Stage 2: The Project (6–7 weeks): The second stage of this unit was the project itself. Here, the students were tasked with creating a series of blog posts, each post adhering to certain guidelines. The first post (Fig- ure 2) required students to use written arguments to express the main idea and provide supporting details to explain their environmental issue to their audiences.
Figure 2 Requirement 1 {First blog post}: DUE Friday, January 18th
• This first post should include scholarly research on the topic that you have selected. Explain in great detail the environmental issue you have chosen.
• This post should be a minimum of three paragraphs. • Introduce the topic and tell me why this issue is important • Give me more background knowledge on the topic • Give me your opinion on the topic and convince the reader that this is a topic important to them
• 25 points _______/25
For the second blog post (Figure 3) students wrote and recorded a pod- cast, demonstrating the use of digital technology while further explain- ing their environmental issues in detail.
Figure 3
Two well-dressed young men excited to share their findings on the endangered Snow Leopard
Requirement 2 {Blog Post 2 WITH Podcast}: DUE Friday, January 25th
• Your podcast will be embedded in one of your blog posts. • Think of your podcast as a radio show that will be informing your audience of the world issue you are researching. • Your podcast should be a minimum of 4 minutes. • Your podcast should include at least one guest speaker (another student and/or teacher). • In addition to your podcast, provide a one-minute summary of what was discussed in the podcast • 25 points _______/25
For the third blog post (Figure 4), students researched public service announcements and propaganda, and then collaborated to decide which type and medium would most effectively broadcast their environmental issue. They then utilized their personal devices (Chromebooks) to access programs such as Canva or SoundCloud to create videos, infographics, info posters, etc.
Figure 4 Requirement 3 {Blog Post 3 WITH Public Service Announcement}: DUE Friday, February 1st
• Research what a PSA (Public Service Announcement) is. • Brainstorm a variety of ideas for your own PSA. How can you get a message across to your audience? • Develop and create a PSA related to your topic that will “hit home” with your audience. • You can create this PSA any way you would like. Be creative! EX: YouTube video, newspaper advertisement, comic, drawing, etc.
• 25 points _______/25
The fourth task (Figure 5) required students to think critically about a project that could be implemented within their commu- nities that would help solve or alleviate their environmental issues. Students began this task using a mind map to explore dif- ferent options; then they created a second mind map to refine their chosen project idea. Once this idea was fully detailed, they created a step-by-step, easily replicated plan to upload to their blogs.
Once students created their plans, discussed them with me, and revised them accordingly, they had three weeks to carry it out in their community (e.g., school, neighborhood, church, etc.). The fifth blog post (Figure 6) described the implementation of this plan with pictures, along with a written reflection of the process.
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