Culminating Project

Overview

In this project, students will get the chance to apply what they learned across all four lesson sets in one single project. The main focus for this project is on the topics covered in the final lesson set, but students will have to rely on their understanding of how water is stored and moved through the Earth to develop a sophisticated plan of action. Because the end of lesson set 3 provides an opportunity to assess students on their understanding of the water cycle, this project gives learners a chance to apply that knowledge to a fictional situation to foster agency and a sense of responsibility in the water crisis. 

Because time limitations will vary across classes, the project can be assigned as an independent, at-home project or be completed in roughly two hours of class time. 

The county your students base their project on is up to you. In the slide deck titled “Project” there are four different counties that you can distribute to students. It contains all of the information needed about the county to complete the project. You may set up a wheel that by spinning it, students will learn the different elements of their county (e.g., rural, urban, coastal environments). You may also have students explore their own county or pick one in their state. 

If you choose to use the rubric provided, it should be reviewed with students, so they are aware of their expectations. Feel free to adapt the rubric to fit the goals of your school and classroom specifically.