I'm breaking with the past. I'm looking forward. I'm doing right by my students, even if it means it's not in the map. Because it's breaking my heart seeing what school has done to them thus far - and they're seniors, for crying out loud.
Our next unit in this class is on freshwater - how it's allocated around the globe, surface water, groundwater, and the environmental problems associated with freshwater. According to the curriculum, I must teach them these things:
In the process of preparing their proposals, students will do research (especially on the economic and social impact of their solutions) on their own as well as activities to learn the objectives I posted above. Their final projects should be a synthesis and application of the science and their own research in order to come up with solutions to the problem.
I would have liked this problem to be more authentic. I would have loved for it to be a real problem and have them present to actual community members. And I know that I've missed something (I usually do, but I'm sure the students will helpfully point it out to me at some point!), but I have to realize that this is better for my students' learning and their thinking. I know it feels better than what I have been doing. It's a good start at moving forward. It feels right--and it does right by students.
If anyone has any suggestions to make this PBL better, I am open to any and all of them. Fire away in the comments.