEC approach also helps students build their skills over time.
Just as the continuum of instruction leads students from introduction, to practice, through mastery and
assessment, the trajectory of a good project should lead students through tasks and outcomes that will
contribute to or be expressed in the final project output.

For example, early observation activities build skills and a content base that students will need to carry
out the neighborhood surveys, which in turn will provide the data they use to assess the community in
terms of health and sustainability. Students will see how—and should be reminded that—everything
they learn during the unit is useful and necessary to reach their outcome.
=============================================
Instructional Text Drag a line from each concept on the left to the example demonstrating
that concept on the right. Click Submit when you are finished.
Correct Answers
(5 pairs max) Concept Example
Learning by doing Students learn about conducting surveys by actually
developing and administering a survey about the health of people residing near a highway.
Cumulative project Over the course of a unit, students compile information
about the wildlife in a park, including their interactions and the conditions they need to survive. They
then use this information to assess the effect that a new parking lot next to the park would have on
the wildlife.
Authentic project Students study pollution levels of the reservoir that
supplies the water they use at home to drink and bathe in.
=============================================
Authentic and Cumulative Project Examples
Examples of Authentic and Cumulative Projects
Now that you understand the nature and benefits of authentic and cumulative projects, we will
examine sample projects that apply the principle of learning by doing within the context of cumulative
projects that focus on authentic objects and activities.
Although each of the following projects addresses a different set of circumstances, note that all the
projects focus on local, real-world activities that allow students to learn by doing. Here are the sample
projects we will study in this lesson:
o Project 1: Sustainable Design and Community Development
o Project 2: Garden/Journalism Project
=============================================
Sustainable Design and Community Development: Background
Our first sample project took place at Lyons Community School in Brooklyn. Lyons was a newly
founded school that had been open for only one year when Columbia curriculum specialists began to
work with its faculty. The school staff included many first- and second-year teachers, and the

administration hoped to provide professional support and curriculum development guidance through
collaboration with the IEC program. Lyons is unusual in that the school devotes a half day each week to
integrated, cross-disciplinary “field studies” units, with a different theme each quarter. In the following
IEC collaboration, the school chose the theme of community sustainability.
This unit was created with the intention that it become a permanent fixture in the curriculum, to be
conducted every year by each 7th grade class. Columbia guided development of two quarter-long field
studies units over the course of two years. Five different instructors led the units overall. Meryl and
Rob were the designated field studies instructors who coordinated the unit planning with science
teachers Zach and James. Robert was the instructor for a section of English Language Learning students
who participated in the unit.
=============================================
Sustainable Design and Community Development: Background (cont’d)
The Lyons School administration has a particular vision for the school that focuses on ensuring
the development of critical and scientific habits of mind and transferable cognitive skills. These skills
bolster student performance in all subjects. Therefore, many of the field studies lessons and activities
are aimed at sharpening students’ skills of observation, questioning, and analysis. Although these
activities are first developed in the science department, they are expanded and practiced across
disciplines as a result of the integrated field studies program.
This new school was housed in an old building, with deteriorated, asphalt-covered exterior lots that
had lost usefulness and certainly beauty over the years. The faculty decided on a project that invited
students to redesign one of the lots with sustainability, utility, and aesthetics in mind. Each student
would complete the unit by writing a proposal to submit to the NYC Department of Education for
approval. A winning proposal—voted on by the class—would be sent to the DoE and would be
implemented by the school the following year.
=============================================
Sustainable Design and Community Development: Beginning the Project
Students began the unit by collaboratively deriving a class definition of sustainability based on
their existing knowledge and ideas. They were then asked to analyze graphs depicting data about topics
such as population growth, waste, and energy use. This data analysis prompted revision of the class
definition as a result of the new understandings gained during the exercise. This introductory lesson
also acted as a springboard for later classroom discussions about how personal choices relate to
sustainability issues.
After gaining a basic understanding of sustainability in the classroom, students were taken to visit
various community organizations and local groups devoted to developing and demonstrating
solutions for various sustainability issues. Students could use these experiences as models and
inspiration for their school space redesign. Each trip or activity focused on a specific aspect of
sustainability.
=============================================

