Introduction to Curriculum

Convening Session

I'm packing Kennedy's lunchbox for school, and this child is
no different from many other picky three-year olds. Like a
good parent, I want to give her healthy food to eat, in the
hope that she will develop healthy food choices of her own
one day.

To do that, I need to fit in the vegetables, you know, the
important stuff: the nutritious, richest, high-value items. I
have to disguise them carefully, though, because too much
of the greens, reds and purples will make her refuse the whole
plate. I delicately blend them in with what I know she likes,
fruits, yogurts, and any relative of the noodle. This way she will at least try the new, bizarre or
unfamiliar.

I try different combinations of food, adding new ingredients slowly, once I see what she will
eat. It might start with a bowl of noodles, then I will throw in a few diced tomatoes.
Eventually I can add small bits of collards or kale. But I'm running out of ways to
incorporate the same foods in new ways.

And of course, the food has to look good, or she will just push it aside. Leftovers aren't
always the prettiest or freshest for tomorrow's lunch, but I try to fluff them, sprinkle some
cheese on top, or slip them between two pieces of ciabatta bread . And it has to makes sense,
too, serving different foods together. I'm no chef, but I won't pack leftover lentil curry with
my homemade clam chowder.

But I also worry that I inhibit her own abilities to make food choices. If I am only offering
her the nutritious foods that I enjoy, how will she be exposed to equally healthy foods like
rutabagas, Brussels sprouts or okra? Furthermore, what makes the food I present the right
foods anyway? Who should decide what food is "right" or "wrong?"

Finally, the lunchbox is packed, or nearly so. Will she get the nutrition she needs from it?





Cover Letter


Dear Colleagues,

Designing this unit on climate change has been a lot like getting a picky eater to
appreciate a variety of foods. I've tried a variety of approaches to present the
materials, an abundance of activities to appeal to different tastes, and mixed and
matched to make the most sense. Still, my biggest struggles with curriculum design
are incorporating a fair balance of democratic materials while still leaving room for
authentic learning, making climate change concepts more tangible, and overall
curriculum coherence.

I reviewed pieces of a curriculum on climate change through the Keystone Science
School Educator Program. I chose the KSS because they incorporated many of the
principles I want to demonstrate when designing my own curricula. The unit specific
to climate change was set up as CSI sleuthing and collecting the evidence. Although, I
could appreciate the interactive detective approach, and it can be done well to
engage students, I get the impression that it can be overdone, and I want to challenge
myself to find my own creativity in curriculum designing.

Democratic Presentation of Materials
Climate change can evoke many controversial reactions in different crowds. It was
my intention when designing a curriculum, to be very mindful about addressing this
topic with the least amount of partiality on my part, yet to still present as much of
the prevailing scientific evidence available as
possible. One of my greatest hopes as an
educators is not to see students repeat what I
say, but rather to give them the tools to make
up their own minds about what they see and
hear.

I had the opportunity to speak with a
environmental science teacher in Franconia, PA.
When I prompted him about how he engages his
students in a lesson, he told me he uses a
"hook." Although the terminology was different,
I think I could understand his approach in much
the same way we try to incorporate elements of
cognitive dissonance for students. He told me
that sometimes just being passionate about the
topic, and sharing it passionately is enough to evoke interests in his students. I
wonder where that has a place in my curriculum designing. I think there are times
when I should absolutely share my passions in a science classroom, such as my love for
animal dissections, but I wonder if there is a delicate balance to incorporating these
with more contentious topics like climate change or evolution.

The KSS program that I reviewed maintained a non-bias approach to all of their
topics, some of which were sustainability, green chemistry and climate change.

Furthermore, I worry that simply selecting one topic to cover over another, like
consumption over waste, places hierarchy and teacher bias in the classroom. How
can I still maintain student choice, fairness of material and allow room for authentic
learning experiences?

Making Climate Change Tangible
When I reviewed several curricula on climate change, I found that the most
interesting lessons involved getting the students to do something hands-on. It's no
surprise that the 11th grade student I interviewed pinpointed his favorite lessons
under similar criteria. Students want lessons that make them solve problems, use
their hands and move around. I wanted my unit on climate change to have those
same opportunities. When designing the lessons, however, I found that a lot of the
topics were very abstract concepts, and difficult to scale down to tangible, hands-on
projects. With the exception of the final culminating project and a handful of
challenges, many lessons were more intellectual challenges than kinesthetic ones.
How can I make climate change something students can touch, feel, and manipulate?

Coherence
I struggled with making the
curriculum fit together.
There are so many aspects
to climate change that we
have entire university
courses devoted to each
one. What should I pick
and chose to present to
the students that will help
them best understand the
impact of climate change?
Should I spend more time
on the impacts climate
change will have on
humans or spotlight animal species and ecosystems in jeopardy? Should I provide a
global perspective, or focus on the impact locally in New England? What are the
essential concepts about climate change?


