Using Reusable Flipcharts to Help Make Changes for a Better Future
"The Wipebook Flipcharts offer a flexible learning space to explore and critically think about our human impacts on the environment."
How can you make environmental changes for a better future? How can you positively impact the future environment? Reimagining our impact on the environment can feel overwhelming. Where to start? Scientists use habits of systems thinking to look at how systems impact other systems, how environmental issues are viewed from different perspectives, and how over time our human impact choices may affect our Earth. We dive into these habits to critically think about how we can be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. The Wipebook Flipcharts offer a flexible learning space to explore and critically think about our human impacts on the environment.
 |
Critical Thinking-Tying Past Learning to New Learning
Students webbed our learning from the Environmental Issues course. Placing Human Impacts at the center of the web as the starting point, students then individually and collectively brainstormed all the topics that we’ve critically considered thus far. Modeling the webbing process for students offered a smooth transition to apply the web process on their own. Students were able to color code the layers of their web and easily wipe away anything that didn’t accurately represent their critical thinking.
On the Wipebooks, students coded:
- What are global impacts (G) and local impacts (L)?
- What environmental impacts can I directly impact (*)?
 |
Independent Inquiry to Add New Learning with Reusable Flipcharts
As the independent inquiry added a great deal of new knowledge to students’ plates, the Wipebook offered a space for students to easily add to and readjust how they recorded their learning and thinking. Additionally, as students noticed what their peers were adding to their webs, they could adjust their research as well as their own webs with ease.
 |
Students were able to tackle this critical thinking without the pressure of having to get it “right” as the Wipebook Flipcharts are whiteboards that allowed for refocus and readjustment with a simple swipe of a cloth. They enjoy access to and use of multiple colours to enhance their visual thinking.
Students were also able to grab the Wipebook Scan app and save their webs to their Google Drive.
Trisha Seyfert, Oshkosh Area School District.
You May also Like:
- 4 Business and Time Management Hacks to Use in Your Personal Life
- Mapping Features of Biological Systems
- Seeing the benefits of VNPS