Introduction to Final Project
Place of Learning:
Summary:
In this lesson, students are introduced to the components of their final inquiry project. The final project consists of a packet of activities in which students reflect on their feelings and hopes around organic and prepare to take action towards a topic that they feel passionate about. Throughout the curriculum, students learned about organic practices, considered various perspectives on organic, and interrogated their own relationships to food and land. Now they have the opportunity to synthesize that learning and think through what it would mean to take action. Meaningful action requires deep reflection, a connection to self and community, and evaluation of resources, skills, and needs. The final project provides students with the opportunity to prepare for meaningful action around organic.
Student Learning Goals & Objectives:
- Develop questions and conduct research that respond to topics and issues of organic that feel important to them.
- Synthesize their findings in a written response that includes critical analysis and directly cites information and perspectives from multiple sources.
- See Rubric for more detailed description of learning outcomes.
Download Lesson Materials
Teaching Notes:
- The final project packet is meant to prepare students to take critical action on a topic that is meaningful to them. As the teacher, you might use this lesson as a jumping-off point for social action projects in your classroom. See our Social Action Project guide for ideas and inspiration.
- The last page of the final project packet includes a one-page response that synthesizes a student’s topic of choice, why they chose the topic, and what action they could take. If you want to incorporate a more formalized writing project to meet ELA Common Core Standards, you could have students submit a final one-page essay that answers the prompt provided on the last page of the packet. Use the rubric (on page 4 and 5) to evaluate student essays.
- Depending on your class, you might have students complete the workbook independently, or in a more structured manner in class with specified research time and homework assignments.
- This lesson is part of Edible Schoolyard Project’s Understanding Organic curriculum and is the tenth lesson in the “core lessons” of the curriculum.