Sustainable Design and Community Development: Field Studies
Students visited Solar 1, a local educational organization that advocates use of renewable
energy sources. There they examined the science and mechanics of solar energy generation by studying
solar panels for general energy production and by building solar cars to understand the transfer of solar
to kinetic energy. Back in school, they built their own solar ovens—and cooked a snack with them—as
another illustration of the applications of solar energy.
A trip to the Brooklyn Bridge Conservancy focused on waste reduction using low-process recycling. In
the Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass (DUMBO) section of Brooklyn, an entire public park
and education center had been built using reclaimed and reused materials, including stone from a
bridge and wood and metals taken from a demolished coal storage facility and other defunct buildings
on the pier.
Students discussed the benefits and disadvantages of different materials and sources. They focused not
only on the re-use of materials, but also on the energy savings realized by using locally reclaimed items
rather than materials shipped from distant locations. Building the park with locally procured materials
also helped retain the historically accurate cultural and natural character of the area.
=============================================
Sustainable Design and Community Development: Field Studies (cont’d)
The students next examined issues of community investment and self-sufficiency in a visit to
East NY Farms. East NY Farms is an urban farm in the heart of Brooklyn that provides land for locally
grown crops that are sold at a community-run farmers’ market. The proceeds go directly back to the
farmers. The farm is conceived as an economic project that provides jobs for neighborhood residents
who raise and sell produce for profit. The farmer-residents receive these profits as income to be spent
and reinvested locally, creating a cycle of community benefit.
Not only does the farm encourage local economic development, it also supplies lower-cost, healthy
food to a neighborhood with proportionally few grocery stores and food markets. The farm expands its
pursuit of self-sufficiency and sustainability by harvesting rainwater for irrigation and conducting other
profitable activities such as bee-keeping.
=============================================
Sustainable Design and Community Development: Speakers
In addition to these offsite trips, the Lyons faculty also invited special speakers to come into the
classroom and present topics of interest to the students. Speakers included representatives from the
Bamboo Bike Studio, the NYC Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, and a New York
representative of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA).
The speakers, tours, and demonstrations at site visits provided ample opportunity for students to
practice careful listening. They gathered information from visual and spoken sources and related new
information back to the larger project at hand: how to best redesign the school space.

Every trip and speaker had a related worksheet or activity to ensure that students would synthesize
and reflect on the content presented.
Moreover, exposure to community organizations illustrated the many ways that people organize
together to work for desired changes: as non-profit, for-profit, educational, and governmental
advocates.
Thus informed and inspired, the class entered into the planning phase of the activity.
=============================================
Sustainable Design and Community Development: Implementation
The students conducted a survey of the space to define baseline conditions, identify structures
and items that were already present, and think about ways that the space could be put to better use—
whether by making it more aesthetically pleasing or by fulfilling specific identified needs. Students
wrote initial proposals, deciding on goals for the space, arguing the merits for the uses they proposed,
and outlining specific actions to meet those goals.
Student priorities varied: some wanted to provide green space in general, while others wanted to grow
food for the cafeteria. Some preferred to install solar panels to provide energy for the school, while
others wanted to create a community gathering place with benches and recreational areas built from
reclaimed materials.
Each student wrote their own proposal following a structured outline. The class then voted on a
winning proposal to present to the principal and to the DoE as a blueprint to carry out the following
year. They hoped to develop similar proposals for a vacant lot in the neighborhood in subsequent
years.
=============================================
Sustainable Design and Community Development: Year 2
Unfortunately, the DoE did not approve the proposed redesign of the school space, so the
planned implementation portion of the project for year 2 was not carried out. Instead, students turned
their efforts toward addressing sustainability needs in the general neighborhood around the school.
They undertook a survey along a transect of the neighborhood to identify environmental burdens and
amenities. After an analysis of those results, the students opted to focus their efforts on addressing the
lack of green space nearby.
Armed with the experiences of the previous year, students reviewed various options to create green
space, taking to heart the logistic difficulties they’d already encountered in getting official sanction and
support for changes. Thus they decided to pursue small-scale, individual, and small-group solutions
that could be implemented without need for permissions and that might demonstrate to the
community and decision makers the benefits that could be gained from even small changes.
=============================================

