Our Curriculum Development Project

Mission Statement

As a team, our goal for this Curriculum Development Project is to provide students with a vast array of knowledge and to provoke their interest in the subject matter. We also hope to give the students the skills that will allow them to take the initiative to further enhance their individual interests about oceanography. We will attempt to accomplish these goals by providing the students with a strong foundation including different topics within oceanography. Since we are aware that all students have different learning abilities and needs, we will be sure to provide the students with ample resources and activities that account for all of these different needs.

A little more about our project

As a group, we chose to relate the topic of oceans to the specific area of port cities. We felt that port cities would be appropriate for middle school curriculum because it would not only deal with the ocean, but also because it would teach students about geography, environment, culture, weather, and history through another medium. We have used interactive, hands-on activities that will help the students learn more about port cities and the ocean while developing skills in language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, fine arts and many other areas. It is our goal that middle school students understand that impact that oceans have on cities around the world and by focusing on six port cities, the students will receive an array of information to compare and contrast.

In this curriculum project, students will participate in activities that will find them researching, presenting information orally to their class, using their creativity to write play scripts and songs , learning about ratios and how they are useful in the creation of maps, learning about chemicals which are detrimental to the environment, learning about journals, and writing informal essays. These activities are very student centered and allow for students' creativity to shine.

Along with these activities, we used authentic assessment and evaluation. We chose to use a variety of techniques to evaluate and assess student achievement. By doing this, we felt that we would best meet all of the needs of middle school students. We created rubrics, checklists and included opportunities for individual, peer, and teacher evaluation. By utilizing a combination of all three of these techniques, the student gains more ownership of their work.

We feel that the lessons that are contained in this curriculum will meet all the needs of middle school students which was one of our initial goals. We hope you find what you are looking for.

Dana Parlier

Jen Smith

Ann Thomas