Friends, this page promotes Beyond the Classroom Aquarium - an independently published - Curricular Sequence of 14 Project-Based STEM-Oriented, Aquatic Ecosystem Themed Learning Activities Students Love. Brief Description: A Project-Driven Curriculum
Detailed Description: This 'print-on-demand' book/curriculum is presently available for online purchase from Amazon (Kindle Direct Publishing). I'm happy to entertain questions or comments about how you might customize this curriculum for your own student's unique needs & interests. Beyond the Classroom Aquarium is a book designed to encourage educators and students to engage in authentic, real-world collaborative learning projects. All of the project based learning activities in this book are part of an innovative, challenging and multifaceted sequence of STEM-Oriented, aquatic ecosystem themed secondary school (primarily grades 6 - 12) experiences. In order to help educators address unique needs of students in their own classrooms, each narrative project description in Beyond the Classroom Aquarium may be best used as a guide for the individual educator to respectively modify. Project exposition in Beyond the Classroom Aquarium supports the idea that such differentiation of instruction, by individual instructors (including curricular modification) is essential to maximize instructional success and student learning. The sequential compilation of STEM-oriented aquatic ecosystem themed projects of which this book is comprised resembles an anthology of collected works by "master artists and writers." Educators who wish to introduce their students to computer automation technologies, involve them in the process of system design and critiquing, or expose them to a multiplicity of skilled trades experiences (such as those performed by draftspersons, carpenters, electricians, plumbers) will find appropriate projects in Beyond the Classroom Aquarium. Educators who choose to use Beyond the Classroom Aquarium with their students will quickly discover that the actual projects within it and the extensive bibliography of resources it contains are replete with opportunities - for both educators and students - to collaborate with others. In Beyond the Classroom Aquarium Technology, Engineering and Math do not take a "back seat." Although the science of aquatic ecosystems provides a strong and engaging theme - opportunities to apply engineering, design, technology, math, communication, art, and analysis of real-world problems and resolving them are as abundant for students in this curriculum as each teacher may choose to make them. Chapter and project introductions and field trips include suggestions for collaboration that educators may wish to consider (and plan for) in order to make the learning experiences of each project most accessible to their students. Practical suggestions for establishing and maintaining an individualized math lab and coordinating student work in the math lab with aquatic ecosystem project work are provided throughout the book. The real-world aquatic ecosystem theme of the projects in this curriculum motivates many students to remain engaged in their learning. Many educators and pre-service educators will find the content of Beyond the Classroom Aquarium matches their own professional development goals. Educational leaders and administrators may wish to adopt a Beyond the Classroom Aquarium theme for their own class, school or district. A weeklong professional development workshop to address such interests has been designed by the author. The flexibility and scalability of Beyond the Classroom projects may also make it an ideal curricular format for non-traditional and non-formal learning environments for individuals involved in after school programs or clubs, a home schooling program, or while participating in a program at a residential camp. Beyond the Classroom Aquarium is designed to make a difference in every student's life (and teacher's too). It is intended to be used and to deliver fun - every day. This curricular sequence of project based, STEM-oriented, aquatic ecosystem themed learning activities has taken the author twenty years to compile, synthesize and write. The greatest challenge was determining how to realistically fit all of the projects in the book into just one complete school year; while also including enough flexibility so that...
Because of budgetary or other constraints, some educators may choose to use any one of the many projects from the book; others might prefer to introduce their students to one or two of the many unique projects each year.
