Adaptable content for Grades K-8 and Grades 9-12

Nutrient pollution is pouring into the bay from all kinds of sources: farmlands, city streets and even the rain above. Over-nitrification is harmful to the environment.

“Nutrient Odyssey” Learning Guide A Teaching Guide with Dr. Tom Jordan – Manure Suspects

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BACKGROUND & SUMMARYNutrient Lab, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Nutrient pollution is pouring into the Chesapeake Bay from all kinds of sources: farm lands, city streets, and even the rain. Ecologist Tom Jordan and the activities provided have participants learn using articles, posters and video through a journey nutrients take to reach the Bay and the streamside forests that could protect it. Nutrients foster growth and life. Plants depend on nutrients in the soil—especially nitrates and phosphates—to grow roots, produce fruit and build the chlorophyll they need for photosynthesis. But when their levels climb to high, these same nutrients can also bring death. Danger comes in the form of harmful algal blooms. When too many nutrients from the land stream into bays and estuaries, microscopic algae called phytoplankton. About the ScientistThomas Jordan - Senior Scientist - EcologistThomas is a senior scientist at the Nutrient Lab, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. His research focuses flows of nitrogen and phosphorus through ecosystems—especially from watersheds to estuaries—and the role of wetlands in modulating these flows. He has thirty-one years of post-graduate research experience and has published more than eighty research articles in scientific journals.

About the Learning GuideThe Learning Package takes into account Multiple Intelligences Theory today’s drive to integrate the New National Science Standards, Common Core requirements, dynamic teaching to motivate youth and an overall emphasis on literacy to benefit both informal and formal educators . “Nutrient Odyssey” works to operationalize expert content by producing curriculum documents that focus, deliver and evaluate two distinct aspects of education. (1.) Student Growth to Standards – Next Generation of Learning Standards; Common Core State Standards; Student Learning Objectives; Learning Progressions2.) Teacher Effectiveness – Content Knowledge; 21st Century Learning & Value-Added Measures

Activities1. MOTIVATOR SIMULATION “Manure Suspects” 2. Mathematics For Understanding – Data Sense “Sense or Nonsense”3. Language Arts Integrations – Article Analysis4. Arts Integrations5. Special Education Opportunities

EES2.A: Earth Materials and SystemsESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface ProcessesESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems

#1 Asking questions (for scientific) and defining problems#2 Developing and using models#7 Engaging in argument from evidence #8 Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

#1 Patterns and Similarities#2 Cause and Effect #4 Systems and System Models#5 Energy and Matter

Materials are specialized and described in the simulation section of his learning guide. A formula is suggested for creating the simulation objects, but the teacher may also have other creative ways to bring the simulation to “life”.

The pedagogical skills instructors’ use in Nutrient Odyssey involves the delivery of specialized knowledge/content. Reflective practice should include observing or measuring engagement, equitable participation and checking for basic understandings. Consider the following: WAIT TIME- delay a few strategic seconds after a question or reading, before anyone begins answering the question. EVERYBODY WRITES – this technique requires the students to reflect first in writing before discussing what they are thinking.

“Nutrient Odyssey” Learning Guide Next Generation of Science Standards & Manure Suspects

InterpersonalAbility to use relate &

understand others such as a counselor, salesperson.

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*Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

"Verbal and Visual Word Associations is designed to capitalize on the word meanings students already know through their previous experiences to help them learn and retain new general and technical vocabulary. Have students share meaning based on their knowledge or the context and then have them do a representative drawing of their thinking.

*Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

“Clustering asks students to use the most key word that they think helps them focus on the meaning of their reading. They then are to each related thought they can can thinkof that extends the meaning of the key word. After a set time challenge students to write a few sentences, aparagraph and more and more complex writing.

Integrate and evaluate information presented in articles and scientific posters, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

One of the most well-known collaborative learning strategies is "Pair-Share." This strategy is easy to facilitate and it does not require classroom choreography. Students can move in and out of pair-share groups in seconds. While in pairs, students should brainstorm ideas, review vocabulary, summarize ideas in a text, make connections, process new ideas, and do all sorts of other intellectual work. When used strategically, "Pair-Share" can enhance instruction, bringing energy to the classroom. Use this strategy here to help students prepare to conduct a group discussion.