Sustainable Design and Community Development: Year 2 (cont’d)
Students particularly liked the concept of “seed bombing”: creating small balls of compost, clay,
and wildflower seeds that self-germinate when it rains. Spreading these “flower bombs” in vacant lots,
tree pits, and other barren areas was an easy and inexpensive way to beautify the neighborhood.
Students promoted the practice more broadly by distributing seed balls to members of the community.
The final project involved identifying appropriate lots to “bomb” and creating a publication to educate
the community about the benefits of green spaces.
Articles in the publication covered topics such as using green cover to prevent flooding of combined
sewer overflow, to limit runoff of pollutants into the waterways, and to cool the local microclimate
through transpiration. As hoped, the project promoted community involvement and buy-in.
The owner of one of the identified empty lots saw the class conducting its neighborhood survey and
asked about the project. He supported their efforts and invited them to go beyond “seed bombs” and
to undertake a full-fledged sustainable landscape design in his lot that included planting. This example
showed students how small educational and demonstration efforts can ignite the nascent desire of the
community to improve conditions, thus creating a snowball effect. After neighbors saw the effective
initial efforts, they were motivated to join in, increasing the scope and success of the project.
=============================================
Garden Journalism Project: Background
The Garden Journalism Sustainable Communities unit was introduced at a 500-student middle
school in Brooklyn, NY, with the science, English language arts (ELA), and math teachers collaborating
on the project curriculum. The final project included designing and planting a garden plot at a local
community garden and creating a neighborhood newsletter that educated the community about the
value of green space for human and environmental health.
Image Link SCWeek 4 Assets Community Garden 1.jpg
[photo]
=============================================
Garden Journalism Project: Research
Students learned about the personal and community benefits of community gardens through a
close reading and analysis of the fictionalized but highly realistic stories presented in the novel,
Seedfolks. The book presents the perspectives of diverse members of an urban neighborhood as they
slowly transform an empty lot into a working garden for the community. Each gardener has different
reasons for joining the gardening project and brings motivations and viewpoints unique to his or her
personal and cultural history.

=============================================
Garden Journalism Project: Tabletop Labs
With the Seedfolks stories as backdrop and motivation, students worked in science class to
understand basic plant science and nutrition. Tabletop labs demonstrated primary concepts such as
photosynthesis and plant physiology. For example, the albino corn lab and the celery lab illustrated the
mechanisms by which plants create and distribute energy and nutrients for survival. This information
guided student selection of plants appropriate to the light, water, and soil characteristics of their
garden plot and helped them understand the health and human benefits of gardens and fresh produce.
The tabletop labs bolstered science process skills while providing practice using models and creating
inferences from observations. A trip to the Science Barge provided an outdoor counterpart to the labs,
allowing students to see sustainable methods of horticulture in action, including aquaculture and other
less land-intensive strategies. The trip also reinforced science content by highlighting how a plant’s
need for water, nutrients, and sunlight can be met in unconventional ways. The labs and the Science
Barge trip together provided practical horticultural information and ideas for sustainable agricultural
practices that the students could consider when planning their garden.
=============================================
Garden Journalism Project: Math
Math teacher Mr. Smalls developed applied-math content. Smalls led students through the
process of creating accurate to-scale blueprints of the garden plots after students had roughly sketched
out their plans “by eye.” The blueprints included the outer dimensions of the plots and mapped the
precise locations of each different plant or species as appropriate to the space required by each to
grow.
Before planting their crops, students tested their soil for essential nutrients and compared the existing
nutrient profile (a ratio of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium) to what is considered optimal for the
various plants. They then had to calculate whether they needed to add fertilizer and how much would
be needed to reach the desired nutrient ratios.
Thus the unit successfully incorporated the math concepts—including proportions, fractions, geometry,
and measurement—that Mr. Smalls needed to cover in his scope and sequence and provided ample
application of the concepts to this real-world problem.
Image Link
SC Week 4 Assets Community Garden 2.jpg
[photo]
=============================================

