Project-Based Learning

Digestive System Unit (with attached project)

Albert Community School

Grade 3/4

Heather Reid

Abstract:

Many of the travelers at Albert Community School reside within an area that is surrounded by poverty. Because of this variable, many manifestations emerge such as the travelers’ basic needs not being adequately met—food, clothing, and shelter. More specifically, the cost of nutritious and healthy food is often markedly higher than foods loaded in preservatives and other unhealthy toxic fillers; thus a person who is economically marginalized is more inclined to buy the items with little to no nutritional value. In fact, when I went on a tour of Regina’s Food Bank in 2006, canned foods were a majority and fresh fruits and vegetables were a blatant minority, which the tour volunteer noted that the costs of preserved foods are cheaper and last longer. What compounds the issue further is the fact that accessibility of these more nutritious foods are more challenging when transportation is not available or affordable. Consequently, many families and other members of the community will go to the local places such as McDonalds, 7-11, and KFC. Sadly, this fast-food landscape is rampant in any impoverished urban setting within Canada—these businesses are keenly aware of the demographics.

Being cognizant of this disheartening and disenfranchising reality, I felt compelled to take the travelers on a structured project-based learning journey through nutrition and the digestive system to ultimately question whether what we eat makes ‘sense’. They will do this by exploring, investigating, and discovering new knowledge about these key learning areas from a multi-sensory and holistic approach. Furthermore, the overarching objectives, otherwise known as the three broad areas of learning, are to have these travelers feel a sense of self-responsibility, engaged citizenship, and life-long learning. This will be experienced and evidenced by planning and having the families come back for a meal.

Finally, to heighten the journey for these young travelers, I will be interweaving different threads of Aboriginal content and perspectives. This includes culturally responsive methods such as: food like bannock, berries, and/or deer jerky for each learning journey; the seven virtues like respect, patience, and generosity; a small healing herb garden that can be transplanted out to the community garden in the spring; Elder Audrey to share her story of healing foods on the body then and now; families being at the center of this project. Additionally, the travelers will have an opportunity to reflect and contribute on our blog space and Annaboy the puppet and his dreamcatcher will be joining us everyday as a means for predictability, consistency, and reliability—my effort in creating a safe environment.

Rationale:

Dietitians of Canada have made March Nutrition Month. This is an excellent opportunity to have the learners involved in a learning experience that encompasses both nutrition and digestion through an interdisciplinary and project-based approach. According to Statistics Canada (2006), the rise of overweight children 6-11 year of age has doubled and obesity in children 6-11 years of age has tripled in the past 25 years. This rise is positively correlated with a sedentary lifestyle coupled with poor eating choices. These are daunting statistics, especially knowing that we are now facing a potential trend where parents might outlive their children due to future health complications—juvenile diabetes and heart disease. However, the culture of poverty reduces a family’s rights to make healthy choices because the cost of healthy eating is too high. Therefore, as a future educator, I feel compelled to address these issues by creating experiences for the children to learn about how the digestive system and critically examine the importance of eating nutritious foods not just to aid in digestion but the impact on overall health for each other; hence having a family meal at the school on March. 20th.

Travelers (Grade level): 3/4 although this could span over other grades too.

Driving Question: Does what we eat make ‘sense’?

Broad Goals:

This project is to support the three broad areas of learning—engaged citizen, self-responsible, and life-long learning.

Evidence of Arriving at Destination (Assessment/Evaluation):

The travelers will be assessed through multiple and authentic entry points. This will include KWL chart for pre-assessment information, sample checklists, peer assessment, exit cards, self-reflections, anecdotal observations, making a menu, a rubric which will involve the child’s input, and possible journaling on the classroom blog.

