Action Projects for Classrooms

http://wveis.k12.wv.us/teach21/public/project/Guide.cfm?upid=3372&tsele1=4&tsele2=104


In this project 4th grade students in my Social Studies class will create a brochure for new students and visitors. Students must first scale the building and gather data on how many bathrooms, the number of classrooms,  exit doors and so forth.  Students will make a rough draft on a poster size. Later the final drafts will be scaled smaller to make a brochure. There must be a labeled map on the inside of the brochure telling visitors and the community where everything in the school is located.

Standards: RLA 4.3.04     MO 4.4.1  4.4.3   SS 4.04.05  

This task will be difficult for some and for others not.  Students who are not good at drawing or being able to scale items will struggle.  Those who can picture things and can draw will exceed.  In my classroom I would make five groups of four people in each group and allow each group to come up with their own brochure.  

http://www.explorerelementary.org/timetravel.php

I would adjust this project to be about the different Indian tribes covered in our Social Studies book. Students would read about the tribes that came to Texas.  We would then divide into groups, assigning each group a tribe.  Students in groups would research their tribe using the internet and library sources. The groups are focusing on four areas:  geographical location, how they get their food, government, and gender roles. Each group must also contain three other facts about their tribe.  Students will make a poster about their tribe and present it to the class. As a whole class we will then look for similarities and differences among the tribes and make a venn diagram. All material will be posted in the room. To integrate the writing standards students will then write a personal narrative pretending they were part of the tribe and taking us through daily routines and describing life. Once the writings are completed students will be able to make their writing into a storybook adding illustrations.

This will be a long and perhaps difficult task for many as writing does not come naturally. Our students are not familiar with research and taking notes.  Many students will try to plagiarize and not include enough facts.

Standards: ELA 4.7 4.10 a-d 4.13b  4.15a-d 4.16ab 4.23
Social Studies 4.1 a-d 4.7bc 4.10a 4.15


http://wveis.k12.wv.us/teach21/public/project/Guide.cfm?upid=3464&tsele1=141&tsele2=105

In this project students will pick a historian or public figure that made an impact on Texas History. Students will do research on their figures in library class after reading about the historians in Social Studies class.  The art teacher will assist by doing a lesson on drawing others. Students will be required to print a picture of their figure and take the picture to art class to work on a sketch. All final work will be displayed in the hallways for parent teacher conference and gallery walks by other school personnel.

This task will not be difficult as students will have all the facts about their person in front of them. The student will have to organize the information to write an essay about their person. For non drawers the sketch will be difficult.

Standards: ELA 4.15a-d  4.23
Social Studies 4.2 a-e  4.3bc  4.5bc  4.10b
Jessica Sherwood

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Hello everybody. Here are my three project based learning projects.
Project number 1 will be on science. The project will be to learn several different things about bees such as: how long do they live, how do they make honey, and the most interesting part is how do they communicate with each other?

To begin we must find out what type of animal is a bee? Is it an mammal, insect, what? Then find out about its body and the body parts. Then, see how long they live, as well as, what type of society do they have inside of the hive and what is each individual bee’s work. From there we will go to see how does the honey making process take place and how communication between the bees influences the honey making process as well.

Standards: science SC.O.2.2.01
identify that plants and animals have different structures.

SC.O.2.2.02
identify the structures of living things including their systems, and explain their functions (e.g. wings for flying).

The link to access the project is the following:
Honey making process - 2nd grade science.

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For the second project we will do it on language arts and science. This project is done around the concept of recycling. For the language arts part the students using the internet will find pictures of things that can be recycled with the help of the their teacher. After that step is done while working in teams each student in their science notebook will paste a picture of something recyclable and write a paragraph about it. In the paragraph they need to write they will explain what does the recycling number inside the recycling logo mean.

