Talking Like Socrates

For the first Forbidden Books Project, GCE Sophomores investigated the following guiding question:

How can I become a gadfly? 

Here’s the scenario students were challenged with:

Socrates believed that the unexamined life is not worth living. Inspired by this belief, your local library is hosting a day dedicated to Socrates, in which eternal concepts or ideas are presented through Socratic dialogues. All applicants must submit a video entry to be considered to present at Socrates Day.

Please find our students in the School of Athens painting to see Socratic Dialogue in action.

Alignment with Common Core Standards

Writing:Text Types and Purposes:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1a Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1b Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3a Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3b Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3c Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3e Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative.

Writing: Production and Distribution
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1–3 up to and including grades 9–10 here.).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

Reimagining Creation Stories

For the first Action Project in Stories, GCE Sophomores investigated the following guiding question:

How do you visualize stories of creation?

Here’s the scenario students were challenged with:

In collaboration with NASA’s space colonization program, you have been asked to contribute a creation myth for a new anthology titled “Other Worlds” that will promote trans-galactic migration. Your job as a storyteller is to convey the setting of a planet using descriptive language and etiology so that your audience here on Earth will find it an interesting, exciting, and worthwhile place to relocate.

Using your knowledge of global creation myths, and your understanding of key story elements and literary devices, including, setting, metaphor, simile, and sensory imagery, you will create your own creation myth for another world and present this to your peers. Your story and presentation should captivate your audience–be creative, descriptive, and intriguing as you describe your world, and explain the reasons for some of its key environmental features (plants, animals and other organisms, climate, regions, natural resources, etc.).

Click on the different components in the world to read the students’ creation stories.

Project Alignment with Common Core ELA Standards

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3a Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.7 Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).

Creation Stories

For the first Action Project in Stories, GCE Sophomores investigated the following guiding question:

How do you visualize stories of creation?

Here’s the scenario students were challenged with:

In collaboration with NASA’s space colonization program, you have been asked to contribute a creation myth for a new anthology titled “Other Worlds” that will promote trans-galactic migration. Your job as storyteller is to convey the setting of a planet using descriptive language and etiology, so that your audience here on Earth will find it an interesting, exciting, and worthwhile place to relocate.

Using your knowledge of global creation myths, and your understanding of key story elements and literary devices, including, setting, metaphor, simile, and sensory imagery, you will create your own creation myth for another world and present this to your peers. Your story and presentation should captivate your audience–be creative, descriptive, and intriguing as you describe your world, and explain the reasons for some of its key environmental features (plants, animals and other organisms, climate, regions, natural resources, etc.).

Project Alignment with Common Core ELA Standards

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3a Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.7 Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).

Animal Classification

For the first Action Project in Population, GCE Sophomores investigated the following guiding question:

How can you speak the language of scientists who classify?

Here’s the scenario students were challenged with:

“Your local children’s museum is planning a STEAM exhibit (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) to use art to teach children how we classify organisms in a scientific context. The exhibit will feature collage images with popups or tabs to illustrate each distinction, from kingdom down to species. Some traits will be internal, so the images must be versatile. You will choose an organism from the list given and unleash your inner artist, mathematician, and scientist to collaborate on this project. See the attached example for one of the collages that has already been chosen for the exhibit and consult the rubric for specific requirements the museum has for each entry.

Click on the animals in the Venn Diagram below to see the students’ work.

National Standards: Project Alignment with Common Core NextGen Standards

HS-LS3-2. Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from: (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.

HS-LS4-1. Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence.

HS-LS4-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.

HS-LS4-4. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.

Shakespearean Sonnets

For the Drama Course, GCE Sophomores investigated the following guiding question:

How would you give advice as a sonnet?

Here’s the scenario students were challenged with:

Chicago Shakespeare Theater started a public call for reviving the sonnet as a poetic form. They posted an open invitation to High School students from around the world to write a sonnet addressing any character created by Shakespeare. The sonnet needs to describe the character, as well as advise him/her on how to deal with a social or gender issue they are facing in their dramatic world.

Please read and click on different parts of the sonnet below to see the poets perform their sonnet. Write your own sonnet in response to any gender inequalities you see around you and leave it as a comment.

Alignment with Common Core Standards

Reading Standards for Literature

RL 7.5: Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning.

RL-11-12.3: Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).

RL-11-12.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)

RL-11-12.7: Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)

RL-11-12.10: By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 11–CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Writing Standards

W.9-10.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

WHST-9.1a: Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
a. Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

WHST-9.1: Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form and in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns.

