Questions for Formulating Significant Learning Goals

 

 A year  after this course is over, I want and hope that students will think of how human impact and its effects on their local habitats and to think how they can be part of the solution to protect local animals and habitats.

 

 

My Big Harry Audacious Goal (BHAG) for the course is: Learners will demonstrate an understanding of human impact on organisms in an ecosystem by completing research on an animal or plant in their local community habitats and come up with a solution to help them survive in a changing habitat. 

 

 

 

Foundational Knowledge

Students will need to know how removing key organisms in a food web can cause ecosystem collapse and that nature exists in a delicate balance where all creatures struggle for survival. When the balance is upset by disease, overpopulation, or human intervention, gaps are created in the local food web, which ultimately lead to a decline in the entire ecosystem. It is important for students to know that not all ecosystems are the same and the basic flow of energy from sun to plants to animals.

 

Application Goals

Students will need to critically  think to analyze a local ecosystem food chain and evaluate what would happen if an organism was removed or impacted by changes in the environment. 

Students will need to creatively think how to help the organism to survive in its habitat or how humans can lower their impact to the habitat. Students can also think of ways an animal might be able to adapt to the changes to survive. 

Students will think practically when they devise their plan to solve the problem and to make a decision if it is possible.

Important skills students will need to gain include researching local habitats and organizations that are involved in conservation and helping animals. They will need to write a detailed plan for helping their organism survive in its habitat. 

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Integration Goals

 

Students will need to make connections between plant and animal adaptations and its changing habitats. Students will need to explore the impact humans have on the local habitats. Students will make the connection of how food webs and changes can impact their own role in the food web and how they get energy to survive. 

 

Human Dimensions Goals

 

Students should learn what they do everyday that helps or hurts their local habitats and that their actions impact their local community and habitats.

Students should learn that not everyone has the same concerns they do about helping protect local habitats and that some do share their concerns. 

 

Caring Goals

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I hope students see that human decisions affect local habitats and organisms that live there. I hope that students adopt the idea that all life on earth matters to everyone’s survival, not just human survival. I hope they take an interest in what is living in their communities’ habitats and the food webs nearby. I hope they see themselves as innovators, subject matter experts, and change makers.

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"Learning-How-to-Learn" Goals

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I would like students to learn how to make a choice based on their research and to focus on that choice. I want them to become a self-directed learner by researching their organism of choice. I also want them to learn from their learning community that we can all have a different agenda to make changes. I want them to find their voice in presenting their solutions and how they can be more involved in making positive human impacts in their environment.