Planning Notes - 9/15

Here are some of the notes that I have from today's (9/15) meeting:

• Think about how to organize group roles. Consider a flexible system that allows you to change an individual's assignment dynamically.
  • Andrew mentioned having an assigned skeptic. I think this is a good idea because I've noticed that at least some of the students seem to be hesitant to criticize one another and this gives them an excuse to be critical.
• Daily progress sheets
  • Try to ease the students into using these as a way for them to self-regulate their performance and to develop a sense of thoughtful planning.
• Have students start with individual designs and require each student to give their group a 5 minute presentation.  This is for preventing one confident student from over-running all of the others.

Notes specifically about the greenhouse project:

• After these presentations we need to make greenhouses really exciting!
• Consider a way to evaluate the durability of the greenhouses
  • simulated weather
• Materials for the greenhouses
  • Need to fit in project boxes
  • Particle board for foundation
  • Computer fans for exhaust/airflow
  • Plastic/glass/plexi-glass for the roof
  • Plant herbs because of the small space.
• Should the greenhouses be designed as scalable units?
  
  • Consider the 50 X bigger equivalent of the materials.
• Use directed research to focus the students' efforts on designs that they are capable of understanding.
  • Provide a collection of hard copy documents to keep students from wandering on the internet.
• Have each group come up with an idea for implementing the greenhouse and post it to a shared google document presentation.
• What type of field trip should be incorporated?