Lunch Project
This project, developed by Dunlap Exemplary Preschool in Des Moines, Iowa, turned a simple, everyday event—lunch—into a valuable learning experience. Note how it builds organically on student interests and integrates learning from a variety of subjects, including math, science, art, health, and nutrition.

Study of Bones
This project, developed and implemented in a bilingual, five-year-old classroom at the Eton School in Mexico City, makes an excellent use of local experts and gives students a chance to try their hands at a number of technological medical tools, while learning about the human body and bones. This project begins with personal stories—and the sharing of objects from home—and evolves to encompass the local medical community. Included are excellent integrations of math, science, language arts, and art.

Chair Project
This project captures the enthusiasm for learning that the Project Approach fosters in children. Written and developed by veteran project-based kindergarten teacher Marilyn Ornstein at Duke School in Durham, North Carolina, this project combines existing materials in the classroom with a few outside objects and experts to create powerful learning experiences for children. Also view the curriculum standards met by this fun and engaging project.

Schoolbus Project

Another highly-reflective write-up, this example details a project about school buses that grew out of interest in the fleet of school buses (and bus maintenance facility) housed on the campus of a mid-western Christian school. Note how the teacher, Ruth Harkema, makes strategic use of her local surroundings and resources—and solicits help from parents and experts nearby. Also note how she tailors learning opportunities (differentiates instruction), particularly in the representation phase. Be sure to view the excellent memory book of photographs accessible via a link at the top of the project write-up.

Bug Project
From a mixed-age summer camp (ages 3 to 5) known as the Red Room and run by the Center for Young Children, a lab school of the University of Maryland, this write-up explains how the instructors integrated learning standards from the Maryland State Curriculum into a project about bugs. Included is the integration of math, gross motor skills, language arts, science, art, and social studies.

Talking Puppet Project
This project, from a special education class at the Warren Early Childhood Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, is an excellent example of how to use the Project Approach to meet diverse interests and needs in the classroom. Note how this teacher used a project about puppets to promote language development, self-expression, and creativity.

1st - 4th Grade

Looking at the Trees Around Us (ages 5 to 7)
From the Child Study Centre at the University of Alberta, Canada, this write-up includes a thorough documentation of the phase-one planning by teachers that sheds light on how the project developed. This project makes use of the local surroundings (in this case, the many different trees on campus) and connects students with the outdoors during the warmer months of September.

My Healthy Self Project (1st grade)
This project is notable for its emphasis not just on physical health but also the mental and emotional well being of children. Developed and implemented in a first-grade classroom at Duke School in Durham, North Carolina, this project includes site visits to a local wellness center, meets a number of curriculum standards and culminates in the transformation of the classroom into an actual “healthy snack shop” run by students and open to the school community.

Pet Project (2nd grade)
This project, developed by Dot Schuler from Grafton Elementary School in Grafton, Illinois, arose from student interest in pets and ended with a real-life pet store in the classroom. Note how the integration of math occurs almost naturally—and how Schuler sets up opportunities to enable this to happen. Also note her diary entries and the importance of reflection in project development and implementation.

North Carolina Folk Life (4th grade)
This multimedia presentation from a fourth-grade class at Duke School (Durham, North Carolina) captures just how much the Project Approach enhances research skills. Note how these fourth graders used their own questions to guide their investigations of a topic that ties local history, folklore, art, music, economics, geography, and more. Also note the use of technology-based research tools.

Grades 5 to 8

LEGO Robotics (7th and 8th grade)
This innovative pilot study was conducted by researchers at the University of Alberta with seventh and eighth graders. It uses technologies for children known as LEGO Robotics, which enable students to engineer robots out of small plastic LEGO pieces. The pilot study serves as a great example of learning with technology, instead of the more traditional approach to learn from or about technology. A number of project-based classrooms use this technology; click here to read an example from Duke School in Durham, North Carolina.