In the fifth strand of the InTASC standards is the Application of Content. The importance of this standard provides a cross-curriculum for the student in all stages of learning by providing real-life examples for students. These lessons will give the student the capacity to transfer their knowledge to what is happening around them on day by day basis. Introducing students to real money during a math lesson also provides real-life examples of how products cost money and how producers make items to sell to consumers in an economics lesson. A class field trip to the Recycling Plant will provide cross-curriculum learning activities in multiple subjects as the students learn the importance of recycling. The students will have a hands-on activity with augmented reality, using the Merge Cube to interact with the Solar System in a science class and then using their writing skills to journal and research about specific planets in their writing units.
Students will use real money as they learn to count to a dollar by using different coins. Then the student will use play money to purchase various items in a class store to learn how people use cash to buy things in the real world. This lesson will then lead to an economics lesson about consumers and producers and wants and needs. The students will have examples as to what items are essential in their lives and what are just wants.
Recycling Plant Visit
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle will be presented as a lesson unit across math, social studies, science, and reading, as the students utilize their knowledge to graph what can and can not be recycled. The students will also incorporate ways to reuse products as they create a product out of recyclable materials in the classroom. As the learners will use their critical thinking about recycling and how best to reduce their carbon footprint, they will create a journal entry in their writing journals after the field trip. There will also be a Trash Math worksheet that the student will complete during math. (This worksheet is from the Exploring Science: ALL AROUND US: Teacher’s Edition by Katie Rexrode and Leslie Swenson, The Complete Virginia Framework.)
The students will get to see planets come to life in their hands by using a Merge Cube during science class. This augmented reality tool will provide students a close-up look at the planets to allow the student to have visual details to use as they create a research project on a specific planet. The Merge Cube will allow for cross-curriculum in art and writing. Providing lessons with technology integrated into them, offer students the ability to learn things they would otherwise not be able to observe and learn.