Assignment/ Activity Title --- Wave Lesson Plan

Year --- Junior

Portfolio Competency --- Critical Thinking
Skill --- Planning and Time Management, Group Work, Research

The wave was an extensive unit discussed in Mr. Shindels class, diving into emerging
technologies and understanding how they will affect certain industries and communities. The
final project for this unit was the Wave Lesson Plan, where groups of students were chosen one
of the technologies or industries, and developed a class lesson about how that topic would be
affected by ‘the wave’. My group chose to look into War and Peace, and how the way that we
fight wars and keep national security will change with emerging technologies. With this project,
I grew in two different respects: How I thought about the technologies and how I approach
working as a team. In terms of the content, I specifically learned about 3-D printing, and the
ways that changes in production lines would change war tactics and resources. But as a group,
we also researched the development of autonomous weapons and cyber warfare. Where this
competency comes into play is how my perception of fighting war changed after researching for
this project. I came to realize and grasp an understanding of just how violent and deadly war
really is. And especially given the way War is present by the media and how it is taught in
school, it is sometimes difficult to understand how these new technologies can completely alter
the landscape of humanity and how we settle disputes between groups of humans. Some of the
technologies we discussed such as Autonomous drones and cyberattacks seem from one
standpoint better than what we have now because we aren’t “risking” the life of someone who
would otherwise have to operate the technology. But on the other hand, these technologies are
much more capable of killing victims, and there is no humanity; the conscious choice of killing
another human is removed from the equation and it opens the door for power and control to
consume how we think. This project made me think differently about how diplomatic affairs
should be approached between countries and groups, but also made me realize what kind of
environment truly leads to the need for war. This project, being one of the first of the year, also
helped me develop skills as a group worker, along with my ability to plan and keep time.
Working in a group for a project this major involves a lot of trust in other people, but at the same
time requires communication and collaboration. For this project, I took on a major role in
developing the lesson plan and creating materias, and while I did a good job delegating for the
group, I wasn’t able to entrust others, which caused the actual lesson to be very one-sided and
not well timed.