Dan Henderson, a geometry teacher at Emma K. Doub School for the Integrated Arts and Technology in Hagerstown, Md., doesn’t just love DI, he lives it! In an effort to engage his high school students and convince them that geometry is a lot more than lines and shapes on paper, he created a DI-style lesson plan. Written in the form of a Destination ImagiNation Challenge, the “lesson” includes this challenge:
- Your group will create a presentation that explains 1 concept/skill of Geometry.
- The presentation MUST include a creative approach – a new or unusual way- that represents or explains your topic.
- The presentation MUST include pictures or real objects to be used as examples.
- The presentation MUST include vocabulary words on a chart or on a drawing.
Dan reports that his challenge was an enormous success: “We had a Triangular Game Show, Jammin' Jason & the Mad Scientists, who turn 2D plane objects into 3D figures, a group developing a game to teach transformational geometry, and a hot balloon game to teach quadrilaterals.” And it didn’t stop there! Dan’s class of 23 students went on to another “DI style” activity, this time with a science unit on electricity and magnetism.
“I didn’t want to give them a test, because they were about to be doing state testing,” explains Dan. “So I wrote a “challenge” called “It's Electrifying,” where teams of two had to create an exhibit displaying their knowledge of atoms, static electricity, electric current/circuits, and magnetism. They had to design & develop a short game or demonstration that illustrates one of the topics, and compose an essay to accompany the challenge.” Here’s an excerpt from the “challenge”:
Were you SHOCKED at any of the information presented in this unit? Did anything make your hair STAND ON END? Were you ATTRACTED to any of the investigations? The world of electricity & magnetism is certainly a HIGH VOLTAGE area. Where would we be without it? In the dark!
So, flip on the SWITCH and show your CURRENT information! Don’t SHORT CIRCUIT this challenge. ELECTRIFY me & show me what you know. Convince me that It’s ELECTRIFYING!
Points of Interest:
- Your team will create an exhibit that clearly displays the 4 main topics presented in the Electricity and Magnetism Unit.
- The exhibit must include written explanations that explain how your display shows the 4 topics.
- Your team will design a SHORT game or demonstration on one of the topics.
- You must include Science vocabulary in your exhibit
Teaching traditional subjects with a creative problem solving twist is not a new idea, but it is also not for the uninitiated. Dan has been involved with Destination ImagiNation for eight years, serving in a range of volunteer roles including Team Manager, Appraiser, Regional Director, and more.
“Dan is a great testament to the broad application of creative problem solving,” said Bob Purifico, president of Destination ImagiNation, Inc. “The classroom is a great place to start the concept of critical thinking, though it doesn’t often happen. Through the Destination ImagiNation Model Schools program, we are bringing creative problem solving to life for educators like Dan, who intuitively understand that children need to be challenged in different and nontraditional ways.”
