A Plastic-Free World? (LS-IT-331)

The idea for this Learning Scenario hatched during the students’ participation in an eTwinning project “Our Earth- Our Responsibility” which concerned raising awareness of the causes of climate change, apart from changing attitudes to lessen their impact on the environment. The LS provided an in-depth look into plastics, their impact on consumers and the environment.

The Co-teachers

I am an English/Science teacher, who teaches English Conversation, so I always co-teach with an English Language colleague, in this case, Matrona Imbriano. She provided help during the class preparatory phase, to help guide groups through the jigsaw activity. My other colleague, Maria Rosaria Petrosino, a CLIL science teacher, got interested in the debate idea for the future of plastics: Plastics yes, Plastics no. So the scenario offers the possibility of collaborating.

Implementation

The scenario can be suited both for face-to-face or online lessons since we had experience during the Coronavirus outbreak when Italian classrooms became digital at the end of February. Our school chose the WeSchool digital class platform for online lessons, so we continued the LS in this tool, using social media and the Twinspace.

The Europeana platform for digital cultural heritage gives teachers a reliable way of proposing artefacts, with the click of a mouse. They are very often copyright free and in context. Students can correctly attribute sources of artefacts used during their projects. Students can do research in the safety and reliability of the Europeana platform, and from the comfort of their homes in remote classroom mode.

Cultural heritage and 3D platforms

The LS offers the possibility of working with 3D platforms such as ArtSteps, which provides practice in developing critical thinking, curating and presentation skills. Advanced interactive presentation tools such as Genia.ly offer a good way of developing ICT skills. Since the students worked remotely to create galleries, we estimated that it took them longer to create – about 4-6 hours.

The lesson sets a learning environment where students are free to choose their own pathway, so the teachers’ role is one of guidance and troubleshooting. Here you can listen to one student testimonial.

The tasks can provide collaboration among teachers involved and thus they learn from each other. The LS also offers a Google Feedback form, so teachers can assess its impact on students. See the feedback results.

Would you like to know more about this learning scenario? You can download it below:

Did you find this learning scenario interesting? You might also like:

• Take Aim at Climate Change by Emine Ertas
• Save Venice by Matteo Torre
• Coral reef today, yesterday and… tomorrow by Teresita Gravina

CC BY 4.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana Collections and provide by the Victoria and Albert Museum.