Wonder 2022
Year 7 Wonder
Questions. Questions. More questions.
I’d forgotten how many questions that the average Year 7 student asks per day. Yes, there is a lot to learn being new to a school and you don’t want to make a mistake …. or do you?
Some questions have a clear and simple correct answer such as, “Where is room KM03?”
While it is understandable that a Year 7 student would not know the location of a Year 10 classroom, how could they answer this question themselves without someone telling them?
It can be done.
Other questions do not have a simple correct answer.
How could our current administration building (the old convent building) be retrofitted to make it a more effective and sustainable building?
Now that is a big question to ask a Year 7 student!
How would you even start to answer this question? What if you were in a group with 3 other students and were asked to present a building retrofit proposal? How would the team manage its time effectively in order to meet the pitch deadline?
This is how our Year 7’s have been introduced to the Wonder Program.
Through a design thinking model, we aim to nurture divergent thinking, or at this early stage, to simply stimulate thinking!
Collaboration and creativity are actively being encouraged to enable students to bravely explore different possible answers to a question where there really is no correct answer.
Pictured below is a current group’s work in progress.
Leonie, from Year 7 Nea, used Google SketchUp to model her group's proposed retrofit to the facade of the Administration Building. Designs have been environmentally justified while the materials being used have been sustainably sourced.
It has been a challenging yet really rewarding journey in Year 7 Wonder thus far.
The highlight for me has been witnessing the continued development of working student-to-student relationships and the clear increase in engagement across the term.
Oh, and the decrease in student questions has been a bonus too!
Mr Luke Martin
Mathematics Learning Area Leader
7 Wonder Leader