Project-Based Learning Events Spark Student Interest in Real-Life Topics

Across our schools, we celebrate student achievement with the opportunity for students to present their project-based learning studies to their peers and community.

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is an instructional approach that provides opportunities for students to collaborate and drive their own learning through an extended course of study of a real-life topic that is applicable to their lives.

When students work to solve a problem that is important to them, it drives their need to understand the mathematics, language, science, history, economics, civics, and geography concepts within each topic. The students use this knowledge from the classroom to help solve the real world problems presented with each project.

Recently, Thomasville Heights Elementary School, Slater Elementary School and Price Middle School held their quarterly Project-Based Learning Entry Events and Showcases to either kick off their PBL topics or present findings from their nine-week, in-depth studies on different topics.

View the galleries below to see student PBL Showcase presentations.

Thomasville Heights Elementary PBL Showcase

Fourth graders presented at the THES PBL Showcase about the adverse effects of food deserts and the chemically-induced foods found in urban gas stations and food marts. In an effort to eradicate food inequities, students worked to grow fresh foods in the THES garden and learned about ecosystems, food chains, and ways to make healthy dishes with fresh foods.

Thomasville Heights Elementary PBL Showcase

Fifth graders informed their community how propaganda and messaging can be used to influence the masses and discriminate against minority groups.

Thomasville Heights Elementary PBL Showcase

Thomasville Heights Elementary PBL Showcase

Slater Elementary PBL Showcase

At the Slater Elementary PBL Entry Event, fifth grade students kicked off their study of qualitative and quantitative data about where microorganisms can be found and how, if uncontrolled, they can have an adverse effect on health.

Slater Elementary PBL Showcase

Kindergarten students began learning how children around the world celebrate special occasions in an effort to celebrate cultural diversity among people.

Price Middle School PBL Showcase

Eighth grade students created their own hair and skin care products made of natural ingredients like raw honey, shea butter, essential oils, and sugar in an effort to provide products that are less harmful to people. Students used marketing strategies to sell products, including incorporating their knowledge of integers and the coordinate plane to design logos for their new brand.

Price seventh grade students presented on "The Implications of Consumption" and explored how the foods and nutrients we put in our bodies impacts human body systems, including the brain, mental health, circulatory, reproductive, muscular, immunity, nervous, circulatory, and respiratory systems.

At the Price Middle School PBL Showcase, students educated their peers, parents, teachers, and school administration about budgeting, components of the banking system, innovative and futuristic careers, the purpose and function of the stock market, and the benefits of being bilingual.

Sixth grade students explained the components of the banking system, investment vehicles like the stock exchange, and the importance of budgeting.

Sixth grade Special Education students presented on their experience studying financial vocabulary and creating financial literacy brochures, including All About Banks, Learning About the Stock Market, and Financial Literacy: Learning about Credit Cards and Loans.

Eighth grade students created fruit and vegetable juices for their consumers and educated them about the health and beauty benefits of eating more fruits and vegetables.