PBL and Real Estate.....too much fun!

So, as the year is nearing a close (21 days and counting, not that I'm counting:)) I'm going full tilt. I'm throwing my best at them and we are loving it!

In my 7th grade, I just finished up a totally fun PBL on Athens and Sparta. Here's the explanation and info.

Here's the launch video:

First I explained to the kids what a real estate agent was and what their assignment would be. Their first activity was to become experts in what daily life was like in Atens and Rome for various family members. We considered this the orientation phase. It consisted of textbook reading, studying the fabulous information provided by the British Museum and some fun and informative Horrible Histories videos.

In phase 2, students were then assigned a family that consisted of a father, mother, son, daughter, and slave. There were two possibilities for each family member; a person who would fit in Sparta and one that would be a perfect fit for Athens.

To randomly choose the family and really add to the problem solving, each member was chosen randomly, using this awesome app called Decide Now!

Using my fabulous Apple TV, I projected my iPad and each family member was chosen randomly for each group. Students then, had to pick the best vacation spot for each family based on the largest amount of family members they made happy.

Once they figured out where they should live based upon majority, realty groups needed to make a pitch presentation that only focused on what would make each person happy about their new vacation destination. Students could use Google Prentation or Pow Toon to make their pitches. First I launched the third and final phase of the project with my own Powtoon video.

Then they made their own!

 The kids absolutely loved this project and totally became experts on Athens and Sparta.  They also got to work on their argument skills so that is always a plus.  If you are interested in doing this in your own class, click here for all the resources. Make a copy for yourself and feel free to modify.  I would love to hear from you if you use it in your class!

Posted with Blogsy