I've worked hard to develop my curriculum using my bottom lines. I tried to actively
integrate student choice by the freedom and leeway in the final project,
fun/playfulness with the challenges, the opportunity to take chances by setting up a
variety of venues for sharing ideas, and take the unit beyond the class with a field
trip, guest speaker and projects.

What I believe I have resulted in is a sort of hodgepodge of lessons, that incorporate
my bottom lines, but structurally may not create the coherence I would like. I want
them to be valuable to making climate change real for students, but build logically
and fit together well. Furthermore, I wanted to address the science behind climate
change, as well as inspire students to actively think of ways to reduce their own
impacts, and make climate more hands-on. Is there a way to integrate this
compound agenda more smoothly?

I'm looking forward to hearing from all of you. Don't hold back! Thanks in advance
for being candid and supportive.

-Deyna



Quandaries
Keeping the Pirate Code Fair- Applying impartiality to climate
change
It was really important to me to address this unit in the least partial way I
could. I wanted to incorporate a large bank of information from which middle
school students might construct their own understanding and opinions about
climate change, which raises the question: how do I sort through the material
to present what I think is essential about climate change, if what I think
essential is in fact a bias? To mitigate this, I searched through other curricula
on climate change, and unfortunately many focused on weather and climate
with a brief mention of
anthropogenic effects as a possible
cause. I'd like to believe the science
has come a long way from just a
timid suggestion that humans are
responsible for recent climate
changes. I pose to you, then, what
is a fair way of presenting climate
change? What do you cut out and
what do you keep? Focus on human
health risks, over biodiversity loss in
animal species? Focus globally or
locally? Have I created an equitable
balance of sources to remove any biases I have about the material?

All Hands on Deck - Finding ways to make climate change tangible
Many of the big ideas about climate change are in fact big ideas. It has been
challenging for me to take global-sized concepts (literally) about weather,
climate, greenhouse gases, etc. and scale them down to something students
can touch/feel/manipulate. Climate by definition is something that happens
over large regions over long periods of time. How can I make climate change
quantifiable and hands-on without drowning the students in graphs/charts? I
feel confident about several of the challenges I have created that will get the
students moving, building, and using their hands, but I fear much of the rest of
the curriculum is intellectually kinesthetic. In what ways do you think I can
make climate change hands-on without straying from the curriculum's
essential questions?

Coherence Captains - Staying on Course
This is the area I struggled with most: making every lesson relate back to the
essential question. (How are we influencing global climate, and can I do
anything about it?) I want students to understand the science of climate
change, and then be inspired that they can actually do something about it. It's
sort of a compound guiding question, which means I have to work harder to
keep the focus. As graduate students, we have taken entire courses on climate
change. I want to pull out the "essentials" from the "important but not
necessaries". To me, the curriculum seems like a potpourri of lessons, but
without connections to deepen coherence. Is what I chose to present going
to give students the best understanding of the impacts of climate change?


Focus Questions for Convening
Where do you see that students will be engaged?
Where do you see that they will they not be
engaged? Why?

Which of the lessons strays from the unit's guiding
question? What ideas do you have to connect them?

Where do you see that the material is not presented
in a democratic, equitable way?


Plan for Convening Session

Warm Up: 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon Activity (10 min)
Description: Kevin Bacon famously said that he had worked with every
actor, director or screenwriter in Hollywood, carving out a place in pop culture
history as a dinner party game. Players will take a celebrity and make six or
less connects leading back to Kevin Bacon.
In my version of the game, we will be play 6 Degrees of Climate Change,
and I challenge you take the prompts I give you, and connect them to climate
change. You can sketch, chart, or write the connections, but they must be in
six steps or less. The goal is to get everyone thinking
about climate change before we dive into my curriculum
materials. Have fun!

Materials:
-large sheets of paper
-markers

List of Prompts:
-Jimmy Fallon
-the Boogeyman
-Soft Pretzels

Curriculum Scavenger Hunt (60-70 min)
Description: Teams of three will each address the quandaries for one
area of concentration within my curriculum materials. All participants will
follow the Scavenger Hunt Handout to search for elements within my
curriculum on which I am requesting feedback. They could be areas that I
intentionally included but could use some improvement, areas I thought I
included but wasn't effective, or didn't address at all, but wanted to. There
will be ample opportunities where I will invite you to give me honest feedback
on the curriculum, and suggestions for improving it.
Areas of Concentration: 1) Assessments/Written assignment 2)
Challenges/field work 3) Projects/Activities
Materials:
-Scavenger Hunt Handout

Closing Discussion (10-15 min)
-Final Thoughts
-New questions to explore
-Burning Comments that Must be Share


Climate Change Convening Scavenger Hunt

Your Area of Concentration:______________________________

Quandary Found it, it's Great! Consider this New Idea!
Democratic, Equitable
Presentation of Materials
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Making Climate Change
Tangible for Students
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Coherence Throughout the
Unit Leading Back to the
Guiding Question
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