Beginning Journey:

First, the travelers will join together in a circle each taking some fruit from the basket on the table while moving to the circle. I will then inform the learners why I brought the food (for a sense of community) and that Annaboy caught something in his dream catcher to share with everyone—the book called “Rosie’s Feast” by Mary Upper. We will have an interactive discussion where I will be activating prior knowledge about where they might have had a feast, and then asking some literal, predictive, applicative, and evaluative questions. After reading the book, I will then inform the travelers about the project at the end of the month—they will be inviting their family members back for a meal. They will be informed of the criteria for which they will be assessed and evaluated and they will be asked to help contribute to promote authentic assessment. Lastly, I will have them transition back to their desks and they will be given a Multiple Intelligence Survey that we will do together. It will be presented in a way to find out what kind of “experts” they are in helping me with this project and other future learning experiences.

Daily Journeys:

Because this is a journey that lists in more detail about the journey on healthy eating and the digestive system yet it is still a project, there are other disciplines that will be interconnected to make this learning experience. As described above, we will begin the by introducing the images and spark inquiry about food, we will then move into food and how it moves through the digestive system (knowledge based information), begin other learning experiences with reading culturally relevant narrative texts, growing a herb garden, making a menu (cover the Canadian Aboriginal Food Pyramid), writing a letter to invite the parents to come back for a meal, and finally the meal with the families.

Final Destination:

The end project is to have the learners invite family members for a meal in the classroom. This will be the time that students can share what they have learned this past month about nutrition and digestion, how they showed respect, and how they contributed to this project.

Determine Destination: Many

(Strand: A Healthy Body)

·  Students will increase their knowledge of the human body

-  gradually incorporate the vocabulary related to the human body and to health into their speech and writing

-  increase their understanding of the main functions of some body organs and systems

·  Students will treat themselves and others with respect

-  develop their interpersonal skills

-  demonstrate respect for all people regardless of their race, sex, age, abilities, etc.

·  Students will develop attitudes necessary for healthy living

-  value behaviours which contribute to good health

Aboriginal Content and Perspectives: Oral literacy and Cultural Awareness through talking circles, talking rock, an Elder, interweaving of the seven virtues, and valuing family and community by coming together to share a meal.

Language Arts: All six components will be covered through different entries including: reading alouds with narrative texts, literature, reading Aboriginal recipe books so the children can decide what will be on the menu, looking at different images to promote visual and critical literacy, watching a video, and using the computers to blog

Physical Education: Movement vocabulary: using movement vocabulary to demonstrate the movement of food through the body

Science: Plant Diversity: Growing a herb garden

Math: Multiplication: Using recipes from the Aboriginal cookbooks

Social Studies: Plains Cree: How our First People cooked and made food

Arts Education: Ideas and Inspirations: Making menus and music for the food we will be eating at the meal

*Learning Through The Arts will be covering part of the music strand and objectives*

Learning Experience 1

Interwoven Virtues: Respect, Patience, Wisdom

Name: Heather Reid

Unit: Body Systems

Topic: Health Education

Time: 60 minutes

Grade: 3/4

Learning Objectives:

·  Students will treat themselves and others with respect

-  develop their interpersonal skills

Common Essential Learnings:

·  Communication

·  Critical and Creative Thinking

·  Personal and Social Values and Skills

·  Independent Learning

·  Numeracy

·  Technology

Assessment:

·  Anecdotal Observations

·  Multiple Intelligence Test

·  Personal Self-Assessment

Supplies/Resources:

·  Puppet

·  Computer (Internet)

·  Talking rock

·  Dream catcher

·  Food (apple)

·  Community Basket

·  Windchimes

·  Camera

·  Book “Rosie’s Feast”

Adaptive Dimension:

·  Learners will have a choice to share their knowledge during the reading circle

·  Bailey will be paired with a stronger learner or Jenny to read the words out loud and to follow along

·  Brain Break if students are losing attention

·  Learners who are distracting others will be asked to move by me or someone else who they can be trusted to sit beside

Advanced Preparation:

·  Putting the book and the puppet with its dream catcher in the circle ahead of time

