Day 1: Mini Theme: Urbanization
Urban Heat Island Effect
Standards: NGSS Standard: HS-LS2-7 Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity. ELD Standard: 11a. Justifying/arguing, Bridging Level Justify opinions or persuade others by making connections and distinctions between ideas and texts and articulating sufficient, detailed, and relevant textual evidence or background knowledge, using appropriate register. |
Content Objective:
After studying thermal images of cities and surrounding areas students will be able to evaluate aspects of urban areas that could be improved and gather evidence to support their proposed solutions.
Language Objective:
Students will be able to create proposed solutions by creating action plans and cite evidence to defend the effectiveness of their proposal.
Assessment:
Students will be assessed on their ability to create a written description of the problem and its impacts.
Students will be assessed on their proposals (completeness and evidence of effectiveness).
Students will be assessed on their ability to work with a partner (student assessment of partner participation).
Materials:
Access to computers (chromebooks)
Student Activities (in pairs):
Students will study a thermal image of several cities at various different levels (neighborhood level (Atlanta), city level (Boston) and street level).
Students will then be asked to define why specific areas of the map are hotter than others.
Students will analyze an a diagram that summarizes the effects in various area types (link).
Students will then research the urban heat island effect.
Make a plan (assignment):
You and your partner are city officials who have been tasked with reducing the impact of the heat island effect on your city (both now and into the future). Create a shared google document to answer these questions and create a proposal.
Questions to think about and answer:
Take action!
Once your have answered these questions your must create a proposal to introduce to the city council for them to decide whether or not to implement your solutions.
Elements you must include in your proposal:
Proposal rubric
Partner assessment questions:
Which parts of this project did you primarily work on?
Which parts of this project did your partner primarily work on?
Do you believe that both you and your partner participated equally? Why or why not?
After studying thermal images of cities and surrounding areas students will be able to evaluate aspects of urban areas that could be improved and gather evidence to support their proposed solutions.
Language Objective:
Students will be able to create proposed solutions by creating action plans and cite evidence to defend the effectiveness of their proposal.
Assessment:
Students will be assessed on their ability to create a written description of the problem and its impacts.
Students will be assessed on their proposals (completeness and evidence of effectiveness).
Students will be assessed on their ability to work with a partner (student assessment of partner participation).
Materials:
Access to computers (chromebooks)
- For research purposes and to allow pairs to create a singular proposal using google docs
Student Activities (in pairs):
Students will study a thermal image of several cities at various different levels (neighborhood level (Atlanta), city level (Boston) and street level).
Students will then be asked to define why specific areas of the map are hotter than others.
Students will analyze an a diagram that summarizes the effects in various area types (link).
Students will then research the urban heat island effect.
- What is it?
- What areas are effected more than others?
- What are its impacts (both positive and negative)?
- What are some things (building practices etc...) that can improve or worsen the impact
Make a plan (assignment):
You and your partner are city officials who have been tasked with reducing the impact of the heat island effect on your city (both now and into the future). Create a shared google document to answer these questions and create a proposal.
Questions to think about and answer:
- What changes would you propose your city makes to reach this goal?
- What regulations or laws would you introduce for private property?
- What would you do to improve current features of your city?
- What elements would you ensure that future construction has?
Take action!
Once your have answered these questions your must create a proposal to introduce to the city council for them to decide whether or not to implement your solutions.
Elements you must include in your proposal:
- Define the problem (What is the urban heat island effect and why should they be worried about it?)
- What changes would you make (from the questions above)?
- You don't have to propose all of them
- Which might be the most impactful or easiest to implement?
- The impact these changes would have
- Evidence to support your solutions
Proposal rubric
Partner assessment questions:
Which parts of this project did you primarily work on?
Which parts of this project did your partner primarily work on?
Do you believe that both you and your partner participated equally? Why or why not?
