7th Grade  Project 2 weeks

Island Stories: History, Health, and Hope

Christopher F
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.7
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.7.1
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.9
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.7
+ 5 more
1-pager

Purpose

Students will investigate past food traditions in a selected Oceanian island nation and trace how movement, environmental conditions, and economic forces changed food systems and health over time. Through map work and library research, they will compare primary and secondary sources, integrate visual evidence, and examine positive and negative impacts alongside similar or different issues in Hawaiʻi. Students will use daily reflection, collaborative discussion, and peer review to develop an infographic the educates and proposing informed future actions. They will present their infographics in a classroom gallery for classmates, teachers, and invited administrators. Possibly posting on campus for greater audience.

Learning goals

Students will research a health, environmental, or economic issue in an Oceanian island nation through the five themes of geography: location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and region. They will develop focused questions, gather evidence from multiple print, digital, visual, primary, and secondary sources, and analyze relationships among sources. Students will compare how the movement of people and ideas affects their chosen nation and Hawaiʻi, then communicate their findings in a solution-focused infographic. Through collaborative discussions, daily reflection, peer review, and revision, students will prepare to present their work clearly and respectfully in a classroom gallery for classmates, teachers, and invited administrators.

Standards
  • [Common Core] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.7 - Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7 - Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.7.1 - Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.9 - Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.7 - Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions for further research and investigation.
Competencies
  • Effective Communication - Students practice listening to understand, communicating with empathy, and share their learning through exhibiting, presenting and reflecting on their work.
  • Critical Thinking & Problem Solving - Students consider a variety of innovative approaches to address and understand complex questions that are authentic and important to their communities.
  • Collaboration - Students co-design projects with peers, exercise shared-decision making, strengthen relational agency, resolve conflict, and assume leadership roles.
  • Content Expertise - Students develop key competencies, skills, and dispositions with ample opportunities to apply knowledge and engage in work that matters to them.
  • Academic Mindset - Students establish a sense of place, identity, and belonging to increase self-efficacy while engaging in critical reflection and action.

Products

Students will create an annotated map of Oceania and research notes using visual, primary, and secondary sources to trace a selected island nation’s traditional foods, food practices, and geographic influences. Each student will generate notes and images explaining how movement of people and ideas changed these traditions, comparing positive and negative health, environmental, and economic impacts with those in Hawaiʻi. Students will design an infographic that communicates evidence, integrates maps or charts, and recommends realistic future actions that sustain health and food traditions. Daily reflections and peer feedback will guide revisions before students exhibit their infographic in a classroom gallery for classmates and invited administrators.

Launch

Begin in the library with instruction on research and citations. Students compare a primary source with a secondary source, using maps, photographs, written accounts and graphs to identify traditional foods, reasons diets changed, and positive and negative impacts. Teams connect their findings to the five themes of geography, and develop a research question about possible future actions. Close with a brief team share and individual reflection on how changing food traditions affect health and community life.

Exhibition

Host a classroom gallery featuring student-created infographics about an issue affecting a specific Oceanian island nation. Each display will use location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and region to organize maps, data, historical context, and realistic solutions. Invite administrators and classmates to hear brief presentations, ask questions, and compare the island nation’s experiences with Hawaiʻi. Students will use visitor feedback to reflect on how clearly their infographic explains the issue through the five themes of geography. Possible integration of modern interpretation of traditional ingredients.

Copied from Oceania Uncovered: Map It, Make It, Explain It