Jenny Morris

Wall of Resistance

Exhibited at Festival del Sol on March 25, 2010

Project Abstract

In 1961 the Soviet Union, in Eastern Germany, constructed a wall that would divide the world into two. In the east, communism and the Soviet Union, while the west “democracy” and the United States battled throughout this Cold War. This wall became the symbol of the division between these two countries and their ideology that ultimately brought the world the closest it has ever been to annihilation.

We asked our students to create their own Wall, focusing on the conflicts of the 20th and 21st century. Each panel of the wall is an answer to their own essential questions and their own perspective on the cost of the war, both to society and to us biologically as humans. It is our hope that this Wall of Resistance is a symbol of how close humanity has come to its annihilation, whether that be of the human race as a whole, the individual human body, or even the individual human cell.

What did you teach and how did you teach it?

The Biology content and curriculum covered through this project was Human Anatomy and Physiology. At the beginning of the unit, we covered the basics of Human Anatomy and Physiology including the difference between Anatomy and Physiology including the concept of Homeostasis. Additionally, we covered each of the thirteen body systems including circulatory, respiratory, endocrine, nervous, excretory, digestive, immune, integumentary (skin), muscular, skeletal, and reproductive.

Students were also given the opportunity to complete dissections (external and internal) on both an invertebrate and a vertebrate animal including a squid and a fetal pig. We spent a week completing these dissections in class to allow for an in-depth look at the physical components of the human body.

In regards to Humanities, John spent a great deal of time prior to this project, introducing the many wars and conflicts that have flooded modern American history. The students then had the opportunity to choose an era they wanted to learn more about including WWI and WWII, Cold War and Post-Cold War. As a team we then grouped these students into new classes or "pods" based on their choices so that John could take a much deeper look at that given time period.

What concepts and skills did the students gain in this class through this project?

Once we completed our general study of Human Anatomy and Physiology and John completed a general study of the time period as a class, the students were then given the opportunity to list their top choices in both body system and a war or conflict from their chosen time period. John and I then placed students in groups according the their specific preferences and our thoughts and experiences with these students in order to ensure group stability and success.

In the days following their placements, the small groups of three students were given time to discuss their personal connections and interests to their assigned topics. The groups were asked to create their own essential questions and were given the freedom to guide their topic research. Once the students had devised research questions, they were asked to create a Project Proposal and present that to us for approval. This proposal included the group's essential questions, the overall design of the visual piece and the materials to be used.

Not only were students directly and personally connecting to content, but they were also motivated and emotionally invested in this project because of the personal freedom and nature of the project. Additionally, the students also learned valuable skills in regards to consensus, writing and designing essential questions, completing a project proposal, presenting that proposal, and managing themselves as a group to meet the necessary deadlines. While John and I did check in with each group about their progress consistently, the students were responsible for recording and monitoring their group's progress throughout the work time available.

How is the curriculum for this project academically rich and grade-level challenging?

The curriculum for this project was extensive. Since the students were each given an overview during class about Human Anatomy and Physiology and the history of their time period, all students were exposed to a wealth of content and information. What made this project so academically rich was the fact that the students were given the freedom to design their own research questions and therefore dig deeper into areas that they themselves found most fascinating. Without a doubt, we saw an increase in student engagement simply due to the nature and the freedom available during this project.

Not only were students asked to research and represent the conflict and body system in an engaging and intriguing fashion, but each student was also asked to write a one-page Artist Statement to explain their personal connection and understanding of their visual piece. Student's were asked to comment on the symbolism, color choice, and general tone of the art piece and connect each of those aspects to the content and their own lives.

To what extent was there integration across disciplines in your class through this project?

John Bosselman, my Humanities teaching partner, and I worked very closely together to create this particular project. It was our intention to clearly integrate the disciplines of Biology and Humanities. Our hope was that the student driven nature of this project would allow for intrinsic motivation within our students through student created essential research questions.

Moreover, John and I worked together to plan a common assessment for this project as well. The students were asked to complete a journal entry for each project work day including the group's goals for the day and a reflection on what was actually accomplished by each student. These records were kept in each student's "Handy Dandy Notebook." Since John and I both value the process of the project tremendously, a majority of the student’s individual grade was composed of their daily logs and journals. The individual student written artist statement was also a portion of the overall project grade.

Which Habits of Heart and Mind (HoHM) and Design Principles were utilized in this project?

All the Habits of Heart and Mind were used throughout this project and yet a few stand out. Any group project requires cooperation and perspective, however, this particular project required a great deal more than most since the group members had to agree upon all aspects of the project from essential questions to the art piece itself. John and I were thoughtful about allowing our students time to express their individual needs and concerns to each other prior to the beginning of the project. Students spent an entire class period discussing their own strengths, weaknesses, and preferences with their other group members.

The Design Principle that was most well represented in this project was Personalization since each group of students was given the ability to design and create a representation of their topics based on their own interests and curiosities.

How did you incorporate refinement through this project?

The students were constantly refining this project. The refinement began early with an in class peer critique of their Project Proposal ideas. The students each gave comments and feedback to each other and asked both clarifying and probing questions of their ideas and essential questions. Additionally, once the groups presented their Project Proposal to John and myself, many groups were asked to refine that proposal before they could begin working.