What is a Learning Expedition?
Learning expeditions are a central part of every EL Education school. In Learning Expeditions, teams of teachers design big projects that bring learning alive for students. Students explore real problems and big ideas that require them to conduct original research, think critically, engage in problem solving, and build character and academic skills. At Franklin, all Learning Expeditions include a component of service that is closely tied to what students are learning – giving students the opportunity to do real work that matters.
When teachers collaborate to design a Learning Expedition, they start with their curriculum. What are students expected to know and be able to do? From here, teachers look for common themes, and then come up with a big idea or problem that brings everything together.
Learning expeditions take multiple, powerful elements of the EL model and join them together: guiding questions, kickoff experiences, case studies, projects, lessons, fieldwork, experts, service learning, and a culminating event featuring high-quality student work.
This Year’s Learning Expeditions:
5th grade: “What is an Expedition?” Fifth graders observe, support, participate and reflect on the expeditions that are happening at the Franklin School of Innovation. Students conduct interviews, analyze data, and examine reflections, photos, and a collection of artifacts highlighting the learning, community service, and personal growth of these projects for FSI students. Students investigate concepts such as “What does it mean to be on expedition? What is a guiding question? How do expeditions impact us as learners and as people?” By the end of the year, students will have participated in various capacities with each Franklin expedition. They create a final presentation for school administrators and students in other grade levels documenting the highlights from this year’s expeditions. This expedition builds excitement for future expeditions and helps students understand what it really means to be “On Expedition”.
6th grade: “Energy Independence” Students explore how energy is created and how communities can move toward greater energy independence in the wake of natural disasters like Hurricane Helene. Using ‘The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind’ as an anchor text, students examine how innovation and resourcefulness can address real-world energy challenges. Students conduct hands-on investigations into the viability of solar, wind, and hydro power by collecting and analyzing 30 days of data from working energy models. Students evaluate how geography, climate, and access to natural resources impact energy production and efficiency, and determine which renewable sources are most feasible for our campus and region. This multidisciplinary expedition integrates Science, Math, ELA, and Social Studies. In Science, students study thermal and electrical energy transfer. In Math, they organize and interpret numerical data using statistical displays to compare energy outputs. In ELA, students conduct research, cite evidence, and synthesize information from multiple sources to build informed conclusions about energy use and climate resilience. In Social Studies, they examine how societies historically adapted to environmental challenges and compare those adaptations to modern renewable energy solutions. Students culminate the expedition by presenting research findings, data analysis, and working models that evaluate the feasibility of energy independence in an ever-changing climate, sharing their conclusions with the local community.
7th grade: “Building a Better Future: Designing for Climate Change” After Helene the landscape and community of Asheville, North Carolina, changed dramatically. In this expedition, students will explore the environmental and physical impacts of Helene and assess how future communities could be built to remain stable amid increased climate change, specifically water erosion in mountainous areas. Students will evaluate how climate change has affected the environment and our community, and how innovation and design can provide solutions for rainfall overrun, inadequate infrastructure and explore environmental changes to support our future. Looking at the cause and effect of how humans have affected the natural world, both in the past and present, and asking questions about what innovations or ideas could help future generations, students will explore viable solutions for our community. With the acceleration of weather changes in North Carolina, they will conclude their expedition by designing a physical, topological model of a chosen riverbed or infrastructure, comparing and contrasting natural land water drainage to present-day constructions, and proposing how improving soil erosion through thoughtful construction will help protect future generations, and students will present their final projects to the public in their Celebration of Learning.
8th grade: “Water is Life.” This expedition teaches students about the history, cultural importance, economic importance, and current state of the French Broad Watershed. We will examine the effects of soil erosion and runoff pollution on its waterways and the broader community. The focus of this expedition is to challenge students to embrace the role of stewards and take on a more active role in maintaining and protecting the French Broad River Watershed. The final product of the expedition focuses on having the students research, design, and implement an erosion/runoff mitigation effort along our section of Hominy creek and other applicable spaces on campus to act as a community model for stewardship. Students will develop a deeper understanding of how vital our waterways are to sustaining our daily lives and communities in the greater Asheville area.
9th grade: “Mental Health: Identifying and Using Sources of Strength” Students explore eight sources of strength that can help maintain mental health. They explore spirituality, world religions and family connection in social studies. English class focuses on reading literature that connects to positive friends and giving back to the community (generosity). Science class explores the physical connection to mental health through the study of neuroscience, hormones, and brain anatomy. Students connect with healthy activities, positive friends and mentors through student chosen focus groups in crew that include cooking, athletics, music, art, writing, exploring nature and meditation benefits.
Students will maintain a Wellness journal to reflect on their experiences, participate in daily lessons and assignments related to mental wellness, and conduct original research on their chosen topics to create a final product. The 9th grade will then host a Celebration of Learning where the students will share their stories, engage in talks with visitors, and present their final products to community members. The hope is that they develop the tools to practice and grow their sources of strength in encouraging wellness.
10th grade: “Charting the Future – Careers, College, and Life After High School” This expedition helps students explore careers, prepare for the workforce, and plan for college or training programs. Through community partnerships, students connect classroom learning to real-world opportunities and future goals.
11th grade: “Keep AVL Human: A Response to the Housing Crisis” Throughout the second and third quarters, 11th grade students are engaging in self-guided, community-focused learning that addresses the housing needs of the citizens of the city of Asheville and Buncombe County. Our Expedition culminates in a wide range of individual and collaborative projects that pushes students to engage authentically with local stakeholders and challenges them to think critically about the ways their learning can affect real-world problems.
12th Grade: Senior Last Word In their final year, students embark on personal “learning expeditions”, in the form of an intensive Senior Project. They choose between participating in an internship, writing an academic research paper, constructing a tangible final product, or leading a large-scale community service project. During this experience students focus on developing durable skills. They present formal, conference-style multimedia presentations to an audience consisting of school administrators, teachers, community members, and other students, sharing what they have learned and why they are ready to graduate and proceed on their chosen pathway. Each year, senior passages span a wide range of subjects and serve as passion projects for our students.
Examples of Expedition Projects
This video showcases student work from the 2018 9th grade expedition, “The End of the World As We Know It“.
9th Grade Public Service Announcement
In 2019, the 9th grade created podcasts. You can listen to them here: https://anchor.fm/fsiexpedition