Intrapersonal Ability to self-reflect and

be aware such as exhibited by a scientist, philosopher.

Verbal/Linguistic Ability to use words and language such as exhibited

by poet, journalist, writer.

Logical/MathematicalAbility to use reason, logic, and numbers such as a researcher, mathematician.

InterpersonalAbility to use relate & understand others such

as a counselor, salesperson.

“Nutrient Odyssey” Learning Guide The Common Core and Manure Suspects

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Aquarium Test Kits; Dryer lint; Miracle Grow liquid; Mayonnaise;Aluminum Foil

“Nutrient Odyssey” Learning Guide Motivator Simulation Activity - “Manure Suspects”

“Manure Suspects” challenges students to first gather data and then to ask the important question of rather the data makes sense or is nonsense? In PART I students will be testing water and “manure” to determine whether or not there may be a connection between the presence of chicken farms and a site suffering from frequent algae blooms. The simulation is complete with recipes for creating samples, but the emphasis should be on determining an investigative plan, the importance of precise and accurate testing protocols, and data collection. The students will be testing for nitrates. In PART II students consider how data analysis is an important part of doing an investigation. Students will be organizing and analyzing their data in order to draw conclusions about the chicken manure and the alga blooms caused by over-nitrification at point A on their maps. The emphasis is on what may be the most difficult part of data analysis, determining which statistics are actually useful and which makes sense.STUDENT PERFORMANCES – Students will . . . PART I *Be able to hypothesize about a possible connection between chicken manure and nutrient load.*Practice precision and accuracy in following testing procedures*Collect and record data from testingPART II*Be able to find the range, median and mean of a given set of numbers*Determine what information is actually conveyed by different sets of statistics.*Use data to draw conclusions*Participate in an active class discussion about the results with full class*Demonstrate understanding by completing writing organizers by answering questions and listing the details to support their reasoning. Example questions might include . . .

-- What is happening at Site A, and why is this is a problem?-- What is causing the problem at Site A, and how do we know?

*Write a final conclusion citing observations, data or statistics that supports their conclusion.

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“Nutrient Odyssey” Learning GuideMotivator Simulation Activity – “Manure Suspects”

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Preparation – Part I - NGSS Science Emphasis

1. Make copies for each student of the site map, and the data collection worksheet.2. Determine the method of sample testing. You may use a simple aquarium dry tab test kits for Ammonia & Nitrates. 3. Organize materials for groups of 3-4 students per group to do the testing.4. Prepare the water mixtures, and chicken “manure” samples following the recipes.

Recipes for Samples – “Chicken Poop” Samples1. Mix ½ cup mayonnaise with 100 drops of liquid plant food2. Mix in about ¼ cup of lint from a dryer. (Use “white load” lint to avoid color stains)3. Place spoonful onto the center of a square of aluminum foil. (Should make about six samples.)4. Bake at about 250 degrees for about 45 minutes until some oil has separated and the sample is just beginning to harden around the edges.Recipes for Samples – Water Samples1. SITE B: Mix 8 cups of water with 10 drops of liquid plant food.2. SITE C: Mix 4 cups of the SITE B sample with 5 drops of liquid plant food.3. SITE D: Mix 2 cups of SITE C sample with 5 drops of liquid plant food.

Actions

Ask students to study the site map, matching the pictures on the map with the labels on the samples. Point out SITE A, and tell students that there have been repeated problems with alga blooms at this site. Review with the students what might cause alga blooms, and what problems are created by repeated algae blooms. Identify SITES B, C, and D. Inform students that you have obtained water samples from each of the three sites, and that they will be testing these samples for ammonia and nitrates, both nitrogen compounds. Follow the procedures provided with each test kit.

Field based or portable colorimeters and microscopes can increase the level of difficulty of this activity and more closely mirror the work of scientists in the field or the laboratory. Using pond water or creating an alga bloom for measurement can also increase the authenticity of the exercise and give students first hand experiences with phytoplankton.

Site Map

“Nutrient Odyssey” Learning Guide Motivator Simulation – “Manure Suspects” Site Map

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Study the Map Above1. List all the potential point source and nonpoint source pollution potentials on the Site Map.

