BROOKLYN, New York—Global warming is a controversial topic with international implications. But the immensity and complexity of the issue can make a threat like melting polar ice caps seem far removed from the day-to-day life of an eighth-grader in a place like Brooklyn, New York.
Teacher Marlene McGarrity at Christa McAuliffe Intermediate School managed to get her students more excited about learning what causes global warming—and what steps scientists are investigating as possible solutions—when she incorporated robotics and other technologies into a science unit.
Working with a diverse group of eighth-graders whose first languages include Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and Greek, McGarrity first had students use the Internet and online encyclopedias to research the difference between global warming and ozone depletion. Students took their research deeper by interviewing an expert about the Kyoto Protocol. They used e-mail to pose questions and exchange information.
Learning took a more hands-on turn when students collaborated to build a robot named Clawdia, capable of traveling across (simulated) Arctic terrain. Clawdia became a key player on their robotics team in a contest with students from other schools. "In the competition, they shared their findings on global warming as well as their robot," McGarrity said. The competition included a simulation in which students "acted as scientists who had to travel across the Arctic, which was melting due to atmospheric changes," she explained. Clawdia—and her steady footing on Arctic ice—played an important role in getting the job done safely.
McGarrity says her students "stayed motivated throughout the project." In fact, they were eager to share their findings with the wider world, so they posted what they'd learned on a Web site. They even wrote a song about the subject, set to the tune of "Jingle Bells."
