The 4th grade humanities teachers wanted to do a design project in coordination with their unit on Texas landforms. After learning about the different landforms that are in Texas, the students were put into groups and given one landform to work with. The goal was to create a diorama in a pizza box that would have clues on the outside lid, hinting to what landform was inside. Inside the box, would be a fact sheet and the landform, created using various materials.
In science class, we went over the design process with the boys and gave them their design process sheets. First the were able to ask questions about the project, see an example the teacher made and take a look at the materials they were going to work with. In this section, they took notes that they thought would be important to their design and build. Next they brainstormed on their own and came up with two ideas. They were then asked to sketch out those ideas and then share them with their partner. The planning step came next, and each group had to come up with one idea and sketch it out with more detail and explanation.
Once their plan was approved by the teacher, they were set off to create. We asked them to draw the layout of their landform in the bottom of the box to help guide their build. Off they went, cutting, glueing, taping, bending, material to get the effect they wanted. Some had to evaluate their first idea and re-imagine how to create the landform they needed to make.
During this process, we were also able to bring in science concepts like why the sky is blue, why the sky looks bluer above you then on the horizon. We talked about water and why it's different colors and what that might mean.
Over the course of three science class sessions, the creating happened until the final projects were done. After the diorama was made, the students set out to create their clue and information sheets. Here are some completed projects:
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