Problem-Based Learning Units by Shelagh Gallagher - Series by Royal Fireworks Press

The first science unit in the PBL series!

Ferret It Out: A Problem about Endangered Species and Animal Ecosystems.

The black-footed ferret is the most endangered mammal in the US. Students are placed on a recovery team whose job is to assess whether Fort Collins, Colorado is an appropriate site to re-introduce ferrets that were bred in captivity. In the process they learn about biomes, habitats, human-animal interaction and many other science concepts.

Ferret It Out was pilot-tested in several sixth grade classrooms throughout Fairfax County, Virginia. The unit is aligned to national and regional middle school social studies objectives    

An Appendix details the alignment of Ferret It Out  to National Science 5-8 Content Standards, Common Core Standards for Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects Grades 6-8, Common Core Writing Standards, and Speaking and Listening Standards in Language Arts.

A CD contains extra resource materials.

Essential log for each student to work through the unit.

Teacher Manual,  Student Problem Log (one copy), and a CD with extra material.

Classroom teachers will need to order extra copies of the Problem Log.

A teacher has been fired for using To Kill A Mockingbird in her class.  She sued the district and lost.  Now she is appealing to a district court, and the students, as members of the court of appeals, must decide the case.  Based on an actual court case, A Final Appeal instructs students in the nuances of the First Amendment.  Framed around the concept continuity, students learn how court decisions are made as they address the same questions facing real judges.   What speech is protected and what is not?  What are the rights of employers and employees?  What is the role of stare decicis, the rule that compels judges to follow precedent cases?  Students also learn about the structure of the US court system—and they read To Kill A Mockingbird, too!  A perfect unit for middle or high school government courses, Language Arts, or, interdisciplinary instruction.

This aligns with the curriculum standards in Fairfax County, VIrginia, the district for which the unit was written. Other frequently banned novels could be substituted).

All three books of the Unit plus a CD containing extra resource material.

Winner of the NAGC Curriculum Award, 2012.

This Problem-Based Learning unit for middle school immerses students in the study of the Progressive Era through a specific problem faced by the Board of Directors of the Hull House in Chicago, the landmark Settlement house.

Jane Addams, Hull House co-founder, has lobbied for labor reform and as a result a prominent Chicagoan has threatened to withdraw financial support.  Hull House had been planning to start programs to improve health, advocate for better working conditions, provide educational programs, support better juvenile justice, and improve housing. Now there is funding available for only one of their projects.  

Students, as the Board of Directors, must decide which project to fund. As they consider their options, students of Hull House learn about the living and working conditions of America’s immigrant poor during the Progressive Era through the study of primary resources, letters, cartoons and newspaper articles  (many provided in the Resource Book).  Using guided discussions and graphic organizers in the Teacher Manual, they synthesize this information as they compare the consequences of a variety of social ills.   In doing so they will uncover underlying issues and prejudices and discover the inequities of the time.

An optional kicker, or twist in the story, introduces an interdisciplinary connection through The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

Hull House was pilot-tested in several sixth grade classrooms throughout Fairfax County, Virginia. The unit is aligned to national and regional middle school social studies objectives    An Appendix details the alignment of Hull House to National Standards Documents, including US History Content Standards for Grades 5-12; National Council for Social Studies Teaching Standards; Common Core Reading Standards for Literacy /Social Studies; Common Core Writing Standards; National Center for History in the Schools.

Dr Gallagher provides extensive guidance on how to implement  and assess performance in the Teacherl Manual, and in the video presentation above she gives you a personal a 'walk through' the Unit showing exactly what you will be teaching and how.

The Unit was awarded the National Association of Gifted Children's Curriculum Award in November 2012.

Accompanies the Problem Log and Teacher Manual for Hull House,  containing essential primary source documents and materials.

Essential log for each student to work through the unit.

Teacher Manual, Resource Book, Student Problem Log (one copy) and a CD with extra material.