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Ammonia Nitrate Ammonia NitrateGroup 1Group 2Group 3Group 4Group 5Group 6

Graph Results to Visually Display Data Findings

Page 11“Nutrient Odyssey” Learning Guide Data Resource Page – “Manure Suspects”

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Site B Site DSite C

Data ReportWater Sample Data

Ammonia Nitrate AmmoniaAmmonia Nitrate Nitrate

Test 2

Test 1

How might the chicken farms be contributing to the problem of alga blooms at Site A?

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Hypothesis____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chicken Poop Data Smith Farm Jones Farm

Smithsonian Study Measures Watershed-wide Effects of Riparian Buffers on Nutrient

PollutionWELL-DEVELOPED RIPARIAN FORESTS OUTLINE STREAMS AND HELP

PROTECT STREAM WATER QUALITY.

Most of the time, nutrients are viewed as a positive and essential part of life. However, excess amounts of a nutrient, like nitrogen, can create major ecological problems for the Chesapeake Bay and other aquatic ecosystems. Too much nitrogen leads to an abundance of microscopic plant growth in the water. When the algae die and decay, they consume the oxygen that other organisms need to thrive.

Much of the Bay’s nitrogen pollution comes from farms where rainwater carries nitrate, a form of nitrogen, from fields into streams that drain into the Bay. For years, ecologists have noted that forests and wetlands growing between croplands and streams can reduce the amount of nitrate that reaches the waterways. Scientists have measured nitrate removal by these “riparian buffers,” but only in small study areas.

A new Smithsonian study published in Ecological Applications is the first to demonstrate and quantify the watershed-wide impact of riparian buffers on stream nitrate levels. “Until now, no one has measured overall nitrate removal by all the riparian buffers in a watershed,” said Donald Weller, an ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. “Our new analysis calculates how much nitrate buffers now keep out of streams and estimates how much buffer restoration could further reduce stream nitrate levels,” added Weller.

Current plans to protect the Chesapeake Bay include planting trees along hundreds of miles of streams. This study provides realistic limits for how much these buffers might further reduce nitrate pollution, and it helps identify where buffer restoration can offer the greatest additional nitrate removal.

SERC is a pioneer in the field, with riparian buffer research dating back to the early 1980’s. Weller developed the new analysis with Matthew Baker, an assistant professor in geography and environmental systems at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and SERC ecologist Thomas Jordan. Together, they realized that existing models and analytical methods did not accurately represent how riparian buffers control discharges of nutrients from watersheds.

“Nutrient Odyssey” Learning GuideCOMMON CORE - Reading to Learn through “Article Analysis”

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Hunt for a Missing NutrientPosted 8/17/11

INTERN GINNY LEVITON (LEFT) AND VIENNA SACCOMANNO SAMPLE GROUNDWATER FROM A DRAINAGE DITCH, TRYING TO PIN DOWN THE EXACT SPOT WHERE THE NITROGEN GOES MISSING. (CREDIT: TOM JORDAN)

The Choptank watershed has SERC researchers baffled. On the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay, roughly a 75-minute drive from SERC, the groundwater flowing into the Choptank River passes through a cornfield – a likely source of nitrogen, a nutrient that can wreak havoc on the Bay’s ecosystem if it runs too high. But something is happening to the nitrogen here before it reaches the Bay. Nutrient ecologist Tom Jordan and his research team have spent the better part of a year trying to figure out what.

Plants depend on nitrogen to grow and thrive, so farmers often fertilize their crops (and homeowners their lawns) with heavy amounts of it. But some of the nitrogen in the fertilizer gets converted to nitrate (NO3), which can’t bind to the soil and thus goes straight into the groundwater. Once nitrate reaches the Bay, it fuels massive algal blooms that – while good for the algae – block light to the plants underneath them and drain oxygen from the Bay as they decay. This has led to the formation of dead zones in Chesapeake Bay, places where the oxygen is so low that fish and shellfish cannot survive.

However, often only a small fraction of the human-generated nitrogen that goes into a watershed actually comes out of the rivers and streams at the end. Between 10 and 30 percent, according to Jordan. The fate of the other 70 to 90 percent – “missing nitrogen” – is a mystery researchers are still trying to unravel.

