Create a World Project
This was one of the most exciting and creative processes I experienced, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. With it, I merged technology, arts, science and English language for a long-term project which offered a substantial experience for my students.
After learning about ecosystems and habitats, we set out to try the concept of balance between different species. The idea was to create an imaginary planet and think of what animals would live in the planet, and how we would go about to keep in balanced, so, the idea was not for one animal to eat all the others, or have a zillion offspring, but to keep the same proportion of each species for a hundred years.
Students started by brainstorming the name of the planet; they settled on Gumminadish. Then, we had to figure out what creatures might live there. Each student was given a folder for creature development, in which they could answer common questions we find about animals on an encyclopedia. They had to consider what the animals ate, how they lived, how many offspring they had and so on. They also had to sketch their animals as well as the environment in detail. Many animals ate other animals, which made the calculations to achieve balance very engaging.
Based on that sketch, they used Tinkercad, a 3D software, to build their animals online, and we had all of them printed on the school's 3D printer. The kids were finally tasked with reproducing the habitat they designed for the creature on paper board, and finally write a reflection on their process.
After learning about ecosystems and habitats, we set out to try the concept of balance between different species. The idea was to create an imaginary planet and think of what animals would live in the planet, and how we would go about to keep in balanced, so, the idea was not for one animal to eat all the others, or have a zillion offspring, but to keep the same proportion of each species for a hundred years.
Students started by brainstorming the name of the planet; they settled on Gumminadish. Then, we had to figure out what creatures might live there. Each student was given a folder for creature development, in which they could answer common questions we find about animals on an encyclopedia. They had to consider what the animals ate, how they lived, how many offspring they had and so on. They also had to sketch their animals as well as the environment in detail. Many animals ate other animals, which made the calculations to achieve balance very engaging.
Based on that sketch, they used Tinkercad, a 3D software, to build their animals online, and we had all of them printed on the school's 3D printer. The kids were finally tasked with reproducing the habitat they designed for the creature on paper board, and finally write a reflection on their process.