Welcome to 6th grade!  After a successful first week, our class is off to an amazing start. At the beginning of each unit there is a provocation that lays the groundwork for the transdisciplinary theme.  This provocation is a learning activity that helps students have a real world experience that will enable them to become aware of the deeper concepts that will be explored throughout the unit.

Students were divided into small groups and given folders that contained various tools and resources.  Each group was given concise and very limited instructions that prompted them to make and sell shapes to the buyer (me).

Some groups quickly found that the resources and tools had been unfairly divided amongst the various groups, limiting their ability to produce shapes which could be exchanged for money or bartered for other goods.  Some groups resorted to searching for discarded resources in the class recycling bin and requesting assistance from groups that had been given greater tools, funds, and resources.

 

 

After day 1 of the challenge, students began to see the importance and difficulty of creating quality goods while using a limited amount of resources. Students were also able to see first hand how the law of supply and demand shifts the price of certain goods. This came as a surprise and caused them to rethink which shapes would allow their groups to make the most profit.

All groups made profit and some made bold moves because of fierce competition.  Maddie and Connor’s group, which started with the least amount of resources out of all the groups, discovered valuable gems that increased the value of any shape.  They were able to cleverly utilize these resources in a manner that moved them to top place.  

After the two day challenge, the class was able to look at the data that was collected and compare the resources and funds that each was given and how they were able to use them.  Students reflected on the decisions they made during the game and the consequences of those decisions.  The class was able to see that the challenge was not fair and that one group did not arrive at their final figure in an honest way.  This enabled them to see many comparisons to real world economics.

The 6th grade class found this provocation both fun and enlightening.  It will serve as a springboard into the central idea that we will be exploring this unit.  During the next several weeks we will be discovering how data sets can be compared to draw conclusions about relationships among them and help us better understand our world.  Sixth grade is off to a great start.  Please stay tuned to see where our learning will take us next!

~Mr. Wicker