My seventh graders have just begun work on their first big cross-curricular project for 2012. On the evening of January 18, they will be hosting a carnival for their parents, peers, and community judges. After studying how probability can be applied to population statistics in social studies, they will design science-topic-inspired carnival games that explain to participants' their probability of winning or losing each game. It will be an evening of science games with probability and prizes!
To accompany their games and set a further carnival mood, the students will also be designing cardboard cut-outs (like this one), where attendees can stick their head through a hole and be photographed as an interesting character from the Steinbeck novels we have been reading and discussing: The Pearl, The Red Pony, and Tortilla Flat.
Next week, we begin writing the character analysis essays that will inspire the cardboard character cut-outs! The "Mr. Stick Metaphor of the Week" they'll see Monday is designed to be thematic for the project that is about to unfold.
--Corbett
