St.+Alphonsus

Mary Senior- Team Leader Michelle Moore- 4th Grade Teacher Deb Speese- 6th Grade Teacher Jill Lebiedzinski- Technology Teacher Monica Cholaj- 5th Grade Teacher

**PBL Unit** Crisis in the Gulf
**Rationale:** //The Crisis is the Gulf is an important topic to study because it affected the lives of many people and species. Through this project based learning experience, students were able to put themselves in the shoes of the shrimpers, environmentalists and workers at BP. There are many ways to incorporate the core standards into this project throughout education. Students were able to research, explore, invent bacteria and read about the Crisis happening in the Gulf. This PBL Unit offers lifelong learning and builds character in education because it was hands on and the students were thoroughly involved throughout.//

**Grade Level**: //This project could be used from grades 4-8.//

**Unit Goals:** //The goals of the unit were to enable the students to learn about an event that was happening in the world around us while having them create a solution to the problem, the oil spill. Students will be able to participate in hands on activities throughout the unit with a final movie being created based on their research.//

**Evaluation:** //Students will be evaluated with tests on vocabulary and content along with creating a bacteria to eat away at oil using the scientific method and creating a final movie. Students were also asked to fill in a reflection, some of their responses were: We became independent learners, emerssed in an authentic learning experience to become experts, have a thorough understanding of the crisis and can discuss controversial issues with ease, and most of all we had fun for twelve weeks!//

**Curriculum** **Objectives**: //Identify objectives (concepts) that are taught and are related to the topic of your unit. These objectives (concepts) will identify the topic-related information that students will be expected to learn.//

**Introducing** The **Activity**: //The Unit was started by placing the Scholastic article, "The Gulf Oil Spill", on the student's desks. The oil spill was also simulated with sand, molasses, oil and dawn.//

**Culminating Activity:** //To end the Unit the students put together a movie using green screen technology and the research they gathered.//