Some of it could escape into the atmosphere. Microbes in the soil could do this through denitrification, a naturally occurring process that gradually transforms nitrate into harmless nitrogen gas. Jordan’s lab suspected this also could be happening at Choptank.

MENHADEN FISHKILL IN GREENWICH BAY, RHODE ISLAND. TOO MUCH NITROGEN IN THE BAY CAN LEAD TO DISASTROUSLY LOW LEVELS OF OXYGEN - WHICH IN TURN CAN CAUSE MASSIVE FISH DIE-OFFS LIKE THIS ONE. (CREDIT: CHRIS DEACUTIS)

“Nutrient Odyssey” Learning Guide COMMON CORE - Reading to Learn through “Article Analysis”

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Last fall the team began sampling a 1.2-kilometer stretch of the Choptank groundwater at a drainage ditch near the cornfield. Using a collaborative National Science Foundation grant with the University of Maryland, they measured the amounts of nitrate and nitrogen gas entering and leaving three different segments of the ditch. Their findings confirmed the same trend researchers have noticed in other watersheds all over the world: There’s more nitrogen going in than coming out. They also found traces of nitrogen gas at concentrations higher than what they would have expected if the water were in equilibrium with the atmosphere, a clear indication that denitrification was going on in the groundwater. They just didn’t know what was causing it.

This summer one of Jordan’s interns, University of Georgia undergraduate Ginny Leviton, took a more detailed look at the drainage ditch. Leviton sampled groundwater emerging through the ditch sediments at 39 different locations, hoping to pinpoint the exact “denitrification hotspots” that could offer clues as to the fate of the missing nitrate. However, her preliminary findings yielded surprising answers that added another layer to the mystery.

Leviton discovered four nitrate spikes along the groundwater, where the nitrate concentrations shot up and then abruptly plunged back down. However, the two largest nitrate spikes weren’t anywhere near the crop fields, the most obvious source of nitrate pollution in the area. In fact, they weren’t close to any typical sources of nitrate at all. The land around them was fallow, except for a tangled overgrowth of grasses, thorns and blackberries.

Jordan, Leviton and the other lab members have tossed around several hypotheses that could explain the strange data. The nitrate could be a remnant of an old farm that may have stood there in the past. No one has calculated the exact age of the groundwater; it could have been sitting beneath the surface for up to 50 years. Irrigation systems also could have altered the water flow, causing nitrate to appear in places it otherwise wouldn’t.

As for the high degrees of denitrification, Jordan suspects these spots may indicate flow pathways that pass slowly through soils that can support denitrifying microbes. Why these pathways reach the ditch where they do, though, remains an open question.

For now Jordan’s lab plans to follow up on the next round of questions: Exactly how old is the groundwater beneath the Choptank, and how does it flow? Following the groundwater backwards from where it emerges in the ditch may lead them to the hidden nitrogen sinks and sources. When they find out what happened to the missing nitrate, they might learn how to flush out more of it before it further endangers life in the Chesapeake.

“Nutrient Odyssey” Learning Guide

“Nutrient Odyssey” Learning Guide Common Core Reading to Learn through “Article Analysis”

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Nutrient and sediment removal by a restored wetland receiving agricultural runoffAuthors: Thomas E. Jordan, Dennis F. Whigham, Kirsten H. Hofmockel, and Mary A. Pittek Journal of Environmental Quality, 2003, Volume 32, p. 1534-1547

Abstract “ Few studies have measured removal of pollutants by restored wetlands that receive highly variable inflows. We used automated flow-proportional sampling to monitor the removal of nutrients and suspended solids by a 1.3 ha restored wetland receiving unregulated inflows from a 14 ha agricultural watershed in Maryland , USA . Water entered the wetland mainly in brief pulses of runoff, which sometimes exceeded the 2500 m 3 water holding capacity of the wetland. Half of the total water inflow occurred in only 24 days scattered throughout the two-year study. Measured annual water gains were within 5% of balancing water losses. Annual removal of nutrients differed greatly between the two years of the study. The most removal occurred in the first year, which included a three-month period of decreasing water level in the wetland. In that year, the wetland removed 59% of the total P, 38% of the total N, and 41% of the total organic C it received. However, in the second year, which lacked a drying period, there was no significant (p>0.05) net removal of total N or P, although 30% of the total organic C input was removed. For the entire two-year period, the wetland removed 25% of the ammonium, 52% of the nitrate, and 34% of the organic C it received, but there was no significant net removal of TSS or other forms of N and P. Although the variability of inflow may have decreased the capacity of the wetland to remove materials, the wetland still reduced non-point source pollution.”

