Project Based Learning in 6th Grade

Sixth grade students at Howe Manning School have been very busy learning about the Maya Civilization in Social Studies.  The teachers, Mrs. Butler and Ms. Magrath worked closely with Curriculum Coordinator Melissa Bettencourt and Digital Learning Specialist Dierdre Baker to develop a PBL lesson.  PBL stands for Project Based Learning.

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is an instructional methodology that encourages students to learn and apply knowledge and skills through an engaging experience. PBL presents opportunities for deeper learning in-context and for the development of important skills tied to college and career readiness. (Source)

Mesoamerican Challenge- Discovering the Ancient Civilization of the Maya

Driving Question: How can we, as social scientists, teach others that the contributions and innovations of the
Maya civilization had a tremendous impact on our modern day world?

Design Scenario: You and your classmates are social scientists and you have discovered that the modern day
descendants of the Maya face great challenges. Maya culture made many important contributions to
modern civilization today.

Many people feel that learning about ancient civilization is irrelevant to today’s digital life. Many people
do not understand how advanced a civilization the Maya were. It is going to be your team’s job to become
experts on all aspects of the Maya civilization and how their culture influenced or still influences our culture
today.

You will be put into teams to work together to discover evidence of this ancient civilization. Your goal is to
become an expert on the amazing Maya Culture. In addition to researching 8 aspects of the civilization,
your team will then need to choose a contribution of the Maya that has had an impact on our modern
civilization. Then explain to your audience what life would be like without this contribution.

Your motivation is to preserve and promote the Maya civilization.

Teachers gave many mini-lessons with videos, readings and information for Maya Civilization.

Discovery  requirements: Your team will be divided so that each member becomes an expert in 2 areas of
Maya civilization.

Evidence of Civilization:
Cities and locations
Religion
Economics and Specific jobs
Social Classes
Government
Writing
Art & Architecture
Public Works

Project Options Include:

Your team will need to create a public service announcement that informs people about the importance
of the Maya civilization and their contributions. You need to be persuasive.

You can choose between:
Create a PSA informational  video
Publishing a PSA booklet
Create a website that teaches people about the Maya civilization.
Create a picture book highlighting the 8 aspects of the Maya civilization.
Create a news program or newspaper to inform others about the Maya civilization.
Create a comic strip with Storyboard That.
Movie/FlipGrid
Create a travel brochure

Presentations:

1. Peer Review - your work will be reviewed by another classmate to get feedback.

2. Expert Panel - you and your group will present to a panel of experts from our school community. They

will provide feedback to you.

Expert Panel

3. At the end of the project, your team will share your completed project with the class.

We will publish our completed project so that people can understand the ancient Maya civilization and the

impact it still has today.

Click below for student projects:

Presentation to Middleton School Committee

Students and teachers presented to our School Committee