Summary of Project and Project Impact

The project focuses on healthy hydration habits within an Arizona middle school

environment. Being a 6th grade science teacher, I will be addressing standards including,

content standards about understanding the hierarchy and organization of interacting systems

and their functions in multicellular organisms as well as understanding of homeostasis. This

project would be presented after having addressed these standards in class lessons and

activities. Within this knowledge already under the student’s belts, students will be presented

with the project revolving around the question, ‘How can we, as students of _____________

Middle School, design a plan to spread awareness and inspire change in healthy hydration

habits within our school?’ The project and question will be prompted by a letter from the

school principal asking all science classes to design and propose to he or she a plan to address

this question/issue so he or she may choose one to actually implement within the school. This

project will require students to use their knowledge of the content they learned in class as well

as incorporate research and other skills that apply to 6th grade language, writing, and reading

standards as well. Students will also need to be able to do the following throughout the

duration of the project, knowledge of their community in and outside of the school, ability to

identify issues, create research-based/evidence-based solutions, and gather

evidence/data/examples. This project gives students a real-life application to use some of the

knowledge and skills they are developing within class as well as providing an incentive/reward

for their effort in project having it be recognized by the principal and implemented in their

school. Some of the project-based learning activities involved within the overall project are

creating things like surveys, gathering research, creating solutions, presenting solutions, etc.
The project will also be done in groups so students will also be required to collaborate and work

with peers to create a successful project.

This project is important and beneficial to the community, school, and district primarily

because they all lie in Arizona. Arizona alone average about 125 days of extreme heat over 100 o

F throughout the state per year as well as high rates of heat-related illness including death

especially in kids and young adults. In 2015, there were nearly 90 heat-related fatalities in

Arizona. It is important to practice and inform students about healthy hydration habits to

prevent students from being at risk for any minor or sever heat-related illnesses. This project

impacts the students, teachers and the community as a whole.

This project can and hopefully will affect students throughout the entire school

especially the 6th grade class who is developing the project. If the proposed projects are

effective they can continue to be implemented through further years and impact more

students. If the project chosen proves to not be as effective as hoped or potentially the school

community has shifted, the project can be given again through the years and new proposals can

be implemented in the school each year. This will continue to impact and develop the

knowledge and skills of the students involved and impact the rest of the student body through

the project. The project will increase student engagement by giving students an actual real life

application of their knowledge in a way that also gives them recognition from the principal as

well as getting to see their work actually in effect while furthering their knowledge. In this

project collaboration with any and all other 6th grade science teachers to create and implement

the project is a possibility. Through this project, teachers may develop collaboration skills with

each other as well learning and revising the project as a group to make it as effective as
possible. The collaboration and project can also serve as model for other teachers in science or

other subjects to revise our model and adapt to something they could use with their own

students in their own classrooms. For me, I can gain experience collaborating with my peers

within the school as well as get feedback from them and potentially my principal from their

involvement in the project. I would also like feedback to improve my project and my teaching

from my students and the students from the school about how the project impacted the school.

This project also reaches to the community. Most if not all of the students within my classes

belong to the community surrounding the school. Spreading awareness depending on how the

students approach the issue and develop their project can reach all the way to the community.

Students will be encouraged to have their project proposals impact the school community as

well as potentially the community outside of it. The actual effectiveness of the project is

primarily dependent on the students and how creative and effective they can be in their

creation and proposals.