Part Two: Your Project

Chapter Six is the halfway point in Nature Labs, where the final project is introduced and student lessons transition from knowledge acquisition to knowledge application. We’ve designed the final project with four ideas in mind:

1. Ask students to take what they’ve learned in this course and prove their comprehension by applying that knowledge.
2. Ask students to create their final project using the parameters of balancing people and nature (helping keep ideas focused while also allowing for unique, personal interpretations).
3. Ask students to create something, within the confines of this class, that reflects their passion or interests and helps address a contemporary problem or issue (helping answer the question of why this class and this project matters in the real-world).
4. Ask students to create something that reflects where they want to go in life (ensuring they are building skills towards their ideal future).

Note: This goes without saying, but like every lesson and each activity in Nature Labs, the final project is ultimately up to you. We’ve done our best to provide a rigorous structure that reflects what students and educators told us they wanted, hopefully helping lessen your classroom design burden. That being said, we’ve intentionally left many aspects of Nature Labs vague so that you can adapt it to your preferences and your situation. The Lesson Media for Chapter Six, as you will have noted, is extremely vague in explaining the final project for this very reason. We want you to be able to use as many elements of Nature Labs as possible without forcing you to adhere to a specific lesson or project outline.

Your Project:

This section outlines the final project for students.

Outline: Students will write a story that presents their research findings, helping advance their vision for balancing the needs of people and nature in their community or in our country.

Process: The research and story produced by students should play to their interests and strengths (if they love math, they should focus on financial analytics; if they love sports, they should find an athletic angle). No matter the goal, the projects students come up with can help shape the future of our country.

Skills: creative thinking and writing, critical thinking, research, organization, responsibility, leadership, time-management, independence, collaboration, critiquing, reviewing, communication, self-starting, self-regulation, citizenship, awesomeness

Final Product: Students will use their guiding question to drive their research and produce a story and short presentation based on their research finding.

• Research: Students will use the tools they’ve acquired in this class to uncover the answer to their guiding question and should utilize the Curated Library, the school and/or community library and, of course, the Internet more broadly. Encourage students to take good notes and find reliable sources of information, and underscore the importance of always referencing their work.
• Story: Allow students to choose their preferred storytelling medium or assign a medium you prefer. Either way, what really matters is building storytelling skills, helpful in most careers.
• Presentation: Inform your class of how you want students to present their research and story. This can be done conference-style (how research findings are often presented) or pitch-style (a style that might help if they plan to publish their story).

Rubric: Again, you can use this rubric or provide your own for students to review.

Why Nature: We again cover why nature is used as the metaphor for this class, and highlight the many ways students can define or envision balancing people and nature. We strongly encourage you to allow students to define this question in the broadest possible terms.

Project: Part One

This activity uses the principles of design thinking to help students lock down their idea by creating a rapid prototype for testing.

Instructions:

1. Present or have students carefully review the activity’s preamble.
2. Remind students to use the work they have already completed in the previous chapters, as this will give them a significant head start on their final project.
3. Students can use the linked resources to help them better understand the purpose of the task.
4. Have students follow the prompts listed in the activity and encourage them to use the guiding questions to help them perfect their concept.

Project: Part Two

This activity uses the principles of design thinking to help students test their rapid prototype – their idea for their final project – in order to get critical feedback before they launch full-on into the creative process.

Instructions:

1. Present or have students carefully review the activity’s preamble.
2. Organize your class into prototype stations and have the students rotate through every prototype station, leaving feedback notes. Make sure students have Post-it notes and a pen, or some other tool or device that will allow them to leave ideas with each station.
3. Encourage students to use the prompts in the activity to help them focus their feedback.

Project: Part Three

This activity uses the principles of design thinking to help students re-adjust their ideas based on the feedback they’ve received, helping them create a more robust, worthwhile final project.

Instructions:

1. Present or have students carefully review the activity’s preamble. Encourage students to reflect on our advice regarding feedback (what to accept and what to reject).
2. Give students time at home or in class to work through the feedback they received, allowing them to refine their idea before they begin the creation process.
3. The infographic and the Curated Library are tools to help the students as they work through the refinement process.