Water quality and conservation practice effects in the Choptank River watershedAuthors: G.W. McCarty, L.L. McConnell, C.J. Hapeman, A. Sadeghi, C. Graff, W.D. Hively, M.W. Lang, T.R. Fisher, T. Jordan, C.P. Rice, E.E. Codling, D. Whitall, A. Lynn, J. Keppler, and M.L. Fogel

Abstract “The Choptank River is an estuary, tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, and an ecosystem in decline due partly to excessive nutrient and sediment loads from agriculture. The Conservation Effects Assessment Project for the Choptank River watershed was established to evaluate the effectiveness of conservation practices on water quality within this watershed. Several measurement frameworks are being used to assess conservation practices. Nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and herbicides (atrazine and metolachlor) are monitored within 15 small, agricultural subwatersheds and periodically in the lower portions of the river estuary. Initial results indicate that land use within these subwatersheds is a major determinant of nutrient concentration in streams. In addition, the 18O isotope signature of nitrate was used to provide a landscape assessment of denitrification processes in the presence of the variable land use. Herbicide concentrations were not correlated to land use, suggesting that herbicide delivery to the streams is influenced by other factors and/or processes. Remote sensing technologies have been used to scale point measurements of best management practice effectiveness from field to subwatershed and watershed scales. Optical satellite (SPOT-5) data and ground-level measurements have been shown to be effective for monitoring nutrient uptake by winter cover crops in fields with a wide range of management practices. Synthetic Aperture Radar (RADARSAT-1) data have been shown to detect and to characterize accurately the hydrology (hydroperiod) of forested wetlands at landscape and watershed scales. These multiple approaches are providing actual data for assessment of conservation practices and to help producers, natural resource managers, and policy makers maintain agricultural production while protecting this unique estuary.

“Nutrient Odyssey” Learning Guide

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VERBAL AND VISUAL REPRESENTATION

Word Visual Representation

DefinitionPersonal Association

Article Contextual CluesCharacteristic

CLUSTERING – BRAINSTORMING VOCABULARY CONNECTIONS

WRITING THE EXPLANATORY TEXT

The structure of an explanation text is often (but not always):

A general statement to introduce the topic, for example, how the students believe the algae bloom occurredA series of logical steps explaining how or why this occurs, for examplebecause of the location of the algae bloomSteps continue until the final state is produced or the explanation is complete

“Nutrient Odyssey” Learning GuideReading to Learn through “Article/Abstract Analysis” Resource Page

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KEY TERM

RelatedTerm

Related Phrase

Associated Word

Associated Word

Related Phrase

Associated Word

Associated Word

“Make Connections” Reading Strategy

Students will use the “Make Connections” reading strategy to develop meaning and connections to the scientific poster provided.

1.) To develop meanings from the poster have students connect the information on the poster to familiar information or their prior knowledge.

2.) If needed have students “THINK ALOUD” as they work to connect the poster to their experiences or knowledge.

3.) Urge students to consider their senses when discussing their connections. (see, smell, taste, feel)4.) Have students use their imaginations to highlight all or other thoughts they have as a result of studying

the poster.5.) Depending on the ability of the students, consider having students make inferences based on the

information that the poster provides.

“Nutrient Odyssey” Learning GuideCommon Core with CLOSE READING

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Analytical Essay Challenge

Fewer Sources or More Natural Sinks?

In a measurable task, students will explain in an essay format, using critical science vocabulary, the scientific learning they have accomplished over the teaching package.

This activity can be a formative or cumulative assessment based on the number of actions students experienced using the Nutrient Odyssey teaching package.

The purpose of this analytical essay is to assess students’ understanding after experiencing the articles, poster, critical science vocabulary, film and hands on activities, to interpret meaning, and develop an argument based on and supported by material presented within the Nutrient Odyssey Learning package. This activity is designed not only to develop compositional skills, but to assess whether students can properly use scientific vocabulary to make meaning of their experiences as they analyze, evaluate, conceptualize, condense, and synthesize ideas presented in the film and the throughout the activities.

