7th grade students in the 20/20 science class have been working to help solve some of the toughest global issues this year. Challenge 20/20 asks students to find local solutions to twenty different global problems, and our 7th grade students rose to the challenge. Students addressed issues like biodiversity loss, poverty, and water scarcity. They planned and executed a local solution throughout this school year, and they engaged the community to make their project sustainable. One group of students designed and tested a low-cost water filtration system; the girls presented it to the elementary students and donated their prototype to the science lab so younger students are aware of the problem and a possible solution. This project inspires students to learn more about global challenges and use critical and creative thinking to help in a local context. Students are motivated because they can see the change and speak with people who are impacted by their efforts.
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information from the internet so students used a research outline to help them find sources and organize their thoughts. The outline required students to define their search terms, provided links to possible sources, a structure for determining the validity of resources and guidance for creating citations. See a student example of the completed research guide.
After finishing their research, students used Pages to create a magazine format and then uploaded their finished document to Joomag, an online magazine platform. Using Pages allowed students more flexibility on the formatting of pictures and text than Google Documents. Uploading the final product to Joomag makes it much easier to share the magazines with the public. Learn more about renewable energy options from Yizel's magazine or water issues related to Lake Chapala from Jaime. Students gave speeches about the topic of their research in class. Then, on May 12, students presented in the 5th Concurso de Oratoria in the auditorium. Four 7th and four 8th grade students spoke passionately about their topic in order to help their peers understand the environmental issues we face in México today. These eight students demonstrated great speaking skills and impressed their peers and the judges. First place 8th grade student, Andrea Arriaga, encouraged us to support the protection of Bosque Primavera. Mariana Aguilar, the 7th grade winner, spoke about water pollution and water access. Throughout this project, students used a wide variety of technology to research, plan and produce high quality magazines and inspiring speeches. The structure of the research outline helped them formulate their thoughts and find reliable information. The flexibility to pursue their personal interests and design a visually pleasing magazine engaged and motivated students to learn about the environmental issues facing México and share with the world.
Students uploaded their videos to a shared folder so their peers could have access. Finally, students compiled each other's videos into one, well-edited and thoughtful piece. As you can see in the video featured here, students were engaged in thinking about ways they can reduce their impact on the environment and enjoyed creating the videos.
recycling each day? This includes organic waste, aluminum, paper and plastic. We also generate about 27 kg of trash each day. Even though we recycle almost 4/5 of our waste, we want to do better. Consumption and waste directly contribute to global warming, arguably one of the most poignant issues facing the world today. After examining the results of the waste assessment and taking a tour of the campus to look at other ways we are consuming resources, groups of 3 or 4 students chose an issue to research more in depth. They developed driving questions such as: Is all plastic recyclable? How can ASFG reduce food waste? How can we reduce the amount of trash we generate? What is the environmental impact of our pool? Students interviewed maintenance about our water consumption, the cost of energy and the types of chemicals used in our pool. They interviewed the cafeteria staff about food waste. They researched the impact of extracting aluminum from the ground. Students also looked at waste data collected by other schools. The final product for each group was to create a Public Service Announcement (PSA) that focused on their issue. They used the data gathered at school, compared it to an outside source, and developed at least one solution to the problem. This project required students to integrate learning from science, math, language arts and technology to produce high quality, persuasive videos. Students were engaged throughout the process because they had many opportunities to pursue their personal interests and collaborate. See more PSAs on our YouTube playlist.
advertisements reflecting the reality. In the end, students in this service learning invite you to consider that "every living thing should be treated with respect and love." Follow their learning on Twitter @4AnimalsASFG!
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