Unit Plan Thoughts

I teach 9th grade physical science. The "big ideas" in physical science are 1). Structure & Properties of Matter & 2). Interactions of Matter & Energy. A sentence that would go to the heart of my curriculum would be "Matter and Energy are related." The essential question that I am considering at this point is "What's really going on at the amusement park?" A unit question that I am considering is "How can you demonsrate an understanding of the nature of forces and motion?"

How can projects provide opportunities for deeper thinking in my classroom?

Projects initiate student centered learning. As the teacher, I can coach, guide, and direct student learning as students take over the center of the learning process. A well designed project would provide decisions that are made by students, flexibility for application of students' interest, and allow for collaboration with classmates.

Project work must align with state/district standards. Ideally, projects are driven by an essential question that will cross multiple or all physical science units. Models and guidelines of high quality work would be provided (rubrics, checklists, and/or samples of student work).

By including real-world connections for any project work, the work becomes more relevant to students' lives.

What thinking skills should I target for my classroom?

From Bloom's Revised, I am targeting these cognitive processes: remembering by recalling and understanding by inferring.