Lesson
Overview
In my PBL I created a scenario that combined research, fiction writing and presentation skills by posing the problem that if you were sent to explore one of the newly discovered Earth-like exoplanets as part of a group expedition what would you report back to Earth. The idea behind this is to get students excited about both science and fiction writing. They would be asked to create a science fiction story, based on research, that chronicled their adventure. The students would have the freedom to write about what forms of life they may encounter, environmental hazards, different weather patterns and anything else they can imagine encountering. As the assignment is based on a group expedition, the students would work in groups throughout the entire research and writing process. The culminating activity would be that a reporter from a local news source would come in an interview each group in regards to their adventure. They would be asked to role play the characters from their story and answer questions about their discoveries. The questions would be taken from their papers and based on the research they gathered.
Driving Question: Imagine you landed on one of the newly discovered exoplanets, what would you report back to the public back on Earth?
Grabber: Instructor begins by asking the question: “What do you think is out there in outer space?” This will get the students to postulate on what they already know and theorize about the possibilities of the final frontier. After a short discussion the instructor will introduce an article from CNN discussing the discovery of seven exoplanets and then show a video from the history channel that goes further in depth in regards to the topic. This will give the students a base of knowledge from which to start. The exciting graphics and commentary from the video will inspire the students to do further research and start to think creatively about their upcoming story
Culminating Activity: Interview by local reporter.