Tragedy of the Commons

Project Dashboard

• Length: 3 - 5 Weeks
• Grade Level: High School
• Subject Areas: Math, Science
• BLOSSOMS Lesson Video
• Summative Assessments
• Project Calendar
• Case Studies & Local Topics

For the Teacher

Personal Conversation about this lesson – MIT’s Professor Larson to the in-class teacher.

 

Overview

How does a freely-used public resource degrade over time, with increased use, possible abuse and its eventual inability to keep up with demand? How can we improve things?

Students learn how to structure a multi-week inter-disciplinary study, working collaboratively in small teams, structuring and maintaining their work schedule, collecting data, interviewing stakeholders, evaluating math models, and presenting results – written and oral.

Sequence of Project Activities

• Students view one-minute video guide to the Tragedy of the Commons
• In class, students experience the full BLOSSOMS video lesson Tragedy of the Commons.
• Student teams are created (3 or 4 per team)
• Problem identification and scoping
• System observation and possible data collection
• Examination of the 4 different BLOSSOMS math models for this problem, and discussion of an appropriate one for the team’s problem. Decision.
• Interview stakeholders.
• Collect results, summary and conclusions

Team Summative Assessment

10-minute oral presentation before peers and stakeholders; 10-page written report.

Questions and Answers

Read them here.