Lesson Plan 2

1. Students select their final topic of research
2. Students form their CaL groups

1. Blackboard/Whiteboard & chalk/marker, 
2. Note book
3. Pencil/Pen
4. Postits

Step 1. Recap (5 mins): The teacher recaps what is City as Lab (CaL) project and what makes a good research question (RQ)

Step 2. Brainstorm (15 mins): The teacher explains:

Brainstorming means holding a group discussion to come up with ideas. Expectations during brainstorming

1. We do not reject ANY idea. During brainstorming its quantity over quality.
2. We can repeat ideas or agree with others if we want to show support
3. We speak respectfully involving everyone in the group

The teacher gives 3-5 examples of topics from past CaL projects:  drainage, garbage, health, pollution, water, sanitation, education, Internet and social media, architecture, roads & transportation, substance abuse, women’s rights and child labour, culinary history of a city, etc. All and any topic that the students find relevant are acceptable. No topic is restricted. City as Lab is about bringing forth student voice. So it is imperative that during this brainstorming activity, students are given a free hand at selecting topics. 

Step 3. Group Activity (10 min): The teacher divides students in groups of 4. The groups have 3 mins to come  up with at least 10  topics about their city/community  that they are interested in. Right now they are just brainstorming on the topics; they will think of the research question in the next class.

After 3 minutes, the teacher asks each group to share their top 3  choices ideas and writes them on the board. Groups do not repeat ideas already shared by previous groups. Once all groups’ top 3 ideas are written on the board, the teacher can facilitate one more round of sharing till there is a list of at least 30 topics on the board. 

The teacher can add missing ideas or areas that students might have missed. 

Note: If you would like to have more ideas you can even refer to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals online. 

(https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals.html)

E.G., one of the SDGs is gender equality. If the teacher finds that there is no a single topic related to this SDG, she can suggest a few like equal pay for men and women, equal access to higher education for both sexes, etc. Another SDG is “sustainable cities and communities.” Again, if the teacher finds that no one has given topics related to this SDG, she can suggest a few like studying the urban heat island effect, or understanding water harvesting the city, etc.

Step 4. Consolidation Exercise (15 mins): The teacher reviews the list with the whole class, identifies common topics that may be grouped together, asks clarification questions to reword certain topics, highlights some unique topics, etc. Consolidation is important as it gives students an opportunity to collectively reflect on their thinking, to focus on the broad topics of interest and to develop a better understanding of the problem.

By the end of this lesson, students should be in their CaL groups (2-4 students per group) with a topic of interest selected.  The teacher has a variety of ways in which he can to do this:

• Students decide groups on their own
• Teacher has pre-decided groups
• Students write their top three choices and submit to the teacher, who collates  the data and makes groups based on their choices.