It is vital to make sure that students follow every step in the design process when they

address each challenge. In order to encourage our students not just to copy and regurgi- tate (a common pitfall of the traditional classroom), we must present the students with the problem or challenge and the resources and support to figure it out on their own, not simply demonstrate the solution to them. For example: if I want to teach my students about photo- synthesis, adaptation, or a plant’s effect on the environment, I would consider how these are solutions to greater universal problems: the problem of how to get food, how to survive, etc. Then I would challenge my students to create never-before-seen vegetation which meet the following criteria:

Don’t Wants

Rushed Imitiation 2-d Magic (abilities that are not represented) Never-before-seen

The students are creating, designing,

inquiring, and applying before

they are defining or recalling.

Needs

3-d Stand on its own Made from > 1 material Identifiable characteristic Way to make its own food Effect on the environment

Scale 4.5 ft (in real life) = 5.8cm (on your Landform)

The students take comfort in knowing that their solutions can never be wrong if they fol-

low the “needs” and “don’t wants” list. What they create shows me what they already know and whether they can apply that knowledge. So unlike traditional lessons, that often start with the lowest level of thinking, this method starts with the highest: the students are creat- ing, designing, inquiring, and applying before they are defining or recalling.

Feedback Helps Modify Designs

After building their versions of never-before-seen vegetation or whatever they have been developing, the students gather around their landform, share their designs, and receive posi- tive or constructive feedback from their peers. Over the next couple of weeks, students reflect on the comments of their peers, any new

information that they received in class or researched at home, and revise their designs to present again. Students can and do modify any of their designs throughout the year. Finally, they place a somewhat completed model of their vegetation on their Ancient Landform. Through this portion of the design process the students learn how to give and receive appropriate, helpful feedback, a skill that will benefit them their entire lives. Although this particular design challenge is cen-

tered on science standards, I can also use it to teach my students about important math concepts and skills such as scale, ratio, proportion, and conversions. An example of a design challenge that is very strong in math is “Design a Way to Divide the Landform.” When I am ready to teach my students about proper- ties of two-dimensional figures, the Pythagorean theo- rem, measuring, or coordinate graphing, I guide my students to discover the problem of dividing up land

PAGE 14 • Connect ©SYNERGY LEARNING • 800-769-6199 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011

Margaret Strand