Saving Miss Oliver’s

 SCIENCE AT AIM HIGH:

I WATCHED A SCIENCE CLASS  for rising 8^th graders at Aim High this summer:

The teacher brought in an array of commercial drinks: Coke, Red Bull, Gator Aid, Five-hour Energy, Aztec Tea and others. He divided the class into groups and each group selected one of the drinks to study.

The assignment: Identify the ingredients of the drink and its container. Research and report on the healthiness or un- healthiness of the drink: is it good for us or not and why? Research and report on the environmental costs of producing and disposing or recycling the container.

Create an advertisement for the drink

Write a letter to the President of the organization that produces and markets the product, reporting on your findings.

All of the above is to be arranged on a cardboard 12” x 12”backing to be affixed to the class bulletin board for display to parents and others  on a special evening near the end of the  summer.

The teacher started the project by putting his own finished assignment on the bulletin board and asking each group to give it a grade based on thoroughness of the research, the efficacy of the advertisement, the cogency of the letter and the overall visual design.

Here’s a brief check-off list: benchmarks of excellence:

Relevance: Yes  we put this stuff into our stomachs!

Science: Yes:  identify the ingredients

Environmental responsibility and understanding Yes : the “footprint of the container.

Civic engagement Yes:  the letter to the CEO

Persuasion/communication: Yes : the art of persuasion : the advertisement

Critical thinking: yes – The art of judging the persuasion: what the ad emphasizes, downplays or ignores. How true/accurate.

Working with a group: Yes: teamwork, decision making

All this seamlessly integrated across a multitude of disciplines.