Day 2: Mini Theme: Water
Water Quality Testing at Local Estuary
Standards: NGSS Standard: HS-LS2-7 Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity. ELD Standard: 11a. Justifying/arguing, Bridging Level Justify opinions or persuade others by making connections and distinctions between ideas and texts and articulating sufficient, detailed, and relevant textual evidence or background knowledge, using appropriate register. |
Content Objective: After testing the quality of the water at the San Dieguito Lagoon estuary, students will be able to evaluate the health of the estuary, sources of pollution, and design solutions for improving the quality of water.
Language Objective: Students will be able to justify their opinions about the health of the estuary by using sufficient, detailed, and relevant evidence from their data using appropriate register.
Assessment:
1. Formal lab write-up including a statement of the problem, map of the area of study, hypothesis, procedures, data, analysis, and conclusion, and proposed solutions.
2. Informal Formative Assessment: students are assessed based on their participation and ability to work as a group during the lab.
Materials:
Student Activities:
1. Students form groups of 4 once everyone has gotten to the site
2. As a class, the teacher will go over what each test means in terms of health of the estuary. Refer to the water quality graphic organizer.
3. Students will draw a map of the area, complete with the source of the water, plant types, trails, etc.
4. Students will be given a sample data set of measurements taken from a "healthy" estuary to be compared with the data they measure. The question of study is: What is the health of the San Dieguito Lagoon Estuary?
Students will formulate a hypothesis to use in their formal lab write-up for today's activities.
5. Students decide on group roles.
7. Students will assess the health of the estuary based on the data they collected and hypothesize about the source of the contamination or why the estuary has high pH, low dissolved oxygen levels, etc. based on what they know about the estuary and what each measurement represents.
8. Students will design or propose solutions for maintaining the health of the estuary and present them to the class.
Language Objective: Students will be able to justify their opinions about the health of the estuary by using sufficient, detailed, and relevant evidence from their data using appropriate register.
Assessment:
1. Formal lab write-up including a statement of the problem, map of the area of study, hypothesis, procedures, data, analysis, and conclusion, and proposed solutions.
2. Informal Formative Assessment: students are assessed based on their participation and ability to work as a group during the lab.
Materials:
- water quality testing kit(s)
- water quality graphic organizer
- poster paper
- markers
Student Activities:
1. Students form groups of 4 once everyone has gotten to the site
2. As a class, the teacher will go over what each test means in terms of health of the estuary. Refer to the water quality graphic organizer.
3. Students will draw a map of the area, complete with the source of the water, plant types, trails, etc.
4. Students will be given a sample data set of measurements taken from a "healthy" estuary to be compared with the data they measure. The question of study is: What is the health of the San Dieguito Lagoon Estuary?
Students will formulate a hypothesis to use in their formal lab write-up for today's activities.
5. Students decide on group roles.
- Reader - reads directions one step at a time
- Scribe/Recorder - records information/observations and measurements from each test
- Lab Tech - gather, organize, and prepare equipment for testing
- Leader/checker - double checks all aspects of testing
- Temperature
- Turbidity
- pH
- Dissolved oxygen
- Nitrate
7. Students will assess the health of the estuary based on the data they collected and hypothesize about the source of the contamination or why the estuary has high pH, low dissolved oxygen levels, etc. based on what they know about the estuary and what each measurement represents.
8. Students will design or propose solutions for maintaining the health of the estuary and present them to the class.
Day 3: Invasive Species
Invasive Species in California
Standard: HS-LS2-7 Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity. ELD Standard: 6a. Reading/viewing closely, Bridging Level Explain ideas, phenomena, processes, and relationships within and across texts (e.g., compare/contrast, cause/effect, themes, evidence-based argument) based on close reading of a variety of grade level texts, presented in various print and multimedia formats, using a variety of detailed sentences and a range of general academic and domain-specific words. |
Content Objective: Students will be able to describe what an invasive species is, site examples of invasive species present in California, and design a Public Service Announcement on invasive species, highlighting possible solutions to the problem.