WHST-9.2d: Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic and convey a style appropriate to the discipline and context as well as to the expertise of likely readers.

The Impact of Diseases

For the first Disease Action Project, GCE Sophomores investigated the following guiding question:

How do we map the impact of diseases in our body systems?

Here’s the scenario students were challenged with:

You are a medical specialist who has been asked to present a patient case study at a national conference for other doctors and medical specialists. The panel of organizers is interested in hearing stories about individual patients, and their experiences with preventable diseases.Using your research from Unit 1, create a patient profile and an anatomical drawing, based on a real or fictional person, that allows your audience to experience what it’s like to have the disease you researched.

Please click on diagram to the right to see the students’ profiles on different diseases.

Alignment with Common Core Math & NextGen Standards


CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSA.SSE.A.1.B Interpret complicated expressions by viewing one or more of their parts as a single entity. For example, interpret P(1+r)n as the product of P and a factor not depending on P.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSA.SSE.A.1.A Interpret parts of an expression, such as terms, factors, and coefficients.

HS-LS1-4. Use a model to illustrate the role of cellular division (mitosis) and differentiation in producing and maintaining complex organisms

HS-LS1-2. Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms.

MS-LS1-3. Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells

MS-LS1-2. Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to the function

MS-LS1-1. Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells.

School of Athens – A Forbidden Books Online Installation

For the first Forbidden Books Project, GCE Sophomores investigated the following guiding question:

How can I become a gadfly? 

Here’s the scenario students were challenged with:

Socrates believed that the unexamined life is not worth living. Inspired by this belief, your local library is hosting a day dedicated to Socrates, in which eternal concepts or ideas are presented through Socratic dialogues. All applicants must submit a video entry to be considered to present at Socrates Day.

Please find our students in the School of Athens painting to the right to listen to their Apology speeches, inspired by The Apology of Socrates.

Alignment with Common Core Standards

Writing:Text Types and Purposes:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1a Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1b Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3a Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3b Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3c Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3e Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative.

Writing: Production and Distribution
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1–3 up to and including grades 9–10 here.).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

population

Animal Exhibit- A Population Online Installation

For the Population Course, GCE Sophomores investigated the following guiding question:

How can you speak the language of scientists who classify?

Here’s the scenario students were challenged with:

“Your local children’s museum is planning a STEAM exhibit (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) to use art to teach children how we classify organisms in a scientific context. The exhibit will feature collage images with popups or tabs to illustrate each distinction, from kingdom down to species. Some traits will be internal, so the images must be versatile. You will choose an organism from the list given and unleash your inner artist, mathematician, and scientist to collaborate on this project. See the attached example for one of the collages that has already been chosen for the exhibit and consult the rubric for specific requirements the museum has for each entry.

Click on the animals in the Venn Diagram below to see the students’ work.

National Standards: Project Alignment with Common Core NextGen Standards

HS-LS3-2. Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from: (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.

HS-LS4-1. Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence.

HS-LS4-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.

HS-LS4-4. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.

chronic strip

Chronic Strips: A Cure Online Installation

For the Cure Course, GCE Sophomores investigated the following guiding question:

What did the Liver say to the Acetaminophen?

Here’s the scenario students were challenged with:

The UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund) is very concerned about the incorrect use of medicaments taken by children around the world. It started a campaign to educate children and parents about the effects of commonly used drugs. The UNICEF asked for students from around the world to write “chronic strips”, this is, comic strips featuring interactions between medicaments and the different parts of the body.

Please click on the different parts of the chronic strip below to see each student’s full chronic strips.

Alignment with Common Core, NextGen and UN MDGs Standards

UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Target 4A: Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate

Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Target 5A: Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio
NextGen Science Standards

HS-LS1-2: Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms.

HS-PS1-2: Construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the periodic table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties.
CCSS ELA Standards

W 9-10.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

a. Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

b. Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.

c. Use appropriate and varied transitions to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts.

d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic.

f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).

W 9-10.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

a. Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.

b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

c. Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole.

d. Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.

e. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative.

RL-11/12-5: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.

drama

Shakespearean Sonnets- A Drama Online Installation

For the Drama Course, GCE Sophomores investigated the following guiding question:

How would you give advice as a sonnet?