Black Death is a problem-based learning unit based upon the plague that devastated Europe in the mid fourteenth century.  The place is the northern Italian town of Lucca, and the year is 1348, the month April.  Reports of the Black Death have reached Lucca.  It has been marching north through Italy, laying waste to one community after another.  In Florence, 96,000 people have died; more than half of the city is dead or dying of the disease.  And Florence is not that far away.  You have been called as an Elder of the People to an emergency meeting to decide what the people of Lucca should do because it is now clear that the dreaded plague will reach Lucca soon.  What do you know?  What should you advise?

Student resource book of historical material: speeches, documents and artwork, that accompany the Problem Log and Teacher Manual.

Essential for each student to work through the unit

Teacher Manual, Resource Book, Student Problem Log (one copy) and a CD with extra material.

Classroom teachers need to order additional copies of the Student Problem Log

This is a high-school level problem-based learning unit focusing on child labor during the Progressive Era of American history. Students go through All Work and No Play in the role of members of the National Child Labor committee preparing for a Congressional Hearing. Presented with photographs from Lewis Hine, they launch into questions about the extent and nature of child labor, the differences in child labor in industry and agriculture, the background of child laborers, existing regulations on child labor and more. The unit culminates as the students present their recommendations to the Hearing.

It is appropriate for any high school classroom and has elements particularly suited to gifted classes. All Work and No Play aligns directly to core Social Studies content outlined in the National History standard and integrates the theme Individuals, Groups and Institutions from the curriculum standards of the National Council for the Social Studies.

The content is closely tied to the three AP US History topics: Industrial America in the Late Nineteenth Century, Urban Society in the Late Nineteenth Century and Populism and Progressivism. Interdisciplinary study is fostered through data analysis and connections to literature, and a companion Resource Book allows for investigation through primary sources.

Complete with a story narrative and fully articulated lessons, the series provides support for teachers new to PBL and a scaffold for experienced teachers.

Sample pages (pdf files): page 3 | page 12 | page 64 | page 65

Accompanies the Problem Log and Teacher Manual, containing primary  source documents and materials about child labor issues.

Essential log for each student to work through the unit.

Teacher Manual, Resource Book, Student Problem Log (one copy) and a CD with extra material.

Classroom teachers will need to order additional copies of the Student Problem Log

Winner:  NAGC Curriculum Award.

This is a Problem-Based Learning unit about the Chinese Exclusion Laws in the late 1800s. Designed primarily for high school classes, students investigate how and why the Chinese Exclusion Laws came into being from the vantage point of a Congressman from California trying to decide whether support the Geary Act.

The Resource Book, Teacher Manual and Problem Log make up the Unit.

Before the unit is over, students are forced to consider what reasonable limits can or should be placed on immigration in a country that urged "bring us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses…" Throughout, students draw powerful parallels to contemporary immigration issues. To understand the background, students investigate why Chinese immigrants first came to America, the rate of Chinese immigration, changing attitudes towards Chinese immigrants, the initial Chinese Exclusion Law and Supreme Court decisions supporting that act. This unit is appropriate for any high school classroom and has elements particularly suited to advanced classes.

Excluded! aligns directly to core Social Studies content outlined in the National History standard and integrates the theme Individuals, Groups and Institutions from the curriculum standards of the National Council for the Social Studies. The content is tied to AP US History topics contained in Development of the West in the Late Nineteenth Century and Industrial America in the Late Nineteenth Century. Interdisciplinary study is fostered through data analysis and connections to literature, and a companion volume allows for investigation through primary resources. Complete with story narrative, fully articulated lessons and a Problem Log for student use, Excluded! provides support for teachers new to PBL and a scaffold for experienced PBL teachers.

Sample pages (pdf files): page 9 | page 25| page 33| page 88

Student resource book of historical material: speeches, documents and photographs, that accompany the Problem Log and Teacher Manual.

Essential for each student to work through the unit

Sample pages (pdf files): page 13 | page 30

Teacher Manual, Resource Book, Student Problem Log (one copy) and a CD with extra material.

Classroom teachers will need to order additional copies of the Student Problem Log