GREAT Project Pathways
Earth
Welcome to GREAT Project Pathway exploring the quality of the Earth!
At each step, you'll have a chance to make choices while creating your own science adventure. By the end of the journey, you will design and conduct a project to solve a real-world problem.
The Power is Yours!
Working in small Investigation Teams, students will:
- G ather data by testing, measuring, monitoring or modelling the phenomenon
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- Outcome: contribute data to a citizen science project
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- R eason and analyze data to find evidence for a claim about the phenomenon
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- Outcome: identify a related problem in the schoolyard
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- E xplore, gain expertise, cultivate empathy, engineer a working model, and examine a case study
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- Outcome: explore similar real-world problems and solutions
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- A ct to solve a to real-world problem by applying knowledge and assessing effectiveness
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- Outcome: design and carry out a class project
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- Teach an authentic audience about the project
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- Outcome: document the project so that it can be replicated by others
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EARTH STORY LINE
The Earth Project Pathway will take you on an adventure to explore a material we spend very little time thinking about, and yet is vitally important to our lives: the soil. After deciding what data to collect, you will conduct tests, analyze results and make sense of your findings. You will then complete a project that solves a soil-related problem, such as amending a plants soil to create ideal conditions for that plant, or creating a system that composts your own food waste. When the class agrees on a project, you will work together to make a plan, carry out the project, measure the outcomes, reflect on whether it made a difference, and teach others about how you did it.
Portfolio
Your Portfolio will serve as both journal and scrapbook as you navigate the Water Quality GREAT Project Pathway.
If you have a Google account, you can download the Portfolio to your Drive and save it with a title that includes your name (such as Zalia's Water Project Portfolio). It can also be saved in another format, such as Word.
Print your portfolio so you can take it outside and write in it, or use it as a digital file that you can edit and save. There is a section in the Portfolio corresponding to each part of the project
Deliverable: PROJECT PORTFOLIO (re-named and saved)
Ready to get started?
Teachers
There is an accompanying Teacher Guide that provides details about this project pathway such as the science standards it covers, the supplies needed, and the rationale for instructional strategies. To request a copy, you must provide a school district email address, be listed on your school's faculty page, and answer several questions.
Captain Planet Foundation also offers an Earth ecoSTEM that contains many of the supplies needed for field investigations and projects referenced in this Project Pathway. If you don't already have the kit, you can purchase it at cost, request it through Donors Choose, apply for an ecoSTEM Kit Grant, or substitute other materials you may already have on hand.