PROJECT-BASED LEARNING: ENVIRONMENT 1

PROJECT-BASED LEARNING: ENVIRONMENT

The driving question for this project is: How can you, as students reduce the negative

environmental impact of our school? There is a constant discourse surrounding climate change

and how individuals can change in order to lessen the effects of climate change. The project

would be a collaboration project between the 8th grade Social Studies class and the 8th-grade

science class. Through this project, students and members of the community will be able to cause

real change on our campus to reduce the adverse effects that we have within our district. There

are mobile recycling bins around the school, but they do not do enough in regards to combating

climate change. In this project, students will be able to calculate the carbon footprint of the

school and contrast that against various carbon negative activities that the students could

implement. These can include but are in no way limited to planting trees, starting a garden, or

even creating a walk to school campaign. The project will positively influence student learning

by encouraging creative solutions to problems that impact the whole of society.

Student impact: In the first year, this project should be administered to the ACE 8th grade

team at Rhodes, effectively impacting around 180 students. If the project is expanded to include

both 8th-grade teams, there would be around 350 affected students each year for the next three

years. The project will allow the students to create either tangible projects or conceptual

campaigns. The project-based learning activities, including calculating the carbon footprint of

the school, will show students the pollution that comes from seemingly mundane aspects of

everyday life. They can genuinely connect their daily activities to the carbon that is trapped in

the atmosphere, encouraging active engagement.

Teacher Impact: For the first year of this assignment, I will have to learn how to work

across curriculums with at least one other teacher. The science teacher and I will have to come
PROJECT-BASED LEARNING: ENVIRONMENT 2

together to agree on what parts of the project each one of us will cover and how we will support

the learning of each other’s concepts in our classes. I expect this project to make me a more

liberating teacher. I would have to give up complete control of my classroom and let the students

come up with solutions to the real-world problems that face the coming generations.

Community Impact: Depending on how the students answer the driving question,

different connections and conclusions could form between the school and the community. For

example, if the students create a garden to reduce their net-carbon footprint, then the school

could provide gardening examples for the community and district. If the students create a walk to

school campaign, it could become an annual event with the district and community taking a day

to limit their carbon footprint. Regardless of the exact route that the students take, the project

will inevitably lead them towards a more ecologically conscious community, both on and off-

campus.