Sustainability Year 7 Cross Curriculum Project Epping Boys High School
Sustainability Project website: http://sustainabilityccp-ebhs.weebly.com
Sustainability Project website: http://sustainabilityccp-ebhs.weebly.com Step-by-step! lessons Download the project! as a file/booklet
Why create a Cross Curriculum Project?
School context and aims Middle School model - DEC s Our Middle School Learners and the Middle Years (5-9) Transition Matrix! Emphasis on embedding the principles of the Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians! 21st century learning - critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, adaptability! Integration of student welfare concepts - class cohesion, group structures, working together in a group.! Study skills - plagiarism, research skills, sources.
Our Middle Years Learners Balance the need for support with the desire for responsibility and independence.! Incorporate the current primary school Connected Outcomes Groups (COGs) model to develop integrated, across-faculty units of work in the early secondary years! Increase the innovative use of technology to support learning, increase learning choices and develop students skill and confidence as technology users http://www.dec.nsw.gov.au/detresources/our_middle_years_ganxiheeua.pdf
Middle Years (5-9) Transition Matrix Learning is intellectually challenging and demands rigorous analysis and involves deep understanding of ideas! Learning and assessment tasks are open-ended, providing student choice and decision making, and integrate knowledge and skills across KLAs. http://www.sixbigideasforschoolimprovement.org/uploads/2/4/8/6/24869360/middleyears-transition-matrix.pdf
Melbourne Declaration http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/national_declaration_on_the_educational_goals_for_young_australians.pdf Melbourne Declaration Ability to move across subject disciplines to develop new expertise Ability to solve problems that draw upon a range of learning areas and disciplines Sustainability Project Integration of subject content from two subjects from Geography, Science, Timber, Metal. As well as use of Technology skills
Melbourne Declaration Melbourne Declaration Ability to plan activities independently, collaborate in teams and communicate ideas. Capacity to work with others Practical knowledge and skill development Developing essential skills as creative and productive users of technology. Thinking skills Developing capacity to learn Deep knowledge, understanding, skills and values that will enable advanced learning and an ability to create new ideas and translate them into practical applications. Sustainability Project Planning, time management Teamwork, collaboration Technology sessions Developing strategies to generate ideas (brainstorming, mind mapping, etc), categorising information, research techniques, group work strategies, creating a product.
Melbourne Declaration Melbourne Declaration Flexible and analytical thinking! Think deeply and logically! Evaluate evidence in a disciplined way! Developing essential skills in learning Creating active and informed citizens! Fostering an understanding of Australian society, citizenship and national values Promoting personalised learning! Playing an active role in learning Sustainability Project Analysing sustainability through the lens of different subjects Planning and revising plans Engaging/consulting with the wider community. Attending the Youth Eco Summit Creating a product, hands on activities, experiential learning
Cross Curriculum Priority! - ACARA and BOSTES Implementing the Environmental! Education Policy in your schools (2001)! DEC Students engage! with their community Students become! informed citizens Why Sustainability? Positive learning! experience A range of! different scales Students find! ecologically and socially! just solutions Future focused Real world! application
The Project
Project overview 180 Year 7 students! 1 lesson a fortnight for 1 term! 2 full days of activities! Groups of 4-5! Subject content from Geography, Science and TAS (Metal and Timber).! Additional skills/techniques from Technology and Drama
Project overview Students had a choice of how to present their projects. These choices are: Design a city or town showing how you could incorporate a range of different sustainable technologies and techniques that would maintain a growing population for 50 years. Create a 5 minute video about sustainability in the Epping community. Create an app to teach the community about sustainable practices they can implement in their home. Create a multi-level game that explores the consequences of not using sustainable practices in the Epping community. Develop a visual representation of a sustainable design using a graphics program. Import the graphic into augmented reality software to represent the design in a suitable location, or to augment the information in certain contexts.
Project overview
Project overview Week Week 1 Week 3 Week 3 Activity Introduction to project theme and working in groups activities.! Research techniques, sources and plagiarism! Youth Eco Summit - Homebush Bay excursion! Week 5 Evaluating subject content and project creation! Week 7 & 9 Week 8 Week 11 Project creation! Tech workshops Presentation of projects
Lesson 1: Introduction and Working in groups Read a few definitions of sustainability! Write your own definition of sustainability! As a class brainstorm ideas related to sustainability! Consider how sustainability relates to you, your school and your community.! Create a glossary of terms related to sustainability.! Play a game of charades acting out words related to sustainability
Lesson 1: Introduction and Working in groups Get to know the members of your group! How can you be a good group member?! Will you be a good group member? What skills do you bring to your group?! Working effectively in your group! Practicing group work activities! Group decides on an end product
Lesson 1: Introduction and Working in groups
Youth Eco Summit Year 7 Excursion
Youth Eco Summit Annual event! Run by Sydney Olympic Park, the NSW Department of Education and Communities and University of Western Sydney.! Festival-style event - workshops, interactive displays, seminars and student presentations! Video conferencing opportunities for remote schools - interviews, web chats! Environmental Education Centres, universities and community organisations ran stalls and workshops on solar cars, alternate forms of electricity generation, composting and waste management.! Professional learning sessions were run in the lead up to the event.
