All Living Things Grow and Develop

Often as middle school teachers we see students their first year in middle school and watch them change dramatically as they move from 6th grade to 8th grade. What if they were able to see themselves? What if they were able to create a timeline of their middle school life? What would the results be for this student if he/she were able to chronicle the cause and effect of their actions? What would these students learn if they were able to keep, review, build and produce a digital journal covering their life through middle school?
Taken further, changes occur quickly and with great frequency in our communities; a beautiful and serene river front become polluted or worst dries up, a housing sub-division levels acres upon acres of forest or grasslands, or nature runs its course and creates devastation. Students with digital recording equipment are empowered.
I suggest letting a few student chronicle life from the 6th grade to the 8th. In Georgia, the 6th grade science curriculum covers Earth science; the students focus for the year would cover environmental issues local and worldwide. In 7th grade the student study life science; they would turn the camera from the world around them to themselves. For the 8th grade the curriculum focus is on physical science; the students reflect on past footage and are encouraged to seek solutions and expectations for the future. Throughout the students develop their speaking and presentation skills, build confidence, and can measure their growth and development. They are able to see how all things change and document cause and effect. They become stewards of their community’s history and resources.