For the science part of this project the student will bring in a recyclable bottle in which they will cut out a part of it to turn the bottle into a flower pot where they will grow a flower.

standards: reading language arts: RLA.O.2.2.11
use a variety of sources to gather information to communicate with others (e.g., dictionaries, informational books, pictures, charts, indexes, videos, television programs, guest speakers, graphic organizers).

science: SC.O.2.1.1
interpret science as the human’s search for an understanding of the world by asking questions about themselves and their world.

The link to access the project is the following:
Language arts and science project - RECYCLING.

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My third and final project will be on mathematics. I found this great project about saving money and how to spend it. Independently of that the project itself gave me an idea of how to apply it to my own students at my school and it will be the following. The students in my class will learn what a savings account in a bank is and how to manage it.


In the following paragraph are the instruction on how the students can earn money to put into their savings account.

Every time a student brings in their homework done in a clean manner and scores at least an 90 or more they will get money for it in the form of play money. Then every two weeks they will get an opportunity to check their savings account balance and see if they want to buy a nice candy. In addition to that, there will be additional incentives to earn money such as cleaning tables, sharpening pencils, helping to clean the classroom, or even help someone in an area they do not understand clearly - kind of being a little tutor.

Additionally there will be a time slot during math class that will cover the basic of buying things in a store. Here they will be able to add, subtract, multiply and probably even divide! We will be doing word problems that relate to the real world thus they can feel how money works just like their parents think about it. For example, here is a simple problem to work out. John’s father earns 6 dollars an hour if he works for 10 hours can he buy a radio at walmart that sells for 28 dlls?

The link for the idea of the project that gave the base to design my own project is this one:
Math - savings account and real world money problems.

Standards: N/A from link above.
SE2.3D Determine the value of a collection of coins up to one dollar
Jesus Aldape
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My first project will be the Bridges Project for high school students. The students have to write a bridge proposal addressed to the governing body. The proposal has to include information about the bridge and design plans.  This is where the students can get English credit.  Another part of the project is to build scale models of the bridges they proposed.  This is their Physics credit.

http://www.virtualschoolhouse.net/b_o.htm

Standards 5.G.2

My second project is Crime Scene Investigation for secondary students. This project pertains to many required core classes. Students have to read information, create reports, complete experiments, and solve problems.  It really incorporates collaborative learning also.  It can be done with a group of “investigators” working together to solve a mystery.  The Biology classes at my school actually did something similar but not as deeply involved with other classes.

http://connectedcalifornia.org/curriculum/integrated_units

Standards: 11-12.RI.3, 11-12.SL.3, 11-12.L.6
My third project is Watts in your House for Secondary students. In this project students pick some of their appliances and record the amount of time each is used for one month.  Then they calculate the watt-hours and kilowatt-hours the machine is used.  Multiply by the rate per kwh and they get an estimated cost of using the appliance.  The second part of this project is using what they learned and determining a way they can save energy. This uses mostly math and some science to accomplish the tasks.

http://www.salvadori.org/curriculum/wattsinyourhouse.pdf

Standards: 6.SP.5

Jeremy Schrodt

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My first project is built for a large age range of students, however, I will be using it for High School age students in my World Geography class.  In this project students will learn about food and culture.  They will be able to learn about both culture, nature, gardening, nutrition from all around the world.  

http://www.21stCenturySchools.com/Food_and_Culture.htm

TEKS:  9.A

My second project is a continuation of the nutrition around the world.  Students will reflect on their own diet and health status.  They will connect this to the impact of nutrition and welfare of societies around the world.

http://connectedcalifornia.org/downloads/curriculum/GoodEats_CA.pdf

Standards:  S.ID.3, F.IF.3, F.IF.6, 11-12.RI.7, 11-12.SL.1, 11-12.L.6

In my third project, I will be using it in both my health and History classes.  The students will research the influence of tobacco throughout history.  They will research it as an economic factor, and also its global impact of individual and public health.

http://connectedcalifornia.org/downloads/curriculum/WaitingtoInhale_CA.pdf

Standards:  8.EE.8, 9-10.W.8, 9-10.W.9