Here’s the scenario students were challenged with:

Chicago Shakespeare Theater started a public call for reviving the sonnet as a poetic form. They posted an open invitation to High School students from around the world to write a sonnet addressing any character created by Shakespeare. The sonnet needs to describe the character, as well as advise him/her on how to deal with a social or gender issue they are facing in their dramatic world.

Please read and click on different parts of the sonnet below to see the poets perform their sonnet. Write your own sonnet in response to any gender inequalities you see around you and leave it as a comment.

Alignment with Common Core Standards

Reading Standards for Literature

RL 7.5: Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning.

RL-11-12.3: Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).

RL-11-12.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)

RL-11-12.7: Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)

RL-11-12.10: By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 11–CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Writing Standards

W.9-10.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

WHST-9.1a: Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
a. Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

WHST-9.1: Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form and in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns.

WHST-9.2d: Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic and convey a style appropriate to the discipline and context as well as to the expertise of likely readers.

The Mind- A Disease Online Installation

For the second Disease Action Project, GCE Sophomores investigated the following guiding question:

How does someone with a mental disorder feel?

Here’s the scenario students were challenged with:

The World Health Organization (WHO) started a campaign to promote worldwide empathy towards children with mental disorders. Their purpose is to spread a better understanding of what children with special needs go through, so the communities may support them in developing their full capacities.

WHO called High School students from all over the world to submit 5min activities that adults could do, so they understand what is like to interact with someone living with a mental disorders such as dyslexia, autism, ADD, ADHD, etc… To participate, students must submit a lesson plan of their 5-min workshop together with a half-page flyer that spreads understanding about the specific mental disorder. 

Please click on the brain below to see the students’ lesson plans and flyers.


Alignment with Common Core Math and NextGen Standards


CCSS.Math.Content.5.G.A.1: Use a pair of perpendicular number lines, called axes, to define a coordinate system, with the intersection of the lines (the origin) arranged to coincide with the 0 on each line and a given point in the plane located by using an ordered pair of numbers, called its coordinates. Understand that the first number indicates how far to travel from the origin in the direction of one axis, and the second number indicates how far to travel in the direction of the second axis, with the convention that the names of the two axes and the coordinates correspond (e.g., x-axis and x-coordinate, y-axis and y-coordinate).

CCSS.Math.Content.5.G.A.2: Represent real world and mathematical problems by graphing points in the first quadrant of the coordinate plane, and interpret coordinate values of points in the context of the situation.

CCSS.Math.Content.8.EE.B.5: Graph proportional relationships, interpreting the unit rate as the slope of the graph. Compare two different proportional relationships represented in different ways. For example, compare a distance-time graph to a distance-time equation to determine which of two moving objects has greater speed.

CCSS.Math.Content.8.F.B.4: Construct a function to model a linear relationship between two quantities. Determine the rate of change and initial value of the function from a description of a relationship or from two (x, y) values, including reading these from a table or from a graph. Interpret the rate of change and initial value of a linear function in terms of the situation it models, and in terms of its graph or a table of values.

CCSS.Math.Content.8.F.B.5: Describe qualitatively the functional relationship between two quantities by analyzing a graph (e.g., where the function is increasing or decreasing, linear or nonlinear). Sketch a graph that exhibits the qualitative features of a function that has been described verbally

CCSS.Math.Content.HSF-IF.B.4: For a function that models a relationship between two quantities, interpret key features of graphs and tables in terms of the quantities, and sketch graphs showing key features given a verbal description of the relationship. Key features include: intercepts; intervals where the function is increasing, decreasing, positive, or negative; relative maximums and minimums; symmetries; end behavior; and periodicity.

CCSS.Math.Content.HSF-IF.B.5: Relate the domain of a function to its graph and, where applicable, to the quantitative relationship it describes. For example, if the function h(n) gives the number of person-hours it takes to assemble n engines in a factory, then the positive integers would be an appropriate domain for the function.
CCSS.Math.Content.HSF-IF.B.6: Calculate and interpret the average rate of change of a function (presented symbolically or as a table) over a specified interval. Estimate the rate of change from a graph.

CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-ID.C.7: Interpret the slope (rate of change) and the intercept (constant term) of a linear model in the context of the data. HS-LS1-2 Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms. 

MS-LS1-3: Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.

MS-LS1-8: Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories.
HS-LS1-2: Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms.

HS-LS3-1: Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.

School of Athens – a Forbidden Books Online Installation

For the first Forbidden Books Project, GCE Sophomores investigated the following guiding question:

How can I become a gadfly? 

