I am just fascinated by the Northern Lights. I would love to see them some day. We came close recently in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but we were a few days late and fifty miles away from a dark enough area.
There are so many authentic projects I can think of about the Northern Lights. As an adult learner, I need to do a lot more research about what causes them and where is the best place to see them.
For older students I can imagine authentic projects about the atmosphere, geography, solar phenomenon, magnetic fields, latitude, longitude… and unlimited art projects involving color.
For younger students I can imagine all of the above on a simpler level, depending on the age group and abilities being worked with.
BTW, the above photo was taken by a friend of mine in northern Wisconsin. I am so jealous!
We recently attended a spring Maple Harvest Festival near our home in Pennsylvania. It was great fun, especially the part where you eat pancakes with the maple syrup on them!
So how is maple syrup made? How are trees tapped for the syrup? Then what happens?
How else can you make maple syrup? Does the syrup from trees taste better than the artificial type? (No such thing as a dumb question – that was a dumb question.)
What other foods/products do we get from trees? Create a booklet, a chart, a display… Actually make the product.
And if this project turns into an authentic project about harvesting trees for lumber and the impact on the environment, that is authentic learning.
We live in the Appalachian Mountains which I think are so impressive and beautiful. That was until we went to Colorado and saw the Rockies. I thought of so many authentic project ideas when I saw the Rockies. Why are the western United States mountains so much bigger than the eastern United States mountains? How did mountains form? Are they still forming/changing? Where are the biggest mountains in the world? I am not crazy about heights, but planning on taking a train to the top of Pike’s Peak the next time we are in Colorado. I’ll let you know how that goes!
This is a rock formation in Colorado Springs. When I first saw it I thought it was an old castle. There is actually another formation called Castlerock. How did this form? What kind of rock is it? What will it look like in the future? I am actually going to do my own authentic project and research, and make a scrapbook page of all of the rock formations I saw in Colorado. It will be a very big scrapbook!
On a recent drive with my husband, we saw wind turbines on a mountain ridge. He mentioned that he had talked to our local government about whether they would ever put up wind turbines on the mountains in our area, and they said they would not. This surprised me, but the reason they gave him made a lot of sense. Our mountain ridges are major migratory routes for several types of birds. Putting up wind turbines would disrupt the migration pattern.
And now we have questions about wind turbines and the possible connections to whale deaths.
By late elementary school, students are old enough to grapple with problems like this. Why do we care if we disrupt a migration route for a bird? Should we care? When we think we are doing something good for our environment, do we sometimes end up creating another, or even worse, problem? Lots of driving questions, lots of possible authentic projects.
Lots of authentic ways to incorporate reading, writing, math, science, social studies, art…
We just visited the most fantastic zoo I have ever seen, the Cheyenne Zoo in Colorado Springs.
I am not usually a zoo fan. My childhood memories are of animals in captivity that did not seem happy. Fortunately, today most zoos are about conservation and humane treatment of animals. The Cheyenne Zoo was amazing, not only because of the way the animals were treated, but because of the interaction between the visitors and animals, and the beautiful setting of the zoo.
What is the history of zoos (depending on the age of your students: the good, the bad, and the ugly)? Why do we have zoos today? What do good zoos hope to accomplish? Design a zoo. Write goals for your zoo. Figure out what kind of food, and how much food each animal needs. So many authentic ways to teach reading, writing, math, social studies, and science…
And just so you know – giraffes have the grossest tongues in the world! I know because I feed several, and it was very gross, and super cool! And there was a sink nearby to wash your hands afterwards…
This is a real photo! I took this photo! We just returned from Hawaii where we stayed at Volcano House, a hotel on the edge of the Kilauea Volcano. When my husband first suggested we stay on the edge of an active volcano, I thought he was crazy. And then when I learned that the volcano was currently erupting, I knew he was crazy.
I learned so much about volcanos and volcanism, and why the Hawaiian volcanoes are not dangerous. There is enough information out there to keep a student busy and involved in authentic projects about volcanoes for a life time.
