Constructivism

Make a list of the sequence of skills necessary for ultimate mastery of the content of your lesson through a constructivist approach.
Which of these learning activities/skills lend themselves to student’s individual or group construction? How might you structure learning activities that lead students to discover these skills/these principles?

For this blog I would like to use a hypothetical classroom talking about natural resources. This would be set for a fifth grade science classroom. I wrote a used a lesson about this in my science methods class and it went very well.
First, I would introduce natural resources. I would ask students what they knew about natural resources, this would include definitions and examples.
Next, I would have students spend a few minutes writing down why they think natural resources are important and if they think they are at risk of running out.
After having some time to individually reflect I would have the class come back together and share their ideas about natural resources.
After this discussion we would do a short activity showing students how natural resources are at risk and how we need to share them among all citizens. This activity involves using M&Ms as fish in a lake and over fishing.
Lastly, I would ask students to apply what they've learned to other topics in the real world. I would ask for other examples of natural resources other than fish or animals. I would also ask what we can do to help save our natural resources.


This activity would help students explore what they think about natural resources and how we should use them. I've included a link that lays out constructivism pretty simply. This is helpful since we're learning so many different learning theories to keep them straight! http://www.ucdoer.ie/index.php/Education_Theory/Constructivism_and_Social_Constructivism_in_the_Classroom