Milks and Their Effects on the Environment

More student videos: Vinyl on Climate and Food for Thought.

What did students create and share?

Students created a documentary about one specific aspect of climate change and how it’s affected them and their community. Topics ranged from the carbon footprint of different types of milk to how climate change has led to worse allergies to why killing spiders is bad for the environment.

Goals/Objectives

• Students will be able to provide at least one specific, evidence-based and scientifically accurate example of how climate change has affected them and their community 
• Students will gather research from reputable science news sources and use them to support the claims made in their video 
• Students will communicate their ideas through digital media in a way that is engaging and succinct

Devices: Students each had a school iPad and some brought their laptops from home

Video Editing: Students were given different options and resources, but ultimately chose the methods and apps they wanted to use such as iMovie, Canva and Scratch. Some students used a greenscreen and had an interview-like format while others did their entire video with voice-over and Scratch block coding. 

Context and Classroom Roll-Out

Our final unit for 8th grade was on climate change. This was their final project for the unit, as well as 8th grade so this is their capstone project before graduating.

At the start of our climate change unit, I explained the project by showing video submissions already on the KQED Youth Media Challenge Showcase. I then told them repeatedly throughout the climate change unit that if any topic jumped out at them, it could be their focus for their climate change documentary. I emphasized that this was their culminating project to demonstrate their growth in science and as a final project before going off to high school.

Why video?

At our school, we place a high emphasis on wholehearted teaching, meaning that we emphasize soft skills like public speaking and ability to share one’s ideas and thoughts through different mediums. A video project allowed for students to challenge themselves with a new task outside of their comfort zone where they also got to incorporate their talents, like drawing, digital media making, block coding, and comedy. 

Project Timeline:

I used the resources provided by KQED’s Youth Media Challenge to help guide my students through the steps of video production from start to finish. This project took about a month long to complete and I provided my students with a document with important dates and deadlines for each step of the process:

Step 1: Students formed groups and started brainstorming topics related to climate change using the Science Documentary Brainstorm Sheet

Step 2: Once they picked their topic, they started to research and write their scripts using this Pre-Production Script Graphic Organizer

Step 3: Students complete their Documentary Storyboard and engage in peer review protocol with another group using this Storyboard Peer Review Form

Step 4: Groups have independent work time to create and edit their videos. During this time I schedule 1:1 check-ins with groups and ask them three questions:

1. Where are you at in your process? 
2. What’s your game plan for the next week? 
3. What support do you need from me? 

I kept a running document with notes from our conversations so that I could circle back to groups and keep track of their progress. 

Step 5: Once students have finished their videos, they need to publish them to KQED’s Youth Media Showcase

Step 6: Since this is their capstone project, students also had presentations about their work and showcased their videos to teacher spectators. There also was an opportunity to go into different younger classrooms to share their projects.

Students came up with their own plans for filming and then we would talk through the logistics. Students who were uncomfortable in front of a camera opted to do a Scratch-coding or digital animation video, as this was more comfortable to them. Ultimately, we made it work with whatever the kids wanted to do. The multiple weeks of work time allowed me to easily structure filming times that didn’t conflict too much.

Most students did their filming in class. I provided a greenscreen for students to use so those who chose to use it would sign up for time slots and then the expectation was that students staying in the classroom during filming time needed to be absolutely silent. A few students filmed outside on the recess field and would need to receive special permission and a hall pass from me beforehand. 

One thing that was helpful is we borrowed microphones from the English teacher who uses them for a podcast unit she does around the same time. The microphones helped to minimize any outside noises and allowed for more clarity in the overall audio of the documentaries.

Modifications

Students with diagnosed learning differences have a small-group Executive Functioning class where they are provided support with homework and projects. I worked closely with that teacher to support students through their process. Most of my SPED students chose to work independently from others and that allowed me to modify the project to fit each child’s needs. 

The goal for this project was really for it to be a culminating project to demonstrate their learning throughout their time at our school. The assessment criteria was more broad and I assessed their project on how well it met the project prompt: How do you see the effects of climate change in your community? 

The overall grade was based on a combination of: 

1. On-time completion of Science Documentary Brainstorm Sheet, Pre-production Script Graphic Organizer, Storyboard and Storyboard Peer Review (All submitted to our online school platform) 
2. Student scores from their presentations provided by teacher spectators using the judge rubric 
3. My evaluation rubric of how well students answered the prompt: How do you see the effects of climate change in your community?

Student-Facing Timeline Document (with links to resources)

Additional Helpful Links and Resources for Students