Many students have done the quintessentialproject of building a model of a volcano erupting. But do they truly understand what they are modeling? What causes volcanoes to erupt? Why are some volcanoes active while others are dormant? Why do some erupt violently while others, like the Hawaiian volcanoes, do not? For a project to be truly authentic, students need to ask questions and plan research to answer their questions. Building a model of an erupting volcano is a lot of fun, but is this really an authentic learning activity. (Perhaps it is, if you are including learning about chemistry. Or, how to clean up a huge mess cooperatively.)
I was truly fascinated to learn why some of the Hawaiian islands are dormant while others are not. There is even a new island forming in the Hawaiian chain. You can’t book your hotel room on the new island quite yet…it won’t break the surface of the Pacific Ocean for another 10,000 years! I am on the waiting list…
I recently returned from an anniversary trip to Hawaii. What an amazing state, and an amazing group of islands. I can’t even begin to list all of the authentic project ideas I had while visiting the islands.
An authentic project about Hawaii could start with the driving question, “What would you like to learn about Hawaii?” Simple, straightforward, individualized…authentic.
Before you ask this question, begin with some background knowledge for your learners. Books on Hawaii available on all classroom reading levels. Videos. Guest Speakers – Native Hawaiians or past Hawaiian tourists. Then ask the question and let the students follow their interests – while the teacher incorporates school curriculum. (For more on this read some of my past posts under “Authentic Teaching.”)
I learned so many amazing things, that furthered my desire to learn more about Hawaii. The islands are not all the same age. The older islands have a distinct eroded look (photo above), while the younger islands are more gently sloped (photo below). All of the islands were/are formed by volcanism. We were incredibly fortunate to be on the Big Island of Hawaii while it was erupting (next post on this)!
We learned about the Hawaiian economy including agriculture – I personally consumed enough pineapple and Kona coffee to increase the Hawaiian GDP. We learned theories about where the original natives came from. My husband hiked to a hieroglyphic site and learned more theories about early Hawaiians.
After your students select areas of interest – how will they present their work? We attended a luau on the island of Oahu that included many displays and demonstrations before we entered the actual dining area. This included a palm tree climbing demonstration that I would NOT suggest including in a classroom luau if your students decide to go this route!
Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies, Music, Art… All of these could be including in a classroom luau, or tourism presentation, or a student written/directed/produced video…
Culture, Geography, Clothing, Agriculture, Tourism, Language, Sports, Dancing… Student areas of possible interest are endless.
I have written about this story before, but it is so important to me that I feel I should repeat it at the holiday season.
When I was about 11 or 12 years old, my great-grandfather gave me face powder as a holiday gift. He was in his 90s and had no idea that pre-teen girls didn’t wear face powder. After he left, I expressed my disappointment to my mother, in tears – my usual mode of pre-teen communication. Instead of lecturing me that I should be grateful or telling me I was spoiled etc, my mother agreed that this was not a great gift for a girl my age. She didn’t offer to replace it, instead she suggested we find an older woman who might not be getting gifts for the holidays, and donate this to her. After some discussion, my mother, brothers, and I decided to find an entire family that we could donate gifts to for the holidays.
This was before the internet, and giving-trees etc, and it was actually not easy to find out how to accomplish this. But my mother persevered, and we found a family in need, bought and wrapped gifts, and delivered them to the family – including the face powder that started this all.
We continued this throughout my entire childhood, and as adults have all continued this tradition with our own families. I can’t imagine a holiday season where giving to some one in need isn’t a part of it. It is definitely my favorite part of the holidays.
So authentic project idea – brainstorm with your class, children, family a way to give back this holiday season. Something as simple as a home-made card can really brighten up someone’s holiday.
We recently took our grandchildren out to breakfast. We were waiting for our food when a robot appeared to deliver food to the next table. Needless to say, our grandchildren were thrilled, and I was immediately writing a blog post in my head!
There are so many authentic project ideas I can think of that involve robots. Reading about robots, writing a proposal for a robot, designing a robot, building a robot…
A topic we have discussed a great deal within my family, is how the pandemic and the current labor shortage has pushed the use of robots a decade or more ahead. It was inevitable, but the use of robots has definitely accelerated. Is this all a good thing? What are the positive aspects of this? What are the negative?
So much to authentically think about, research, debate…
And sadly, our food was delivered by a human, much to the disappointment of our grandchildren.
The Educational Journey 