Make Room for 7 Billion - 2013

In 6th grade science, we just wrapped up an introductory unit about environmental issues. It contained a lot of vocabulary to understand (deforestation, keystone species, biodiversity, ecological footprint, non-renewable resources...). Now we are embarking on two major assignments to apply knowledge and extend our thinking.

To become better Green Ambassadors to our school, student are starting their first middle school research paper collaborating with science class. Each student will select an environmental issues to investigate. We are applying techniques about online searching (from our Digital Citizenship course) and using these strategies to identify reliable resources for information. Every student will start with information given by the Environmental Protection Agency, and will expand to additional vetted organizations. How can we repair the damage done to our local ecosystems and global biomes by environmental issues? (What is the issue? What can be done about it?)(Science Links)

Mr. Bartmasser and I are please to announce that we delighted with launched our math-science project-based learning unit. So much about modern science is related to data interpretation, and modern math is about teaching the skills to analyze data.  As with all great PBLs using the Buck Institutes and Design Thinking (Stanford d.School) models, we spent the end of the week generating a collection of thought provoking questions after reading a National Geographic article, and beautiful video clip from NPR, both foreshadowing the human population to hit the 7 billion mark in late 2011. Our next steps will take us deeper into population data and their connection with our environment. How does human population growth affect the environment?

In the 6th grade curriculum, students are explorers of Earth's systems. Throughout this year we will explore three essential questions: (1) What makes Earth unique? (2) How do Earth's systems sustain life? (3) How do the decisions I make impact the planet?