PBL Ideas

We have been discussing the focus of our PBL proposal via Google Docs. Brian, our group leader, is looking to focus on a problem area that he frequently sees with the students at his school. One of the factors affecting their motivation is the fact that they see little relevance between what they are learning at school and what skills get put to work in the “real world.” Brain’s idea is to center our PBL proposal around creating relevance for his students by making a clear connection between what they are learning in school and what is occurring in their community. One way to do this is to involve members of the community when possible in the learning activities.

The first idea that came to me involved students tracking the stock market. Middle school math and social studies is not my expertise, but I can see students buying fictitious stock and tracking its growth. At the end of the project, students can see who made the most money, figure out what their average stock price was, discuss when it is smart to sell or buy, etc. Then a stock trader from the community can come in and speak to them about the realities of the stock market.

After thinking some more about Brian’s idea, I also thought about perhaps involving local banks and builders in a school project. Students could be in charge of coming up with a construction plan for a local park, playground, community center, etc. They would have to draw up a budget for their building with how much each needed supply would cost them, how long it would take to build, and a sketch of the building. They would have to contact a bank for a loan and calculate interest on their borrowed money. The culminating event could be a visit to a local construction site and a talk with the contractors and/or architects. They could also visit a bank and talk about what it takes to get a loan, etc. This could be easily connected to the struggle that builders are facing now to get loans and sell their current inventory.

We are still in the initial planning stages, but I think we have some great ideas circulating!