What makes a project authentic?

This list is from an Edutopia blog post by John Larmer .  While I find the list helpful in clarifying components of PBL, there are few projects other than semester or year long projects such as a Senior Project, which will meet all criteria.  It might be helpful when planning to find ways to incorporate a couple criteria in each unit with the goal of an annual project which culminates the 4 criteria.  Another use of the list may be to discuss what are "the basics" needed for any unit to include PBL. 

A project can be authentic in four ways, some of which may be combined in one project:

1. The project meets a real need in the world beyond the classroom, or the products that students create are used by real people.
   For example:
   • Students propose designs for a new play area in a nearby park.
   • Students plan and execute an environmental clean-up effort in their community.
   • Students create a website for young people about books they like.
   • Students write a guide and produce podcasts for visitors to historic sites in their county.
   • Students serve as consultants to local businesses, advising them on how to increase sales to young people.
   • Students develop a conflict resolution plan for their school.
2. The project focuses on a problem, issue or topic that is relevant to students' lives -- the more directly, the better -- or on a problem or issue that is actually being faced by adults in the world students will soon enter.
   For example:
   • Students create multimedia presentations that explore the question, "How do we make and lose friends?"
   • Students learn physics by investigating the question, "Why don't I fall off my skateboard?"
   • Students form task forces to study possible effects of climate change on their community and recommend actions that could be taken.
   • Students decide whether the U.S. should intervene in a conflict inside another country that is causing a humanitarian crisis.
3. The project sets up a scenario or simulation that is realistic, even if it is fictitious.
   For example:
   • Students are asked by the Archbishop of Mexico in 1818 to recommend a location for the 22nd mission in California. (This happens to be a featured project on BIE's new online program, PBLU.org.)
   • Students act as architects who need to design a theatre that holds the maximum number of people, given constraints of available land, cost, safety, comfort, etc.
   • Students play the role of United Nations advisors to a country that has just overthrown a dictator and needs advice about how to start a democracy.
   • Students recommend which planet in our solar system ought to be explored by the next space probe as they compete for NASA funding.
   • Students are asked to propose ideas for a new TV reality show that educates viewers about science topics such as evolutionary biology and the geologic history of the earth.
4. The project involves tools, tasks or processes used by adults in real settings and by professionals in the workplace. (This criterion for authenticity could apply to any of the above examples of projects.)
   For example:
   • Students investigating the physics of skateboarding test various surfaces for speed, using the scientific method and tools scientists use.
   • Students exploring the issue of how we make and lose friends conduct surveys, analyze data, record video interviews, and use online editing tools to assemble their presentations.
   • Students acting as U.N advisors to an emerging democracy analyze existing constitutions, write formal reports, and present recommendations to a panel.