Youth Eco Summit Some of the workshops our students attended:!! Energy Past, Present and Future! Sustainability in Agriculture! Bring back swimming to the Parramatta River! How individual actions can make a difference in the marine environment! The buzz on bees! Farm, Nature and Wildlife Education Tours! Science behind textiles! Designing Sustainable Homes! Impacts of Climate Change and Global Inequality amongst food producers! The Future of Passenger Solar Cars! Close the loop - organic recycling! Climate Change made easy! We are all Cooks River People
Take 3 workshop Students use bicycles to power the workshop
The buzz on bees Examining the role of bees in global food production.
Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sustainable practises in the home
Registration for the Youth Eco Summit for 2015 is already open. http://www.uws.edu.au/bringing_sustainability_to_life/sustainability/ resources/forms/youth_eco_summit_registration_form
Lesson 2: Research techniques, sources and plagiarism Research techniques - summarising articles, using search engines.! Different sources of information! Plagiarism - paraphrasing, quoting, appropriate ways of using the ideas of others.! Writing a reference list/bibliography
Lesson 2: Research and sources Plan out your research. Use the research planner to document what information you will need, when you will need it, and who will be responsible. In what order do the tasks need to be completed?! Use the weekly planner (simplified GANTT chart) to plan out key milestones of the project.
Lesson 2: Research and sources
Lesson 2: Research and sources Examine a range of sources related to sustainability, your subject areas or your end product. Use the research scaffold to record information from your sources.
Lesson 3: Introducing subject content
Subject content - Geography
Subject content - Geography Introductory concepts! related to sustainability Existing NSW syllabus Australian Curriculum/! BOSTES draft syllabus
Subject content - Science
Subject content - Science Australian Curriculum/! BOSTES sysllabus
Subject content - TAS
Subject content - TAS NSW BOSTES syllabus
Lesson 3: Evaluating subject content Consider how your topic will relate to at least two subject areas.! Reflection: Evaluate how well your project will address the issue of sustainability.! How will you make a judgement? Develop criteria.! Students were expected to explicitly state the links between their chosen subjects, sustainability and their project endproducts. This had to be presented in a report format.
Tech Workshops Students attended workshops to provide them with the skills and capabilities to produce their projects. Workshops included:! Model building! Photoshop and augmented reality! Games design - kudo! Creating an app! Dramatic techniques! Video creating and editing.
Tech workshops! Staff from a variety of faculties! One student-led workshop (Year 10 students)! These sessions were important to develop essential skills in students to become, creative and productive users of technology, especially ICT,(p8, MCEETYA, 2008), and to ensure that any existing deficiencies in technology would not hinder the creation of the project.
Dramatic techniques Students were given:! basic instructions and techniques for performing in front of the camera.! script writing hints! ideas on how to make an engaging performance
Game design - Kodu Game design program developed by Microsoft! Easy to use, code free! Students can access worlds, discussions and extra resources on the website! Hands on workshop where students could begin building their game
Screenshot from Kodu website http://www.kodugamelab.com
Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Hands on workshop where students were shown the basic techniques for creating and editing video and editing images.! Images:! creating basic graphics for apps - icons, buttons, etc! creating complex graphics for augmented reality.! Basic overview of the Aurasma app (augmented reality - augmented reality is where a student is able to present a computergenerated image so that it appears to be placed in the real world).! Video editing techniques
Creating an app
Lesson 4 & 5: Creating the end product For each project the same process was followed:! Examine the tasks/end products and the marking criteria.! Review existing apps, videos, games! Brainstorm ideas! Plan (using the planning scaffolds)! Create your product
Lesson 4 & 5: Creating the end product
Lesson 4&5: Planning scaffolds Students were required to undertake detailed planning of the end product. Scaffolds were provided to ensure that they were supported in terms of visualising the end product, but also ensuring that they cover relevant content.
Lesson 4&5: Planning scaffolds App scaffold Video scaffold Game scaffold
Submitting projects Students were required to submit:! An end-product (game, video, model, etc).! A report outlining how the project addressed the concept of sustainability and incorporated subject content from two areas.! An individual student reflection
Presentations Students presented in front of a class of peers.! Projects were judged by a team of four teachers from a number of faculties.! Apps and games were the most common project presented.! Games tended to incorporate less relevant subject content than other types of projects.
Reflection!! Students were given a set of questions to guide a reflection on their learning. Many students described issues with working within a group structure, time management and workload. They also indicated a deep understanding of the concept of sustainability and its relevance in a range of contexts.
Review/Recommendations More time (lost time due to Maths excursion, and other interruptions)! More teacher training! Presentations earlier in the term! Formal integration of results into yearly report! Make use of connections with universities for tech training - e.g. Mac ICT! More teacher feedback throughout the project