Category: Authentic Project Ideas

Back in February, I spent some time in Louisiana and Mississippi. I knew Louisiana, with its French history, celebrated Mardi Gras, and I thought this was the only place in the US that did. I was very surprised to find out there were also Mardi Gras celebrations in Mississippi. I assumed this was because Mississippi was next to Louisiana.

I think the reason that authentic teaching and learning so resonates with me, is that I was taught this way in elementary school (stone age, chisels on stone – the trip through the south was to celebrate my 65th birthday). At an early age, I was encouraged to never assume, to question, research, and learn.

So, back at the hotel, after a particularly productive day of shopping for Mardi Gras beads in Louisiana, I looked up Mardi Gras. What was supposed to be a quick hit on the topic turned into an evening of reading. (During the stone age, you had to find an encyclopedia, or a library…I am still amazed at what I can access in the palm of my hand.)

One search on my phone led to another. I went off in the direction of the history of the early French explorers in North America – I had forgotten that Louisiana originally included much of the south and mid-west. This explained why they were celebrating Mardi Gras in Mississippi. Then, I went off in the direction of the religious significance of Mardi Gras and how it is celebrated in many different places in the US, and in many other countries, not just France. I started to read about some of these countries and their traditions, but I needed to charge my phone!

Start with a picture of Mardi Gras beads. Turn your students loose. Let them authentically question, authentically research, and authentically learn.

So if you haven’t figured it out yet, I am a total geek. The Future Birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk has been a stop on my bucket list for a long time.

Yep, according to Star Trek lore, Captain Kirk will be born in Riverside, Iowa on March 22, 2228. The entire town is devoted to this. Banners, markers, and a museum so bad it is fantastic! 

While most students aren’t thinking about a “bucket list,” they can be thinking about places they would like to visit and why? This would be a great authentic geography lesson including research (reading), note taking (writing), math (distance to travel)…and depending on the destination many other subjects could be included, such as science fiction! 

In authentic teaching, boldly go where few teachers have gone before!

Sitting at the airport watching planes.  So many possible authentic projects with planes. During the holiday season, I heard that the military air routes were opened for commercial traffic to help keep planes on time.  I didn’t realize we had different “routes” in the air.  Sorta like freeways in the sky!
This would be a neat topic for older students to explore.  Actually, two choices; routes in the sky and how to improve air travel.  Actually, tons of authentic topics! 
For younger students, perhaps creating routes for planes to travel on maps. 
Stories about getting stuck at airports – interviewing family members and creating a newspaper article – or writing a fiction story… This authentic project can go in a million different directions. 
Start with a photo…and see where you go! 

We recently returned from an amazing trip out west. We saw so many amazing and spectacular sights. The view above got us talking. (Even after 5,000 miles together in our car we were still speaking! The view just opened up a new topic.)

The above photo is of the Sandhills in Nebraska. It is a view we have seen often, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina! We did not expect to see Sand Dunes in landlocked Nebraska. They were covered in prairie grasses, but you could see plenty of sand under the grass.

Authentic project ideas – Explain how the sand got there. What can the land be used for? We saw cattle, hay…any other ideas? Do some research, create a proposal…

We saw many very small towns. As in really small towns. Some rivers and lakes. And mile after mile after mile of open land. As a matter of fact, what we have seen for most of our travels through the Western Plain States of the US has been open land. The population of many of these states is less than many cities on the East Coast. So there is another authentic path to take…. Why do the huge Western Plain States have such low population numbers? What other places in other countries have low population density? Do we really have a population problem on Earth? Couldn’t we just move people around? Why or why not? Lots of research needed, and even more thinking outside of the box.

On a recent road trip, we stopped at a marble company in Kansas. It was a fantastic shop full of machine-made marbles, plus the owners were also making speciality marbles by hand.

We were able to chat with one of the owners, and heard about the history of the company. They started in the wood carving business almost 30 years ago. They carved everything from furniture to toys. One of the game boards required marbles, and they got into the marble business.

We were also told how the building they rented was on railroad land, so they rented from the railroad. This meant their rent was significantly lower than the buildings just across the street.

I started to think about all of the authentic business lessons were were learning about. How businesses change and evolve, rent or ownership of a building if needed, materials, low to high-end product costs…

It would be a great authentic project for students to pick a business they were interested in owning and plan for that business. The learning, lessons, and academic tie-ins are endless. As students would pick their own business, interest would be high, but the common ground for planning for a business would make class instruction easier. This could be done for young learners with simple planning, to older learners with in-depth research and plans. Who knows, one of these authentic plans might turn into a real business!

And my husband could not leave the shop without making a joke about losing his marbles…sigh

I am not exactly sure what this machine is doing.  I can think of several things it might be doing.  I can also think of ways to make it do what I think it is doing better – punctuation lesson – add punctuation to this sentence so you don’t have to read it three times for it to make sense!

So, maybe a driving question is, “What is happening in this picture?”  An authentic project might be to improve the machine in this picture.  Or maybe, write a story about what took place in this room.  A factual story about what the machine does, a fictional story about people who work this machine, or maybe a ghost story about something that happened in this room 200 years ago!

And if this turns into an authentic project about ways to improve apple farming, that is authentic learning.

I have written about wind turbines several times, but the more we travel, the more I see them, and the more ideas I have for authentic projects.  We just finished driving through Kansas, and I have never seen so many wind turbines.  The really neat thing is that we saw them on farms, and the farmers were still farming below the turbines.

To say the we have energy concerns on this planet is an understatement.  I think it is fair to say that we all want the same thing: reliable, safe, clean energy.  The arguments are about how we get there.

How to wind turbines work?  How is the energy produced and transported?  How far can the energy be transported?  Can the energy be stored?

What are the pros and cons of wind turbines?  Do people want them in their backyard?  I happen to think they are attractive, but there are people who do not.  Are they a danger to wildlife?

Design a wind turbine that people might find more attractive. Design a turbine that solves any problems you found in your research.  Make a model of how a turbine works.  Locate a good spot for a turbine where you live.  Make a proposal for a new wind turbine.

And if this project turns into a project about the history of windmills in Holland…that is authentic learning.