Travelling around the world. 1st Baccaraureate

 

Shared by Laura Moreno:

In order to perform a PBL task in my 1st Bachillerato classroom, it is necessary to introduce some of the contents that we have been seeing during the second term. These contents are modal verbs and passive voice. So as to include them in a task and students show that they have comprehended these grammar points (apart from other contents that we have been seeing during the sessions), I have prepared the following PBL task.

The topic of the task is TRAVELLING AROUND THE WORLD, and its main aim is that students get involved in learning about the different cultures, societies, languages, and other multicultural aspects related to world population.

As to the contents, they will introduce the previously mentioned grammar points and contents from the units as well as the knowledge they already have, so that they can recycle and refresh it.

Moreover, they will also be able to introduce knowledge from other subjects, promoting cross-cutting elements from geography, history or maths, since they will need to include maps, historical background of the countries, or just stick to a budget.

The driving question will be:

• IF YOU HAD A ONE-WAY PLANE TICKET TO A COUNTRY AROUND THE WORLD, WHERE WOULD YOU GO? WHY WOULD YOU CHOOSE THAT DESTINATION?

With this, students have to reflect upon the knowledge they already have about countries and geography, and they will have to give reasons for that decision. This task will be performed in groups of three, so that they can share and discuss what they think, as well as their likes and dislikes. Once they have reached an agreement, I will display a video related to youngsters travelling around the world and learning from this experience so that they can open their minds and broaden what they have already discussed.

Some of the cooperative techniques that will be included for the development of the task would be: thinking about the target audience they need to convince in order to visit the chosen country. They have to “sell” what they have been working on in an attractive and interactive way.

For this reason, they will create a project, pretending they are travel agents that want to sell that destination. They will include basic information such as location, places of interest, history, how much it would cost, and any type of recommendations they want to add in order to plan a trip to that country.

Finally, the outcome or final product will be a powerpoint presentation in which they would include all the mentioned aspects as well as an elaborated brochure to attract potential visitors.

Once the presentation is over and each member of the group has contributed, the rest of the students will make questions as well as remark the strong and weak points of each presentation so that every single student in the class will participate and reflect upon the others’ work and make any changes (if needed) in their own projects.