Garden Journalism Project: Literacy
With the garden planted, literacy took center stage once again as students reported on their
garden project in a community newsletter that they wrote, designed, and printed in color. The
newsletter was distributed to cafes, restaurants, and retail stores in the area. ELA teacher Betsy Kelly
designed a framework for the journalism unit that gave students the freedom to choose their preferred
topics, relating the garden-planting project to issues of health, green spaces, or nutrition.
Ms. Kelly needed to differentiate her activities to include special education learners in her classroom.
The flexible structure of the newsletter allowed students of different abilities and learning styles to
showcase their strengths while demonstrating their learning. For example, in addition to written
articles, some students created crossword puzzles, cartoons, an advertisement about healthy
alternatives to processed foods, and educational captions for photos.
Literacy was also supported in science class as students wrote informative essays to explain specific
plant processes. These were included in the newsletter to support the project goal of educating the
community about the benefits of gardens and green spaces, especially with regard to environmental
conditions, personal health, and nutrition. The newsletter also served as an outreach tool by
encouraging personal and civic investment in the gardens through volunteering and by advocating on
the behalf of community gardens.
Link Source
Image Link SC Week 4 asset news magazine_Page_01
[photo]
=============================================
Garden Journalism Project: Community Involvement
It is worth noting that this project became a real-world demonstration of how community
involvement created support networks that mutually benefited the school and the community. In
preparation for the unit, the school’s teachers reached out to various neighborhood gardens and
learned that the Patchen Avenue garden was sorely in need of volunteers. This venerable garden had
been in existence for so long that membership was in decline because of its aging volunteers.
The school was able to provide literally dozens of new, young, and eager volunteers to help plant
neglected plots and maintain the public spaces. Students’ tasks included weeding and watering,
harvesting vegetables and fruit, and turning the compost. In return, the school got a living learning
studio where students witnessed and practiced first-hand all they had learned in their literacy, science,
and math activities…with delicious results.
Image Link SC Week 4 Assets Community Garden 3.jpg
[photo]
=============================================

Time to Reflect
Question Based on what you learned in this lesson, what activities can you implement into your
instruction that allow students to learn by doing? What are the advantages of this approach?
=============================================
Project-Based Learning
Project-Based Learning
Although the projects we examined in this lesson differ in approach and goals, they are similar
in that each provided an example of project-based learning. Whether the end result of the project was
a community garden, a newsletter, or improved community space, the common thread is that students
worked toward a cumulative end product that showcased what they learned.
=============================================
Benefits of Project-Based Learning
Here are some of the many benefits to project-based learning:
• Increases motivation by providing valid, valuable, real-world work that is applicable to issues
• Allows students to see first-hand the results of their efforts
• Provides opportunity for independence and accomplishment
• Allows for building of real transferable skills (not limited to science), including collecting data,
evaluating information, presenting and analyzing data, and drawing and supporting conclusions
• Allows students to become familiar with broadly applicable tools and methods, including how to
design a survey, how to do a tally, how to outline a study plot, and how to define a question
• Exposes students to the concept of stewardship by giving them a sense of place
=============================================
Lesson Summary
We’ve come to the end of Lesson 4. This lesson explored the benefits of learning by doing and
using project-based learning.
This week’s group work will give you a chance to discuss your project ideas and possibilities for
collaboration. You will start to think about and share ideas on how you are going to build the skills and
content your students need to master your lesson. Read the Group Work for Week 4 document in the
Resources section of the LMS for further instructions on this week’s group work.

Sources
Wiggins, Grant and McTighe, Jay. Understanding by Design. Expanded 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River,
N.J.: Pearson Education, Inc., 2006.

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