Name: Ann Hyde
Title/Role in education: Teacher, Special Education
Grade: 9-12
Subject: Language Arts
Location: Anchorage, AK
PBL Experience: Tenderfoot
Project Ideas: students research/interview people from AK and the Gulf states, comparing and contrasting spills. Look into Liberty Project (a proposed drill for AK), and possible jobs students may hold, or issues to discuss surrounding that topic. Students will also learn how to set up sites to collect and document information, share data and resources, and communicate via the internet. I'm hoping that the other teachers in our spec ed dept will want to pick up some of the threads so we can come up with some sort of comprehensive presentation for classes at the middle school which is attached to us.
Resources:
I've copied this from a list someone else started. I hope to find and add more to it. Please feel free to add your own! I have started a list of bookmarks in Delicious.com for sites related to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in 1989.
Learning More about the Deepwater Horizon Disaster
TED x Oil Spill Expedition sent photographer Kris Krug to the Gulf. Here is the Flickr set of his photos.
NASA is sharing satellite imagery of the oil spill.
If It Was My Home provides an interactive map to help you visualize the disaster.
International Bird Rescue Research Center answers frequently asked questions about rescuing oiled birds.
Teacher Resources
The Eye on Education Blog has compiled a list of resources about the oil spill as a teachable moment.
The New York Times offers resources to bring the Gulf disaster into the classroom.
District Administration argues that STEM education might prevent future environmental disasters.
On his blog Teaching Science 2.0, science educator Eric Brunsell offers suggestions for using infographics and other tools to spark student inquiry.
Compare your city to the size of the oil spill in the Gulf.
NestWatch is calling for citizen scientists to monitor several species of birds to see the affects of the oil spill, especially during the migration. Will these migrating birds transfer oil to other locations?
Photos from the Alabama Gulf Coast. A friend, Kathy Hicks, has granted permission for teachers to use the photos. She will continue to add to the album.
PBL
Buck Institute for Education provides free downloadable forms to help with project planning and maintains a library of exemplary projects.
(Note: Site registration is required for downloads.)
Edutopia offers a wide variety of videos, how-to's, and articles about project-based learning.
Comments (7)
Ann Hyde said
at 5:25 pm on Jul 14, 2010
Just looked at the videos. What I want from all of this is for my students to be engaged. Their interest should be sparked, and fostered. So many of my kids give up because school measures achievement in reading, writing, and math, which are areas of weakness for them. I believe PBL will allow them to bring individual gifts to the table to create something which is greater than the sum of the parts. After all, how many math worksheets or sentence diagrams do we run into in our everyday adult lives. What I want them to be able to do is to work things out with peers, to express themselves in constructive ways, and to find a way to bring their strengths to the rest of the community.
Meri Miller-Kahle said
at 8:09 pm on Jul 19, 2010
I totally agree! I really enjoy using Multiple Intelligence concepts and having students finding and using their strangths to "learn." I have had students totally surprise me with the depth of their knowledge when creating products that are not "paper/pencil." A rap song, video, pop-up book, picture book for younger students, are all ways to show knowledge and an understanding of research without being the typical research paper. :)
suzieboss@... said
at 8:18 am on Jul 16, 2010
Hi Ann,
What a wonderful way to express what you hope to gain through PBL! Good projects will ignite student motivation and give them a chance to succeed.
Hope you're getting some good ideas for projects that will grab your students' interest.
~Suzie
Brenda Asher said
at 6:34 pm on Jul 16, 2010
Ann, Looks like you have a lot of great resources. I just starred it to come back to over the next week and review. Thanks for sharing info!
Ann Hyde said
at 7:55 pm on Jul 16, 2010
I found a bunch of stuff on the Exxon Valdez spill as well. Since I live in AK, I thought we could compare/contrast the stories, and make predictions for the future of the Gulf. Also, there's a proposal for an off-shore drilling site up here, and some of my kids could potentially work on it in the coming years. Please feel free to help yourself to any of these resources!
Meri Miller-Kahle said
at 8:01 pm on Jul 19, 2010
I am Snflwr66 and my name is Meri Miller-Kahle. I teach 5th, 7th & 8th sped in a rural area of Kansas. I won't be able to implement this project directly into my classes this fall, so I am more than open to working at the 9-12 level. However, I am more familiar with the 5-8th curriculum standards. I can add knowledge on Multiple Intelligences, PBL concepts, and making projects multi-disciplinary in nature. About 10 years ago, I was very involved with team-teaching with social studies and science teachers at the 7-12 level and we fully utilized PBL. So I am polishing up my skills to try to adopt them in my current position. Looking forward to hearing from you. :) - Meri snflwr66@aol.com
Ann Hyde said
at 6:16 pm on Jul 20, 2010
sounds great! I am hoping to build something with a lot of people bringing their skills and energy to the table. Jenny Macant is an amazing resource.
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