Middle School Historians, Entrepreneurs, and Social Scientists Answer Driving Questions at Winter Project Based Learning Showcase
Historians, entrepreneurs, and social scientists shared their ideas and expertise, sparked and honed during the second quarter, at the winter Middle School Project Based Learning Showcase on Wednesday, January 22. During this event, sixth through eighth grade families and ICS school-wide students and faculty toured middle school to see immersive learning at work first-hand.
In the Bruce E. Crossman Middle School Wing, sixth grade students exhibited their "Heritage Horizons" projects, designed to answer the Driving Question: "How can we, as historians, honor and share important cultural places and practices from around the world with our community?" Through this project, students worked in teams to develop a museum exhibit presenting current and proposed United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) World Heritage sites and cultural practices. Students created two 3D models, one of their current UNESCO World Heritage site and the other of a site or cultural practice they are proposing for UNESCO World Heritage status. Students wrote argumentative essays and used these essays as the basis for the recording on the iPads, replicating a self-guided Museum experience. These audio tours provided details on the role of UNESCO and background on the proposed sites. Finally, the students created water color cultural fans to represent their sites.
After reading the novel Refugee in English class, seventh grade students sought to answer the Driving Question, "How can we, as entrepreneurs, raise money to support local refugees and asylees?" In pursuit of this, students organized a youth business fair to raise money for a local refugee organization. Individually or in small groups, students wrote business plans, designed marketing materials, and prepared deliverables for a small business. Each student also set a sales goal to meet through the Showcase and a school Business Fair later in the week. The funds raised from these businesses will be donated to a fund to support refugees.
Finally, throughout Quarter 2, eighth grade students explored the question, "How have the Second Industrial Revolution and the Digital Revolutions, combined with the enormous changes in industry and technology, affected the modern world with ripple effects on economy, society, geography, health, culture, and other aspects of society?" In pursuit of this, students each chose an invention they believe changed the world, and shared the "American Stories" on it's impact on today's society - both positive and negative. Students wrote a research-based essay outlining their arguments and also created a physical artistic representation of their topics to present, along with sharing any social justice implications of their advancements.
Congratulations to the Middle School students and faculty on a successful Quarter 2 PBL Showcase!
A gallery of showcase photos can be found at this link.
Back
In the Bruce E. Crossman Middle School Wing, sixth grade students exhibited their "Heritage Horizons" projects, designed to answer the Driving Question: "How can we, as historians, honor and share important cultural places and practices from around the world with our community?" Through this project, students worked in teams to develop a museum exhibit presenting current and proposed United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) World Heritage sites and cultural practices. Students created two 3D models, one of their current UNESCO World Heritage site and the other of a site or cultural practice they are proposing for UNESCO World Heritage status. Students wrote argumentative essays and used these essays as the basis for the recording on the iPads, replicating a self-guided Museum experience. These audio tours provided details on the role of UNESCO and background on the proposed sites. Finally, the students created water color cultural fans to represent their sites.
After reading the novel Refugee in English class, seventh grade students sought to answer the Driving Question, "How can we, as entrepreneurs, raise money to support local refugees and asylees?" In pursuit of this, students organized a youth business fair to raise money for a local refugee organization. Individually or in small groups, students wrote business plans, designed marketing materials, and prepared deliverables for a small business. Each student also set a sales goal to meet through the Showcase and a school Business Fair later in the week. The funds raised from these businesses will be donated to a fund to support refugees.
Finally, throughout Quarter 2, eighth grade students explored the question, "How have the Second Industrial Revolution and the Digital Revolutions, combined with the enormous changes in industry and technology, affected the modern world with ripple effects on economy, society, geography, health, culture, and other aspects of society?" In pursuit of this, students each chose an invention they believe changed the world, and shared the "American Stories" on it's impact on today's society - both positive and negative. Students wrote a research-based essay outlining their arguments and also created a physical artistic representation of their topics to present, along with sharing any social justice implications of their advancements.
Congratulations to the Middle School students and faculty on a successful Quarter 2 PBL Showcase!
A gallery of showcase photos can be found at this link.
Indian Creek School
Indian Creek school is a co-educational, college preparatory independent school, located in Crownsville, Maryland. Students in Pre-K3 through grade 12 receive a vibrant educational experience based on excellent academics steeped in strong student-teacher connections.