Language Objective: Based on a close reading of a case study focussing on Buffalo on Catalina Island, students will be able to explain how the Buffalo effected the habitat and what is being done about it using a variety of detailed sentences, discussion, and a range of general and domain-specific words.
Assessment:
1. Informal Formative: Students will be assessed on their close reading activity and discussion.
2. Informal Formative: Participation during simulation lab and responses to the follow-up questions.
3. Informal Formative: Invasive species PSA including description of the problem and solutions.
Materials:
Student Activities:
1. Powerpoint on "What is an invasive species?" - includes visuals and examples of invasive species in California
2. Case Study on Buffalo on Catalina Island: Close reading and Think-Pair-Share discussion
3. Invasive Species Simulation Game
Eating habits:
- Include a description of the problem and solutions.
Language Objective: Based on a close reading of a case study focussing on Buffalo on Catalina Island, students will be able to explain how the Buffalo effected the habitat and what is being done about it using a variety of detailed sentences, discussion, and a range of general and domain-specific words.
Assessment:
1. Informal Formative: Students will be assessed on their close reading activity and discussion.
2. Informal Formative: Participation during simulation lab and responses to the follow-up questions.
3. Informal Formative: Invasive species PSA including description of the problem and solutions.
Materials:
- Google slides on Invasive Species
- Article on Buffalo on Catalina Island
- Simulation Game Handout
- Materials for game:
5-cups
2-plastic knives
1-plastic spoon
3-plastic forks
1-large binder clip
10 red pom-poms
12 black pom-poms
10 white pom-poms
3x4 piece of felt
25 bingo chips
1 timer - Poster paper/Markers or Chromebooks for PSA
Student Activities:
1. Powerpoint on "What is an invasive species?" - includes visuals and examples of invasive species in California
2. Case Study on Buffalo on Catalina Island: Close reading and Think-Pair-Share discussion
3. Invasive Species Simulation Game
- Students will get into groups of five
- Assign each student an animal
- Perch - eats with one plastic spoon
- Bass - eats with two knives in one hand
- Blue Gill - eats with one fork
- Walleye - eats with two forks in one hand
- Gobies (invasive) - eat with a binder clip
Eating habits:
- Perch eats only white
- Walleye eats only white and red pom-poms
- Blue gill eats only black
- Bass eats black and red
- Gobies eat anything (using a binder clip) and are introduced after a few rounds so students can see how stable their ecosystems are before and after the Goby.
- Randomly distribute the pom-poms onto the felt.
- Each of the four native fish will have 30 seconds per round to collect food using one hand and their assigned tools
- The native fish will play 3 rounds before the invasive (Goby) arrives.
- Play will continue with the goby now competing for resources for 3-5 more rounds.
- It should be made clear to the gobies that it is in their benefit to eliminate native species.
- Their tactics should include selective feeding to knock out other species, e.g., eating only white, so the species that can only eat white cannot get enough to reproduce.
- Each fish starts off with three lives represented by bingo chips.
- At the end of the round each fish needs 5 pom-poms to survive the round
- For every 3 pom-poms beyond the first 5 the fish produces 1 offspring which counts as an extra life. e.g. after round one the perch has collected 9 pom-poms, the perch does not lose a life (bingo chip) this round since he found five. The perch also gets one additional life (bingo chip) because of his three additional pom-poms. The ninth pom-pom only serves to keep other fish from reproducing.
- Once the fish is out of lives he becomes extinct and that player joins the Goby player, collecting pom-poms with another binder clip.
- Were you able to compete with the other native species for resources necessary to your survival and reproduction?
- Were you able to compete with the invasive species for resources necessary to your survival and reproduction? Why? What made the Goby so successful?
- What could be the consequences of organisms entering an ecosystem that have a competitive advantage over the native species?
- Include a description of the problem and solutions.