Start by showing the film either for the first time or for follow-up to the activities accomplished. Supply students with the vocabulary featured in the film. Require students to use the vocabulary to organize their essay. This use can be demonstrated for evaluation by having students underline or highlight the vocabulary that they use throughout the essay challenge. Assess student accurate use of key vocabulary in their essay. Depending on the age or writing ability of the students, offer direct instruction on essay construction.

“Nutrient Odyssey” Learning Guide Analytic Essay Challenge – Video - “Nutrient Odyssey”

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Air sources; nitrogen; phosphorus; urbanization; path of nutrients; algae blooms; meteorological tower; Airborne Nitrates; Atmosphere; Farm Sources; Leaching ; Soluble; Groundwater as Highways; Pollutants; Nutrients; Weir; Flow Rate; Nutrient Concentration; Solution; Natural Sinks; Forest Buffer Zones; Riparian Forest; Nitrate Content

Sample Essay Rubric

Student Name:     ________________________________________

CATEGORY

4 - Above Standards

3 - Meets Standards

2 - Approaching Standards

1 - Below Standards

Score

Focus or Thesis Statement

The thesis statement names the topic of the essay and outlines the main points to be discussed.

The thesis statement names the topic of the essay.

The thesis statement outlines some or all of the main points to be discussed but does not name the topic.

The thesis statement does not name the topic AND does not preview what will be discussed.

Support for Position

Includes 3 or more pieces of evidence (facts, statistics, examples, real-life experiences) that support the position statement. The writer anticipates the reader\'s concerns, biases or arguments and has provided at least 1 counter-argument.

Includes 3 or more pieces of evidence (facts, statistics, examples, real-life experiences) that support the position statement.

Includes 2 pieces of evidence (facts, statistics, examples, real-life experiences) that support the position statement.

Includes 1 or fewer pieces of evidence (facts, statistics, examples, real-life experiences).

Accuracy All supportive facts and statistics are reported accurately.

Almost all supportive facts and statistics are reported accurately.

Most supportive facts and statistics are reported accurately.

Most supportive facts and statistics were inaccurately reported.

Closing paragraph

The conclusion is strong and leaves the reader solidly understanding the writer\'s position. Effective restatement of the position statement begins the closing

The conclusion is recognizable. The author\'s position is restated within the first two sentences of the closing paragraph.

The author\'s position is restated within the closing paragraph, but not near the beginning.

There is no conclusion - the paper just e

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paragraph.

1.) Have students visit the SERC Blog : sercblog.si.edu .This searchable database features *Recent Posts*Popular Posts*17 Popular Categories of Posts*”Blogroll Connections of Rich Content

2.) Edmodo is a free secure social network for teachers and students that specialize in designed teacher/student interaction with an emphasis on dialogue, polling, interactions in the public discussion spaces and assignment sharing. Ideas for using Edmodo. . .

1. Allow students to critique the articles online.2. Connect with other teachers, students or perhaps the scientist online.3. Form groups to study common material.4. Post additional Chesapeake Bay Articles from the Chesapeake Bay Journal for further

study.5. Create connections to other coastal communities with similar nutrient problems.

3.) A second way to share online with technology that is here to stay is through the use of Google docs.

You can create, edit, upload and share work between classmates quickly. You can import your existing documents, spreadsheets and presentations, or create new ones from scratch. You can access and edit from anywhere and share those changes in real time. Perhaps

“Nutrient Odyssey” Learning Guide Technology Motivation Activity: Online Anytime

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teaming to write a high-quality analytic essay or conducting peer editing using Google Docs could help integrate technology.

Work as a Team Before the Videoconference

Divide students into groups of three or four. Utilize all that you have learned from the articles, the posters and the simulation exercise. What were questions that arose throughout the different components of the Educator Map? Did your teacher record any pressing questions that were challenging to answer.

Think FuturisticStudy a map of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. How might the snakehead population impact, fish, animals

or plants?

Set the Rules for Classroom Brainstorming Have students first understand the challenge of videoconferencing as described in the SUMMARY. Next

determine your brainstorming "rules" of engagement.

