Justin A. Lowe
Intermediate-Senior:
21st Century Educator
Project-based Learning
St. Joseph Catholic High School has introduced PBL into their Grade 9 pedagogies. As one of the leaders of this initiative, I have found Project-based Learning to effectively promote and foster the 4 C's and a P; collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving. Allowing the students the freedom to acquire and utilize 21st century skills and technology to collectively work through the curricular processes and towards a final product that crosses all curriculum borders, has moderinzed the classroom and set students up for success in real world situations.
Project #1: Celtic Cave
I guess you could say that we didn't just put our toes in the water, we dove in head first. Our first project was known as 'Celtic Cave', with the final goal mirroring CBC's Dragons Den. Using iMovie I created the trailer in the clip above to promote and generate excitement from students, teachers, administration, and the community. The clips to the right are the some marketing techniques used by students.
The project began in Science where students were asked to brainstorm and design an alternative energy source that promoted stewardship and sustainability. Once students had imagined their prototypes, the project transfered to Math where students were asked to scale actual replicas of their prototypes. Once the prototypes worked their way through the Math and Science curriculum, they entered Social Studies. Here, students were asked to create a marketing and advertising campaign to attract potential community investors in the 'Celtic Cave'.