Project-based+Learning+Exemplar+Projects

Presenting Ecology through Rodent Control
 * Problem:** Due to mild winters in the last few years, the rat and mouse population has grown in your area. Mice can carry Lyme disease ticks and rat droppings can contain dangerous viruses, such as Hantavirus. Your role as a member of a Health Department taskforce is to formulate recommendations for rodent control and present those recommendations via email to local officials.
 * Content Standards:**
 * Students should develop an understanding of populations and ecosystems
 * Students should develop an understanding of personal health and natural hazards
 * Students should develop an understanding of interdependence of organisms
 * Students should develop an understanding of personal and community health and natural and human-induced hazard


 * 21st Century Skills:**
 * Work collaboratively
 * Use technology to research and devise a realistic plan
 * Each task force team will research their action plan using the internet and provided links
 * Write an e-mail explaining their action plan
 * Send their e-mails to classmates for feedback on quality of writing, and quality of the action plan.
 * Use e-mail to contact government officials
 * Create ways they can use technology to get their voices heard
 * Community-based listservs
 * Make a video of action plan
 * Web sites where they can post their information


 * Process and Outcome:**
 * Engage:
 * Ask students to freewrite about how they solved a real-life problem they had.
 * Assess students' prior knowledge of ecology using a KWL chart (What We Already Know, What We Would Like to Know, What We Learned).
 * Explain that the class will be exploring an ecological problem about rodent control.
 * Explore: Groups conduct research about different aspects of the problem.
 * Explain: Then the class will reconvene to share their findings.
 * Elaborate: Groups investigate strategies for solving the problems.
 * Evaluate: Both the teacher and peers will evaluate the quality of the solutions presented in the emails.


 * My Opinion:** This example provides a problem-based method for learning about ecosystems, interdependence of organisms, and ecological health hazards. Through research of a self-developed solution students are given the opportunity to take ownership of their work. With peer revision of emails, students have the opportunity to further the research of other groups by asking questions based on what they have read. These peer-asked questions are the driving force the pushes students to make there solution practical and cost efficient.

Product Packaging Conundrum America produces too much waste. The problem is not just an American one. Many nations are recognizing and seeking solutions to the problem of too much trash. Your club has developed a new product. It is a hard plastic model of your school's mascot. It is about 4" x 2" x 3". You anticipate it will be a great local fund raiser that you can sell for years. You are deciding on the packaging of the product.
 * Problem:**


 * Content Standards: **
 * Calculate volume, surface area, and degrees of angles; calculate circumference and area of circles, and use a measurement formula to solve for a missing quantity.
 * Develop a plan to analyze a problem, identify the information needed to solve the problem, carry out the plan, check whether an answer makes sense, and explain how the problem was solved in grade appropriate contexts.
 * Use symbols, mathematical terminology, standard notation, mathematical rules, graphing and other types of mathematical representations to communicate observations, predictions, concepts, procedures, generalizations, ideas, and results.
 * Describe how a change in the value of one variable in a formula affects the value of the measurement.
 * Find missing quantities in measurement formulas by applying equation solving techniques.
 * Identify and use properties and relations of geometric figures; create justifications for arguments related to geometric relations.


 * 21st Century Skills:**
 * Work collaboratively
 * Use technology to research and devise a realistic plan
 * Use Geometor's Sketchpad or a comparable program to draw a net of proposed packaging.
 * Create a model of proposed packaging.


 * Process and Outcome:**
 * Engage:
 * Share videos of America's waste piling up. Accompanied by facts and figures of disposal cost and waste production.
 * Share videos of recycling centers. Accompanied by facts and figures of how much money can be saved or less waste going into landfills by recycling.
 * Many nations are recognizing and seeking solutions to the problem of too much trash.
 * Explain that the class will be exploring ways to package their new product.
 * Explore: Groups conduct research about materials available, cost, volume of shapes, etc.
 * Explain: Then the class will reconvene to share their findings.
 * Elaborate: Groups investigate strategies for constructing their packaging. During this time, groups may make prototypes using various materials or shapes.
 * Evaluate: Groups will compare materials, cost, shapes, and sizes of packages.

Through this example students are given the opportunity to see and touch examples of geometric figures. The creation of packaging products gives students a reference for volume and how volume changes when one value changes. The use of landfill and recycling videos allows students to connect the need for the package to the waste that it will become. This connection gives the problem deeper meaning and allows students to explore their personal values and beliefs while learning content standards.
 * My Opinion:**