From Virginia to Mexico: A Journey of Environmental Discovery and Collaboration with LUV's Global Scientists
Pembroke Meadows Elementary School, USA and Colegio Champal, Mexico
Summary
Charlene Widel, Gifted Resource Teacher
Goals
Pembroke Meadows was looking to equip students with the following VBCPS Future Ready skills: Cross-Culturally Competent, Socially Responsible, Problem Solvers and Value Creators, and Communicators and Collaborators.
Implementation
Pembroke Meadows adopted the Level Up Village virtual exchange platform, connected with a school in rural Mexico, exchanged videos about a project over 4 weeks, investigated human effects on the environment, specifically, access to clean water, and designed experiments on three different water filtration systems as solutions (aquifer, charcoal filter, desalination filter).
Results
Pembroke Meadows students successfully designed three water filtration systems, gained a deeper understanding of how humans affect their environment and issues with access to clean water facing communications around the world, improved communication, collaboration, and digital literacy skills, and enhanced their understanding and appreciation of other cultures.