21st Century Skills Collaborative Project

I had a little trouble trying to come up with an idea for a collaborative project for my students but I think this will work. As an inquiry project I would like to assign groups of students the following different stream characteristics to model and study in the classroom: steepness, width, and amount of water. I will supply students with basic equipment they can use to test for their given characteristic (variable). Students will test their variable by keeping all other variables the same (control). Students will collaborate with their group members to design and problem-solve an acceptable setup to run their tests by manipulating only their variable. The groups can take pictures of their setups and then write a description which will share their findings on the class wiki page. This will take their work to a higher level because of the potential world-wide audience.

To take this project to "the next level" I think it would be cool for students to use Google Earth to search for streams in the United States with the characteristics of the stream the designed in class. Students could then use the USGS (United States Geological Survey) site data to (hopefully) support the conclusions they made in class. They could even collaborate with students in other part of the country to ask them questions about their local waterways. Just an idea...