The question our ECC students were asked was the following: “Given the chance to pick from one to three items to be put in a time capsule to be opened in a thousand years, what would you choose to represent the way of life on the Earth in the first sixteen years of the 21st Century?”

The activity aimed at a personalization of the tasks and the growth of students’ maturity and involvement. Another feature of the original activity we liked was the involvement of families. For these reasons, we decided to ask students to prepare two time capsules: one which reflected the changes in our 21^st century society and the other one representing the values of their families. Furthermore, we wished to add an artistic element to the task by asking students to make a visual composition with the objects on their time capsules and take a photograph of that composition.

All in all, the activity involved at least five of Gardner’s intelligences, namely: verbal-linguistic, visual-spatial, intrapersonal, interpersonal and existential. As regards the different curriculum areas involved in the activity, we could highlight communicative skills, citizenship, history, art and ICT skills.

 

Stage 1. Classroom introduction

As an introduction to the activity, we divided the class into six groups with students from 13-16 and asked them to make some brainstorming on the topic and write down their most representative objects for 21^st C. society.

After that, a leader in each group was asked to write down their choices on the whiteboard. 

Ordering the objects/values according to the number of groups which chose them, the most recurring ones would be on top of table 1 below.

 

Area	Object / value chosen	Number of groups (6)
ICT	Mobile phones or IPhones	5
	PC / computers	3
	USB drive	2
	Charger	2
	headphones	2
	Play Station / videogame device	2
	YouTube	2
	Internet	1
	MP3	1
	Social media	1
	Router	1
	Camera	1
Family and pets	Photo of family	1
	Dog and cat	1
Society / economy	Money	2
	Discoveries	1
	Technology	1
	Medical advances	1
	Generosity	1
	Music	1
	New transports	1
	Demonstrations	1
	Decrease of male chauvinism	1
Others	Postcards from famous places	1
	Seeds	1
	A book	1
	A car	1

Table 1. Students’ brainstorming of objects in 21^st C. society time capsules.

 

We discussed these results in the classroom. Please notice that the objects reflecting the advance of new information and communication technologies were on top of the list, especially mobile phones and computers.

 

Stage 2. The individual tasks

So as to make students reflect on our 21^st society, we asked students to create a social time capsule individually. As it was mentioned above, the leading question was: “Given the chance to pick from one to three items to be put in a time capsule to be opened in a thousand years, what would you choose to represent the way of life on the Earth in the first sixteen years of the 21st Century?”

On the other hand, since we wanted students to personalise the task and discuss it within their families, we asked them to create a parallel family time capsule which reflected their families’ lives and values in the same period of time.

We asked students to publish their social time capsules on the Internet at padlet, and to present both capsules orally in front of their peers at the Erasmus Creativity Club.

 

1.Social / 21^st Century time capsules

Students were asked to create their own individual capsules reflecting the value and life of society in the first sixteen years of the 21^st Century and argument their choices. All the students chose three objects and made their own visual and written compositions.

We received twelve time capsules reflecting our society which are published at https://padlet.com/cflores51/eljmaoq7pldd .  Please see the padlet below.

 

 

The table below reflects students’ three objects representing the 21^st century and the number of times they have been selected.

Area	Object / value chosen	Number of students (12)
ICT	Mobile phone or IPhone	9
Society / economy	Money	8
ICT / technology	Technologies	2
	Microscope (scientific advances)	1
	IPad	1
	Camera	1
	Networks	1
	3D printer	1
	headphones	1
	USB drive	1
	A house (new construction materials)	1
Society / economy	A Passport	1
	Books (education)	1
	A mirror (physical appearance)	1
	A panda teddy bear (endangered species/respect to animals)	1
	A rotten apple (reflecting the status of our society)	1
	A clock (passing of time)	1
	Brands	1
	A jar with fresh air inside	1
	A car	1

Table 2. Students’ society time capsules.

 

The smartphones were on top of the list with nine students selecting them. The remaining two students chose “technologies” in general or an IPad. Surprisingly, money was mentioned by eight students while in the classroom’s brainstorming, only two groups out of six mentioned it.

