Problem Solving

The first Interdisciplinary project that was given and assigned was Diseases in the

Community. The assignment was completed during school hours and at home in order to make

corrections. Every group had different varieties of times, and each designated time was to have a

section completed in order to move on to the next. This project was being asked to elaborate on

the Zika disease and emphasize how the disease may have a bad effect on the community once it

is contaminated or spread. In order to motivate and provide others with useful information, we

were assigned to do a children’s book to captivate the audience in how to be aware and take

more precaution when it comes to them being outside or once you come in contact with the

disease. The assignment fits the Problem Solving Category because they gave us a problem in

our community in where we had to create a presentation and do a call to action to find the

solution to keep others aware.

The second Interdisciplinary project was Lead Toxicity in the Environment. This project

was mainly done on our own time at home. When we had to develop our lab experiment and our

call to action, each group were assigned different times to meet up in a classroom and obtain our

whole purpose in the assignment. In the process, we gathered our plan to spread the fact of how

lead played a big harmful role in the community. What we were being asked to do in this

assignment was to create a water/soil experiment to determine if there is lead being contaminated

in these sources that we use in our everyday lives. We then also had to include a call to action
plan in order for the community to be vigilant and aware of the things that may contain high

amounts of lead and how to prevent it further in the future from impacting those who are not

taking any precaution. This assignment fits the problem-solving category because the problem

was the lead in our community and the solution would be to help spread the information to others

so that they can prevent a negative effect from further spreading.

In both of these Interdisciplinary projects, the Student Learning Outcomes that I met were

being an Effective Communicator, Willing Collaborator, Critical Thinker, and Active Citizen.

An example that will utilize how I was a critical thinker would be when they handed us a

handout which had a variety of questions to answer in our powerpoints which then led to me

think thoroughly what questions should I include to have an understanding powerpoint rather

than having questions that don’t add up clearly making the information randomly and out of

place. Another example that would demonstrate I was a critical thinker would be when I gathered

different ideas on how I would manage and organize the call to action. I had to gather

information to create a schedule to determine when would exactly be the day my group was able

to perform our project to a class of 6th graders.

An aspect that showed I was an active citizen was when I made a presentation for a class

of 6th graders and staff members in order for them to have a better understanding and point of

view about lead toxicity in the community and what can be done to change these bad effects that

lead can cause. A kahoot quiz was made for them to identify if they focused and listened
regarding lead toxicity and sure enough they all had good scores. This would show being an

active citizen because I addressed problems that can be improved and taken care of in the

community. I was an effective communicator in these assignments because I contributed in a

group discussion to learn and obtain more information about the lead toxicity in the community

which then resulted in me sharing out with others, so they can also interpret something they

didn’t know before in hopes they may also spread the information to others to share awareness in

the community.

The three areas of growth that I saw within myself was my confidence in being able to

present calmly in front of an audience, it helped sustain my communication skills, and was able

to elaborate thoroughly to make it entertaining to learn. An area I may still need to improve on is

research more to keep discussing the topic and also memorize the slides rather than reading off

of it. I can use the skills I learned from the Interdisciplinary projects in the future by

incorporating my presentation skills and communicating skills in future assignments and most

importantly spread precautions to the community about the environment to take action when

something may be out of place.