Brainstorming to Questioning Explain to students that the quality of a videoconferencing experience is directly related to the quality of the questions they ask and the discussion their questions generate. Explain that their questions should expand what is found in what they have learned so far, but does not repeat what has already been covered. Offer students some starting phrases to use and to avoid?

Prepare for the Videoconference STEP# 1 - Seek all permissions and test hardware and software to be used. STEP #2 –Plan the learning environment. Example - If you are planning on a presentation to your entire class, have you tested your setup with a projector? STEP #3 Have paper and pencil available for brainstorming their thoughts in drawing form. Arrange the room for student collaborative groups.STEP #4 – Set “ground rules” for the discussion and talk about how the students will be expected to extend their learning through high quality learning and questioning. STEP #5 – Role play question generation and a range conversation scenarios including disagreements and inaccurate statements.STEP #6– Remind students that a highly interactive session like a videoconference is dependent knowing their information, being a team player and an opportunity to demonstrate their pre-knowledge "professional" polite

interaction.

Verbal/Linguistic Ability to use words and

language such as exhibited by poet, journalist, writer.

NaturalistAbility to understand, feel,

react positively to the world such as a naturalist.

ecologist

InterpersonalAbility to use relate &

understand others such as a counselor, salesperson.

Science Literacy Learning Guide SERC Videoconference – NUTRIENT ODYSSEY

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Student Feedback Instrument Name of Activity_____________________________________________________________________

LEARNING PACKAGE ASSESSMENT Collecting Quantitative and Qualitative Data Resource Page

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Was the Activity . . .

Qualitative & Quantitative Data Generation

Engaging & Fun?

1 2 3 4 5

Easy to use

tools?

54321

At a challenging

level?

54321

What are your thoughts…?

Please give us a quote for our evaluation.

Rate how the activity increased

54321

Your curiosity about the topic?

Your

Knowledge?

Your

Understanding?

5

54321

54321

4321

Open Comment here . . .

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________

Continue on back>>>>>

CIRCLE ONEWas the Activity? Too Long Too Short Just Right

LEARNING PACKAGE ASSESSMENT Sample PARCC Questions and Answers

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Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence

GRADES 3-5Science findings are based on recognizing patterns.Science uses tools and technologies to make accurate measurements and observations.

MIDDLE SCHOOLScience knowledge is based

upon logical and conceptual connections between evidence

and explanations.Science disciplines share common rules of obtaining and evaluating empirical evidence.

The Theory of Multiple Intelligences has strong implications for family, adult or youth motivation and learning development. Multiple Intelligences supports creative planning on how to teach or learn anything in eight different ways. An important match exists between the idea of Multiple Intelligences and the six Strands of Informal Education. Applying the Theory of Multiple Intelligences takes you beyond the conventional linguistic and logical methods for learning and can align with Strands (1.) Sparing Interest and Excitement (2.) Understanding Content and Knowledge (3.) Engaging in Scientific Reasoning (4.) Reflecting on Learning (5.) Using the Tools and Language of Science and (6.) Identifying the Scientific Enterprise.

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

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EQUITY AND DIVERSITY STATEMENT

All individuals can engage in and learn science subject matter when using hands on learning and supportive conditions, cooperative learning and planned feedback mechanisms. The intent of National Museum of Natural History Learning Guides and Motivation Education is to engage all students with rich authentic activities that allow members of diverse cultures and pupils with different learning styles to bring their capabilities to active learning thereby creating a community with the purpose of teaching for understanding.

Bodily KinestheticAbility to control body movements & handle

objects skillfully

InterpersonalAbility to use relate &

understand others such as a counselor, salesperson.

Visual Ability to perceive the

visual such as a sculptor, artist.

Logical/MathematicalAbility to use reason, logic, and numbers such as a researcher, mathematician.

Verbal/Linguistic Ability to use words and

language such as exhibited by poet, journalist, writer.

Intrapersonal Ability to self-reflect and

be aware such as exhibited by a scientist, philosopher.

Musical/Rhythmic Ability to produce and

appreciate music, such as a musician, singer.

NaturalistAbility to understand, feel,

react positively to the world such as a naturalist.

ecologist

Spatial intelligence The potential to recognize and use the patterns of wide

space and confined areas.

LEARNING PROGRESSIONS Page 21