The purpose of this project is to understand the grand challenges we must overcome to achieve sustainability, and to use design thinking to address those challenges.
Here are the unit sub guiding questions you will pursue:
There was a flood in your city, and all water sources have been contaminated. To avoid relocating to a different city until the water treatment plant has been repaired, you decide to build your own water filtration system — which will be used to filter drinking water until safe tap water is reinstated 2-3 weeks from now. Bottled water supplies are running low across the city, so time is of the essence. Using your knowledge of aquifers, pH and groundwater filtration, build a water filter that your family can use until the city is able to ensure tap water is safe to drink.
Click on the water filters to learn more about the featured student works.
PS1-1.: Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms.
ESS1-6.L Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth’s formation and early history.
ESS3-4. Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
CCSS.HSN-RN.A.1.: Explain how the definition of the meaning of rational exponents follows from extending the properties of integer exponents to those values, allowing for a notation for radicals in terms of rational exponents.
CCSS.HSN-RN.A.2.: Rewrite expressions involving radicals and rational exponents using the properties of exponents.
CCSS.HSN-Q.A.3.: Choose a level of accuracy appropriate to limitations on measurement when reporting quantities.
Water for People is a non-profit organization that focuses on improving access to clean water across the globe, and they’re planning an awareness campaign about water usage. Before launching the campaign, Water for People is organizing a poster design contest to generate designs that effectively raise awareness on how much water is used in homes each day, and how it compares to water usage globally.
The winning poster will be reproduced on a large scale and hung in public places such as on public transit, near public water sources, and in public restrooms. Please see the rubric to understand the content requirements that Water for People is using to select the winning poster design.
Click on the infographic to take a closer look at the students’ posters.
FBF5: Understand the inverse relationship between exponents and logarithms and use this relationship to solve problems involving logarithms and exponents
6NS6c: Find and position integers and other rational numbers on a horizontal or vertical number line diagram; find and position pairs of integers and other rational numbers on a coordinate plane.
WHST.9-12.2: Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes. (HS-PS2-6)
RST.9-10.7: Translate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text into visual form (e.g., a table or chart) and translate information expressed visually or mathematically (e.g., in an equation) into words. (HS-PS1-1)
HS-PS1-3: Plan and conduct an investigation individually and collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, and in the design: decide on types, how much, and accuracy of data needed to produce reliable measurements and consider limitations on the precision of the data (e.g., number of trials, cost, risk, time), and refine the design accordingly.
HS-PS2-6: Communicate scientific and technical information (e.g. about the process of development and the design and performance of a proposed process or system) in multiple formats (including orally, graphically, textually, and mathematically).
“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.
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.
There was a flood in your city, and all water sources have been contaminated. To avoid relocating to a different city until the water treatment plant has been repaired, you decide to build your own water filtration system — which will be used to filter drinking water until safe tap water is reinstated 2-3 weeks from now. Bottled water supplies are running low across the city, so time is of the essence. Using your knowledge of aquifers, pH and groundwater filtration, build a water filter that your family can use until the city is able to ensure tap water is safe to drink.
Click on the sketches in the notebook to learn more about the featured student works.
PS1-1.: Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms.
ESS1-6.L Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth’s formation and early history.
ESS3-4. Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
CCSS.HSN-RN.A.1.: Explain how the definition of the meaning of rational exponents follows from extending the properties of integer exponents to those values, allowing for a notation for radicals in terms of rational exponents.
CCSS.HSN-RN.A.2.: Rewrite expressions involving radicals and rational exponents using the properties of exponents.
CCSS.HSN-Q.A.3.: Choose a level of accuracy appropriate to limitations on measurement when reporting quantities.
In the Food course, you will be guided through three different parts of the food cycle as access points to different sciences: Ecology, Chemistry and Genetics. Through hands-on experiences in planning a garden, cooking a meal, and engaging in the debate on Genetically-Modified Organisms, you will explore the current joys and challenges of feeding our world. You will also use Mathematics to determine growth plans, crop yield, and our ability to feed our rapidly growing population.
How does energy fuel society? To pursue this question, you will use Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics to learn how our society uses fuel, and to predict the future of energy. Looking at both renewable and nonrenewable resources, you will learn about the pros and cons of societies based on different energy sources, and explore possibilities for alternatives.
Are you thirsty? Are you clean? Have you nourished your plants today? In this course, you will explore the resource that’s essential for all life: water. In this course, you will interact with numbers in a new way with the introduction of logarithms, applications of scientific notation, and exploration of measuring systems used throughout the world. The course relies on research, gathered from sources and created by you, in order to better understand how water usage and access compares around the world and you will learn how this resource is at the same time abundant and scarce.
“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.
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.
For the second H20 Action Project, GCE Freshman investigated the following guiding question:
Here’s the scenario students were challenged with:
There was a flood in your city, and all water sources have been contaminated. To avoid relocating to a different city until the water treatment plant has been repaired, you decide to build your own water filtration system — which will be used to filter drinking water until safe tap water is reinstated 2-3 weeks from now. Bottled water supplies are running low across the city, so time is of the essence. Using your knowledge of aquifers, pH and groundwater filtration, build a water filter that your family can use until the city is able to ensure tap water is safe to drink.
Please find below the online installation we created, featuring the water filters built by the students. Please click on the water filters to learn more about the process and whether the water was potable after filtering.