Here’s the scenario students were challenged with:

Socrates believed that the unexamined life is not worth living. Inspired by this belief, your local library is hosting a day dedicated to Socrates, in which eternal concepts or ideas are presented through Socratic dialogues. All applicants must submit a video entry to be considered to present at Socrates Day.

Please find our students in the School of Athens painting below to listen to their Apology speeches, inspired by The Apology of Socrates.

Alignment with Common Core Standards

Writing:Text Types and Purposes:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1a Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1b Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3a Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3b Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3c Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3e Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative.

Writing: Production and Distribution
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1–3 up to and including grades 9–10 here.).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

Creation Stories – A Stories Online Installation

For the second Stories Action Project, GCE Sophomore students investigated the following guiding question:

How do you visualize stories of creation? 

Here’s the scenario students were challenged with:

Creation lies at the beginning of everything that exists in the world. Everything is created, right now, a long long time ago, or some time in between. The creation of the world is the focus of a debate that has been going on since time immemorial. The creation of You is something that you might be able to discover. For this action project, we are going to channel a creation into a visual story. You will select one of the Stories of Creation you read in this Unit and turn this story into a Cosmic Strip. 

Please find below the online installation we created, featuring the Cosmic Strip created by each student. Please click the on the different characters and elements in the Creation Story below to view the Cosmic Strips.

Evolution Zoo – a Population Online Installation

For the second Population Action Project, GCE Sophomore students investigated the following guiding question:

How can you portray the evolution of a species? 

 Here’s the scenario students were challenged with:

Your local Nature Museum is designing an exhibit called “From/To,” portraying the history of evolution of different species, from bacteria to humans. All students were invited to participate in the exhibit by selecting an organism to study, then creating a slideshow looking at its evolution over time.

Please find below the online installation we created, featuring the species students profiled. Please click on the beautiful animals to open the student work.

National Standards: 

Project Alignment with Common Core NextGen Standards

HS-LS3-2. Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from: (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors. 

HS-LS4-1. Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence.
HS-LS4-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.

HS-LS4-4. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.

Population: An integrated, project-based high school class

Population

What underlies the diversity of life, where our ancestors come from and how we became the human beings we are now? How can we quantify and measure change? With the tools of logic, statistics, and exponential growth, you will study diverse populations and represent them as a unit. Throughout this course, you will discover how people connect with local and global populations; explore how and why populations have changed throughout history; and forecast what this means for our future.

Stories: An integrated, project-based high school class

Stories

How are journeys shared? Stories have traveled through time, oral tradition, books, and art. The stories that reach us create a relationship with our ancestors, to civilizations that are long gone, and to heroes that still inspire us today. These stories contain lessons, offering new perspectives and wisdom. By reading, listening, and watching, you will gain insights into the world—past and present, conscious and unconscious.

Disease: An integrated, project-based high school class

Disease

How have diseases changed your view of life and death? In this course, you will explore diseases of the body, mind and society. Through the study of anatomy, neuroscience and epidemiology, you will learn how our bodies react to trauma and outside influence. Among several math concepts, you will explore a critically important number, R-naught, and how it can be used to predict epidemics. Disease is an intensely reflective, personal, and foundational course for professions in the healing arts.

Forbidden Books: An integrated, project-based high school class

Forbidden Books

Why have books been forbidden throughout history? In this course, you will explore why certain books and ideas have been considered dangerous or threatening throughout history, focusing on 3 themes: politics, dogma, and diversity. In each unit, you will read original texts to understand, through the study of each text’s historical context, why its central themes were considered dangerous at the time of writing—and beyond.

Cure: An integrated, project-based high school class

Cure

How do you heal? In the Cure course, you will study revolutions in the history of Western medicine through three units of study: emergency, treatment, and prevention. While each unit focuses on an advancement in Western medicine, the External Investigations provide opportunities to explore case studies of people who have been cured through a variety of methods, including practices such as acupuncture and yoga. As a parallel to bringing a body into balance, you will work to bring linear and quadratic equations into balance, as well as applying your knowledge of functions to nutrition and health.

Drama: An ISS and English High School Course

Drama

From ancient times, theater has provided an opportunity for communities to stage their challenges and rehearse ways of facing them. The Drama course provides an opportunity to study the history of theater through the lens of gender equality and how social roles have evolved across time and space. In 3 units, each analyzing a different play, students will be challenged to write a monologue, dialogue, and a traditional chorus that explores gender relations and students’ own roles in society.