This is one of our students’ argumentation as regards the importance of smartphones and money.

“To represent the way of life of our society in this century, I chose these three objects, which can seem very simple, but have a great message inside. I chose the money because, for me, they represent the capitalism in which we live today. At the moment, it seems that the only thing that matters to the governments, to the companies and to the world in general is the money. Every time the world is more commercial and has much more value the material things than the values. The same capitalism has been the cause of the economic crisis that Europe suffers today. (…) And finally I also picked the mobile. That is one of the things that most characterizes us, the "Millennials". Young people and the world in general cannot live without a mobile phone, apart from being a tool is something very addictive that can even be harmful. Most of us live most of the day connected. We live more on the screen of our mobile than in reality. We want to know what is going on in the world, but we do not know what is going on around us.” Jabir Fekkak

 

1.Family Time capsules

Family time capsules implied family discussion and reflection on family values and history. Each capsule was unique and reflected the culture, values and origins of the families.

We received ten family time capsules. Nevertheless, since they were part of our students’ privacy, we did not ask them to publish them on the Padlet, although some students did publish both capsules.

Please see some of the most outstanding family capsules on the appendix.

Table 3 below reflects students’ family time capsules.

Area	Object	Number of students
Family memories on paper	Family photographs / album	6
Family memories on objects	Books (bedtime and education)	2
	Teddy bears (children’s births)	1
	Container for wedding rings	1
	A necklace (grandmother)	1
	A cookbook	1
ICT	IPhone	1
Travelling	A yellow bus	1
	A dollar note	1
	Tickets / boarding cards	1
Family origins / job	Arabic text on board (“Thank God”)	1
	The black Madonna in Montserrat	1
	A ribot (parental family job)	1
	Farming tools	1
	Acorn	1
	Telephone (relatives abroad)	1
Values	A light bulb (creativity)	1
	Demonstration poster in favour of hosting refugees (freedom)	1
	A clock (passing of time)	1
	Scales (equality)	1
Hobbies	Headphones (music)	1
	Tennis ball	1
Possessions	Their house	1
	A stuffed teddy dog (their dog pets)	1

Table 3. Students’ family time capsules.

Six students chose specific photographs or family albums to help them keep memories of their beloved members and/or unforgettable times. Six students chose objects related to the origins, job or history of their families (e.g. Tools, religious symbols, etc.) Five students chose objects connected to specific family memories (e.g. books, a wedding container for rings, a necklace and teddy bears.) Three students chose objects related to travelling and holiday times. Two students chose objects having to do with sports or hobbies (i.e. a tennis ball and a pair of headphones.) Two students also gave importance to their family house and their dog pets.

In contrast with the society capsule, only one student chose an ICT object as important for his family, namely, the IPhone.

 

Stage 3. Classroom oral presentations

Students presented their capsules in front of their peers by projecting the photograph of their capsule and explaining the meaning of each object inside.

It was easy for them to present the society time capsules, but they were slightly reluctant to expose their family time capsules because they reflected happy and sad memories, the origins of their families and exposed more intimate feelings.

 

Stage 4. Students’ discussion and conclusions about the time capsules.

After students uploaded their capsules on the padlet, we devoted a session to reflect on both time capsules, and their contents. We divided students in three groups and ask them to discuss and reflect on tables 2 and 3. Then we asked them to write their conclusions on the whiteboard and discuss them together.

Students noticed that our 21^st century society gives a lot of important to material things and consumerism (e.g. money, mobile phones, technology…). In contrast, their families did not give importance to material things but to memories, values and feelings.

They also highlighted the fact that in 21^st C. society capsules, the most popular objects were related to technology, society or economy. Students also perceive smartphones as an essential part of their everyday life.

In the family time capsules the most popular objects were photographs and objects having a sentimental value because of their symbolism. Families were also aware of their history and origins and selected objects reflecting them. Cameras were considered to be very important objects because of their ability to trap time and experiences for the future generations.

 

Some examples of students’ Time Capsules.

