Milestone 3
Essential Question for Milestone 3
What are strategies that people are currently using to address hunger and the causes?
Welcome to the third milestone stage of our project based learning experience! In this stage, we will learn more about the problem of hunger and food waste and the strategies that people are currently using to address it. We will not only identify the problem, but also examine the reasons why it exists and what are past and current attempts at solving it. We will use our critical thinking and research skills to gain more perspective on what is possible for us as 4th graders to do.
Project based learning (PBL) is a teaching method that engages students in solving real-world problems or answering complex questions through a project1. PBL helps students develop deep content knowledge as well as critical thinking, problem solving, communication, self management, project management, and collaboration skills2. PBL also gives students voice and choice in their learning and makes it relevant to their lives3.
The third milestone stage of PBL is about understanding how and why a problem exists and what new ideas we can add to our brains and begin to take action on. We will investigate the causes and effects of hunger and food waste in different contexts and regions. We will also explore the solutions that have been proposed or implemented by individuals, organizations, or governments. We will analyze the strengths and weaknesses of these solutions and compare them with our own ideas.
We hope you are curious to see our findings and learn from them. Thank you for being part of our project based learning journey!
Solutionary Framework Phase 1 Identify
During the third milestone stage of our project based learning experience, we have revisited our problem statement and made some adjustments based on our learning journey so far. We realized that our initial problem was too broad and complex, so we decided to narrow it down and focus on a specific aspect of hunger and food waste that we care about. To do this, we used the Institute of Humane Education framework to identify the root causes, effects, and stakeholders of our problem. We also used the IDEA Human Centered Design Frame Your Design Challenge Activity to define our design challenge and brainstorm possible solutions.
Synthesizing Information
Students are engaged in identifying the problems they could impact as part of their project based learning experience. They are synthesizing the information they have learned so far and deciding what aspect of hunger and food waste they want to focus on. They are also expressing their interests and passions and planning their next steps forward.
Solutionary Framework Phase 2 Investigate
In this stage of our project based learning experience, we have redefined our problem statement to make it more specific and manageable. We learned that our original problem was too big and vague, so we chose to focus on one part of hunger and food waste that we are interested in. To help us do this, we used the Institute of Humane Education framework to investigate the causes, consequences, and people involved in our problem. We also used the IDEA Human Centered Design Frame Your Design Challenge Activity to create our design challenge and come up with possible solutions.
Redefining our Problem Statement:
Through our research and exploration of our system, does our problem statement still match our purpose?
