What If?

In science this week, the ASPIRE 5 students made their second "What If?" presentation of the year.  After spending the first part of the week learning about fossil fuel formation, students applied their knowledge to a hypothetical situation.  Students were presented with four hypotheticals, and also had the opportunity to create one of their own.  One example was, "What if coal, oil, and natural gas were boundless?"  Students were required to create a digital product to present to the entire class.

The presentations were very entertaining.  Students created videos, slide shows, Prezis, and more.  This was an effective activity for gifted students in my opinion because it allowed them to synthesize the information and create something new and original.  Their creativity, sense of humor, and critical thinking were all on display.  Our showcase day was one of those special times where everyone enjoyed sharing their work and learning from other with a sense of family and unity.

As I said earlier, this was our second attempt at this activity.  Overall, there was a significant improvement in the quality of the students' work.  The presentations showed evidence of more thoughtful analysis and critical thinking than the first time.  However, I believe we can do even better.  Although we had a discussion about what an effective presentation would look like, I will devise a rubric for the next round.  We use rubrics on a regular basis in the ASPIRE 5 classroom (perhaps a blog entry for another day), and the students are usually successful at meeting the listed criteria.  Next time, we will place a greater emphasis on content and demonstrating a conceptual understanding of the given topic.  However, I was very pleased with what I saw yesterday, and I feel this was a successful assignment worthy of our time and efforts.

So, what if oil really did run out tomorrow?