Please see all the students’ time capsules at https://padlet.com/cflores51/eljmaoq7pldd

 

Ilènia Llamas, 15-year-old female student

The three important objects for my family:

The first object is a cookbook. My great-grandmother liked to cook. Then my great-great-grandmother gave my great-grandmother a book. Also the people who were married in the village were poor and had no money to pay for a good wedding, so they called my great-grandmother and she cooked at banquets and people liked her. Then this book passed to my grandmother and now my mother has it. (This great-grandmother is my grandmother's mother.)

The second object is a photo of my great-grandparents' wedding. This photo represents a very beautiful and real love, because when there was the civil war, my great-grandfather and his brother had to go to war, but they did not want to, so they went to hide in some caves in the forest. And at night they would come down from the cave and go home to eat. But one day some soldiers came in and asked my great-grandmother for my great-grandfather. She refused to give him away, so my great-grandmother was taken to prison with my grandfather who was one or two years old.

The third object is a tool for the wood, because all my ancestors have been very poor and humble, and lived in the countryside.

The three objects that represent our present society:

The first object is money, today everything revolves around money, if you have money you have more privileges and more rights than those who have no money. Nowadays people are very materialistic, and all they care about is being the best in everything and succeeding in life. We are also in a society based on consumerism.

The second object I have chosen is technology, thanks to technology we live this well, because of its medical advances, communication, transportation, robots, and many other things, today the world also revolves around technology.

The third object I have chosen are the books, but with books I mean education in general. I believe that during these 17 years education has improved. I think every time children have more opportunities to go to school, every time education is a stronger pillar in our society and this is very important.

Gil Ricart, 15-year-old male student

21^st century time capsule:

These are my three objects. I have chosen the camera because I like to find my grandparents’ old cameras… and I think that in the future the people will like to see my camera, and then they will have as much fun as I have had.

The second object is an iPad, I selected that because we think that we can’t beat this kind of

technology, we can’t imagine it. I will like to compare and show how was the technology before, and probably I will hallucinate how all has moved forward.

And finally, I have chosen this jar, but this is not a simple jar, inside this jar there is fresh air, because I think that in 1000 years there will be a lot of pollution and we will always appreciate some fresh air.

Family time capsule:

And these are my three family values: equality, freedom and creativity. We think that they are the most important ones.

So we have chosen equality because we think it’s very important because we all are humans so we may have the same rights.

Freedom is for everyone, we all have to be free, nobody is the slave of anyone, we all must be free and enjoy ourselves.

And the last one is creativity, because I think this world without imagination or creativity wouldn’t be the same, so without creativity there isn’t creation, and without creation there isn’t ANYTHING.

 

Jabir Fekkak, 15-year-old male student.

Family Time Capsule

As regards the objects that represent the history of my family, I have decided to choose 3 characteristic objects that represent the history of my parents, the story of how I and my brother came to this world. I have decided to put "La Virgen de Monserrat" (The black Madonna in Montserrat) because it’s a symbol that represents the land where my mother was born, Catalonia. On the other hand, I have decided to put an Arabic text that means "thank God", which represents the land from which my father comes and the other half of my genes, Morocco. And to finish, I have decided to put the container where the wedding rings used by my parents were laid when they were married, the symbol of union between two people, two cultures, two religions, who came together and conceived me. All together it symbolizes the history of my family, that of a Moroccan man who came totally poor to seek luck in Catalonia, where he met my mother, a young woman from Hospitalet, with whom he got married and they had me and my brother.

Aina Martin, 14-year-old female student.

Family Time Capsule

When I talked about this project at home, it was very difficult for us to decide 3 objects to represent our family. One of the first things was music, I put my headphones and the music because, since I was a baby, I have always had music on at home, and when I listen to some songs I remember beautiful moments that I spent with my family. Another object was photos, the clearest example of our life, since we can catch the moment in one photo, and when we are older we can remember all the good things we passed with all the persons we love. Finally, we chose the clock which represents time. Time is the only thing you can’t control, you can pass the song or break the photo, but you can’t stop the time or make it faster, and this makes  it more valuable so we have just the moment and we have to enjoy it because we can’t back to good memories again.