Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities

Lesson Idea Name: How GREEN Can We Be?

Content Area: Biology
Grade Level(s): 9th Grade
Content Standard Addressed: SB5. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to assess the
interdependence of all organisms on one another and their environment
Technology Standard Addressed: Creative Communicator: Students communicate clearly and express
themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media
appropriate to their goals.

Selected Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity: Project Green Schools

URL(s) to support the lesson: https://projectgreenschools.org/

Describe how you would incorporate an Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity in your
classroom: All of these resources can be great tools for the science classroom. I would include these
resources through various activities and use them to expand their learning environment past the typical
lecture, worksheets, and paper projects. Online projects can be a great resource for students that allow them
to use technology to create and collaborate to make a product. Online collaboration cites allow for students
to work with others and share their thoughts beyond the classroom. Through these tools I will be able to
gauge student learning and have them apply what they know.

What technologies would be required to implement this proposed learning activity in a classroom? The
students will need a laptop, and access to the internet to be able to complete this assignment, and to have a
place to collaborate and complete a presentation.

Describe how the following features are addressed in this learning experience (note: all of them may not be
addressed in the project, but most should be if you are reaching a high LoTi Level).
a. Collaboration with peers, near-peers, mentors outside their classroom and often beyond their
school: The students will be working in their lab groups to evaluate the environmental impact of the
school, they will be creating a presentation as a group and sharing it with the class and administration

b. Student-centered learning and knowledge creation (creating original data and or producing original
products as a result of engaging in a project): The students will be collecting data from around the
school and using that data to produce a presentation, and make recommendations of how the school
can lower their environmental footprint.

c. Higher-order thinking: Students will be using higher order thinking by creating a presentation and
using the data they collect to make recommendations to the school. These acts require the students to
use higher levels of thinking.

d. Students publishing their original work to others who will use/care about their product: Students
work will be published to the class website for parents and others to vote on who they think made the
best recommendations for the school. Whichever group wins will work with school administration to
try and implement some of their ideas, and work towards nominating the school for an award from
Project Green Schools. The people who use and care about the projects are the school, and school
admin, they will use the projects to make improvements around the school.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):

Spring 2018_SJB
 Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities
☐ Remembering ☐ Understanding ☐ Applying ☒ Analyzing ☒ Evaluating ☒ Creating

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level):

☐ Level 1: Awareness ☐ Level 2: Exploration ☐ Level 3: Infusion ☐ Level 4: Integration
☒ Level 5: Expansion ☐ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL): This lesson/ project hits all categories of the Universal Design for
Learning. The students are able to pick how they would like to present the data they collect, and they are
working in groups which allows for collaboration and sharing thoughts. To probe at the why of learning
students are able to use technology, and it is always available to them. They will also be self-assessing
themselves, which would keep them engaged. They are also working towards a goal, which helps motivate
the students to do better. Every student can use what they need to produce the best presentation in their
eyes, whether that be assistive technologies, or using the test resources the website provides. To probe at the
what of learning, students are able to present their project any way they see fit, from a PowerPoint, a video,
or any other form of presentation they wish to use. I as the teacher will provide the students with what they
need to include in this presentation, and even give them a word bank of vocabulary to help guide them on the
right path. Adding the vocabulary section will help my ELL students see what they need to include and
academic language they should use. Adding guided questions could also help probe students thinking and
make them think more about how to actually implement these ideas. To understand the how of learning, the
students will be able to explore and gather data on their own, and whichever way they would like to do so.
They are also not constricted to how the they are required to present the information, which allows for them
to show what they know, but in different ways. There is a way for each student to present and represent
what they know in so many different ways in this exercise, which is the main point of the UDL.
Lesson idea implementation and Internet Safety Policies: I as the teacher will be making an account with
the website and reviewing and sharing the information, they provide me with to help the students evaluate
the school’s environmental footprint. From this the students will be able to take the knowledge they have and
collect data throughout the school about energy sources, recycling, food sustainability, and make
recommendations based on the resources, to decrease the environmental footprint of the school. From there
the students will create a presentation and present the ideas the group has come up with. The groups will
present these projects to the class, and they will be posted on the class website to be voted upon by parents,
staff, and the students themselves. Once voted on, the winners will work with administration to implement
some of their ideas and fill out the application to become a project green school. As the teacher I will be a
resource to the students, to help them properly present their thoughts, and guide them to what is expected
of them. To implement this lesson, I will have to get approval from administration, and I will also proof-read
the resources I choose to share with the class, to make sure they are appropriate. Then when is comes to
sharing the projects on the class website, I will make sure to not share any identifying information about the
students according to the county’s internet safety policies. These policies are put in place to keep the
students safe, so I would not want to do anything to jeopardize that.
Reflective Practice: This lesson and activity is the perfect way for students to show what they know. They are
collecting their own data and having to think of ways to change and improve the school’s environmental
footprint, from recycling, to saving energy, to changing what powers the school. This is a great project to use
as a summative end of unit assessment. This lesson enhances student learning by making them use the higher
levels of thinking, and they are collaborating with each other. Their presentations are shared with people who
care, which is also a great way to integrate higher levels of thinking and technology. To build off of this
project, would be reviewing for their exam, and even adding a question to their exam about the project,
possibly a short answer question.

Spring 2018_SJB