·  Photocopy all of the MI tests

·  Bring sharpened pencils

Classroom Management:

·  Use windchimes to re-direct attention to me or if it is too loud

·  Annaboy the puppet

·  Review expectations while sitting in the circle

·  Give positive affirmation to those who are doing a good job listening and respecting others

Set (8-10 minutes)

·  Have students come and sit in a circle

·  Have a student volunteer(s) to explain how to demonstrate respect while sitting in the talking circle

·  Bring out Annaboy and his dreamcatcher (a student can explain what it means as well)

·  Bring out the McDonald’s and the fruit

·  Ask if they know which one is healthier and why, where do they see this food, which one is cheaper (low-middle level questioning)

·  Ask the students what our bodies would prefer to have inside of them and why?

Development: (35-40 minutes)

·  Read the book “Rosie’s Feast” using Shared Book Approach

·  After the book, ask the students where they have had a feast with family before (this book should activate prior knowledge of the feast they had at the school in December with us)

·  Inform the students of the structured project where the families will be coming back for a meal

·  Have students go back to their desks

·  Show our blog spot of the fruit and the McDonald’s (pictures of both)

·  Students will be food scientists, which they will have to predict the food that will go bad first

·  Invite students to comment on the blog space but inform them that Marnie (Mrs. McMillan) will be coming in to help on Wednesday also show the students their new portfolio with COMPLETED work only

·  Have students show me with a thumbs up (for the Fruit) or thumbs down (for the McDonalds)

·  Explain to the students that each day they will have to watch (observe) the food to see what happens to it—ask: what are some things to look for to know that it is going bad? (prep them for observation)

·  As a class, have the students complete a Multiple Intelligence Test—this will be used to find out what sort of “experts” they are to assist with planning the meal and other interests

Closure: (8-10 minutes)

·  Have the students hand in their MI test and put them into their portfolios

·  Inform the students of the learning objectives that they will be assessed on for the next three weeks

Learning Experience 2

Interwoven virtues: Respect, patience, wisdom

Name: Heather

Unit: Body Systems

Topic: Health Education

Time: 30 minutes

Grade: 3/4

Learning Objectives:

·  Students will increase their knowledge of the human body

-  gradually incorporate the vocabulary related to the human body and to health into their speech and writing

-  increase their understanding of the main functions of some body organs and systems

·  Students will treat themselves and others with respect

-  develop their interpersonal skills

Common Essential Learnings:

·  Critical and Creative Thinking

·  Communication

·  Personal and Social Values and Skills

·  Independent Learning

Assessment:

·  KWL Chart

·  Anecdotal Observations

·  Personal Self-Assessment

Supplies/Resources:

·  The Human Body Chart

·  Annaboy the puppet

·  Camera

Adaptive Dimension:

·  Because the KWL is a newer experience for the students, this will be done as a class so it is less threatening

Advanced Preparation:

·  Have the human body chart taped onto the chalkboard ahead of time

·  Draw the KWL chart on the chalkboard (take pictures of it afterwards to document what the students know and want to know

Classroom Management:

·  Review/model expectations while we work together

·  Count down from 5

·  Annaboy the puppet

Set: (3-5 minutes)

·  Review learning objectives

·  Ask the students what they already know about the human digestive system and write their responses under the “Know” part of the chart

·  “What did Annaboy bring in his dreamcatcher today?”—introduce the new human body chart

Development: (15-20 minutes)

·  Have the students play a game and work together to solve the right order of the digestive system process (this chart is made of velcro so the images and the vocabulary can be moved around)

·  Review what they know again and make the changes

·  Fill in the “wonder” part of the chart, which these questions will be answered in throughout the following learning experiences and posted on the blog space

Closure: (3-5 minutes)

·  Have the students contribute to the “respect” part of the rubric: what would be the best example of what respect looks like, sounds like feels like? What would be the worst example?

Learning Experience 3

Interwoven Virtues: Respect, Patience, Fortitude