About

Overview

Students from around the world will be examining weekly themes focused on water pollution to explore how they can play a role in making the world a better place for sea turtles who are impacted by the tidal wave of plastic in our oceans. Additionally, students will be working with partners from around the world to make real change that will better serve the animals in need while discovering how all of our actions impact other people and animals.

Scope

We have talked long enough about expanding learning in school to go beyond knowledge acquisition, memorization and assessment. With amazing technology that is free and low cost, there is no longer any reason for there to be little interaction between students from different classrooms. We live in a world where we need to connect and grow together regardless of where we live. All of our decisions have impacts not just locally, but globally. Our goal with this project to promote learning opportunities that go beyond knowledge creation, but enhancing skill development, global awareness and instilling empathy into our classrooms.

In this Sea Turtle project we break down our classroom walls and connect students from all over. The project is student-centered and so the students have to do the research, brainstorming and discussion. They share their findings via weekly videos or presentations. The students are using the LAUNCH cycle to help provide a framework to guide them in this learning journey. As educators, we that you support the learning space and culture to allow students to be driven outside their comfort zones. Your role as an educator will be to become a discussion leader and mentorspointing their students in the right direction and making sure the students verify their sources. All participating countries' students will learn in very different ways (collaborative, by expressing and creating, by doing research, by discussing, by connecting to experts on social media, etc) and will have very different outcomes (composing songs, dancing, creating, using Lego, Minecraft, stop motion videos, interviewing, etc). This project covers several subjects: Science, Math, History, Biology, Literature, etc. Students will learn to use certain tools without being instructed how to use them. Teachers will discover new approaches and tools. They will make global connection and... learning will be fun!

Values

This project is student-centered and a global collaboration between schools. We embrace the 21st Century Learning Skills and Sustainable Development Goals through a project based learning structure using the LAUNCH Cycle Framework. The students also use technology in their classroom to find and structure content, present and share their findings.

  • Sustainable Development Goals: 14: Life Below Water, 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. More info

  • 21st century Learning: Collaboration, Knowledge building, ICT for learning, Real world problem solving, Self-regulation. More info

  • Student-centered & project-based learning: Students do research, brainstorm, bring structure to information, create, present and share.

  • Technology Enhanced Learning: students learn how to use computer and tools by working on meaningful subjects.

  • Cross-subject: History, Literature, English, Science, Maths...

  • Collaborative learning: small groups, between countries (based on the constructivist and connectivist approach

  • This project is not funded.

Learning Outcomes

Students investigate, propose, and take actions on develop solutions to eliminate/reduce the amount of plastic being consumed by sea turtles. They will communicate their findings and work with professionals in the field doing work to save sea turtles and clean the ocean water.

Task: Build a prototype or create a solution(locally or globally) that demonstrates how we can help sea turtles reduce the amount of plastic they are consuming.

SDG 14


Broader Context of Project

The United Nations has identified problems and goals for issues with our rivers, lakes, and oceans. While there are many problems that need solutions, we will be focusing primarily on this target based on pollution

By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution

For the sake of learning, we will be examining the issue with plastic consumption of sea turtles to give a specific, targeted approach to students developing solutions to why this problem is an issue.


Connections

  • Design Thinking

  • STEAM

  • SDG 6

  • SDG 12

  • SDG 15

  • Virtual Exchange

  • Authentic Audience

  • Student Voice & Agency


Standards

  • The standards will differ depending on the grade level of the students and location of learning, but the focus is on

Literacy

Social Studies

Science

STEM

Sustainable Development Goals


ISTE Standards for Students

Digital Citizen

2b Students engage in positive, safe, legal and ethical behavior when using technology, including social interactions online or when using networked devices.

Knowledge Constructor

3a Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.

Creative Communicator

6d Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.

Global Collaborator

7c Students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and responsibilities to


An example of 7th grade literacy standards that could be addressed in this project are:

1. Find evidence from literary or informational texts to support thoughts and research.

2. Use technology to produce writing and cite sources as well as work with others.

3. Include multimedia parts and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize important points.

4. Produce clear writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to the purpose and the audience.

5. With some help from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, and focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.

6. Write opinions to support ideas with clear reasons and proof.

7. Complete short research projects to answer a question, using several sources and thinking of additional related, focused questions for further research and investigation.

8. Brainstorm, gather, and organize information about a topic to create an informative piece of writing.

9. Gather appropriate information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the usefulness and accuracy of each source; quote or paraphrase the information and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and using citations.