Sobering articles and alarming predictions about the environment appear in magazines, journals, and the media daily. These warnings should not be overlooked and are a call to action for educators. Our students must learn to think of themselves as members of a global network of ecosystems, not part of a stand alone species that exploits the Earth’s resources at will. The link between their well-being and their environment must be clearly understood and deeply respected. We must teach students to recognize how our actions affect other organisms as well as the Earth’s landscape, and instill in them a responsibility to work toward conservation, restoration, and preservation of species and habitats.
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Many students do not have the manual dexterity to keep up with a fast-moving paramecium on a microscope slide. The lowly termite, however, provides an easily observable microscopic endo-ecosystem in an environment not usually considered by middle school teachers. In the activity described here, students examine the gut fauna of a termite in what is almost guaranteed to be a successful inquiry-based experience viewing protists for the first time.
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Water is an essential resource for all living things. How we live on our watershed can impact water quantity and quality. It is important to recognize how humans alter watershed dynamics, but students often find it challenging to visualize watershed processes and understand how decisions that they make as individuals and together as a community can affect water resources. Hydrogeology models can provide students with the opportunity to see firsthand how ground cover affects surface runoff and groundwater recharge and how pollution travels through creeks, streams, and aquifers. In the lab experiment described here, students interact with hydrogeology models to help them gain a deeper understanding of scientific processes while engaging in the activities of a scientist.
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Alien Invaders!—loosely modeled after the game of Life, helps students to understand how introduced species can affect native species. This board game allows students to role-play native birds in a world of introduced species, facing the hazards posed by those species. By playing this game, students come to understand some of the effects, such as competition and predation, of invasive species on native species.
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Designed by Nature is a series of six sequential lessons that help middle school students explore the environmental impacts of producing and disposing of everyday items, and the role of citizens, consumers, and businesses in promoting sustainable product design. The activities, which were developed by faculty at Eastern Michigan University, incorporate the 5E learning model—engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate. The lessons guide students through a typical product’s life cycle—from producer to consumer to landfill—and then explain that a Designed by Nature product is one that breaks this cycle by being reusable, recyclable, or biodegradable.
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In the Leaf Litter investigation, students use the existing school campus to investigate the biodiversity of organisms present among various courtyard areas. The study engages students in an inquiry-based learning experience that addresses both current national and state standards. The investigation allows students to make deeper observations, provoke more questions, and to “see” what is going on in their own school environment. Conducting the study within school grounds also makes the environment relevant to students.
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In the following lessons, students learn about the biology of birds and conservation issues by bird watching at museums, zoos, and outside in the park or schoolyard. They communicate their understanding of concepts in biology such as structure and function, diversity, adaptations, and the impact of humans by designing an art exhibit in the classroom. By utilizing the resources of local art museums, students are introduced to the history of science through art. Additionally, by observing birds in their local communities, students will discover how they can use their scientific knowledge to be active citizens.
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With shrinking budgets, increasing enrollments, aging equipment, and major advances in technology, donations are one way that science departments can help ends meet. However, many donations can be more trouble than they are worth. To help avoid any safety issues, your school should consider adopting guidelines on donations for staff to review before any items are accepted.
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Beyond the region of our solar system is the rest of the Milky Way galaxy, and of course the rest of the universe. To the amateur astronomer or casual observer, the phrase deep-sky objects is a reference to those dim celestial objects that are beyond our solar system and either a part of the Milky Way or outside of our home galaxy. These include star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae, and while some may be seen with unaided eyes, many deep-sky objects require binoculars or telescopes to see.
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Wikipedia is part of a new generation of public documents—collectively known as wikis—to which many different writers may make contributions. Due to the collaborative nature of wikis, controversy flares up from time to time about the veracity or objectivity of the information. However, the public has embraced these new collaborative forums as convenient sources of information, and you can use similar technology to establish your students as writers and creators of their own classroom documents. This month’s column describes how to incorporate this popular and flexible technology into the science curriculum.
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Case studies are an excellent method for engaging middle school students in the current work of scientists. Students learn to think like scientists as they decide how to investigate the dilemma presented in the case study. This article describes one such case study, the Fish Kill Mystery, which takes place at a popular vacation spot—the beaches of North Carolina. Based on the original case from the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science at the University at Buffalo (Kosal 2003), the authors modified the case and developed inquiry-based activities for use in the middle school classroom.
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This investigation was part of a multi-lesson unit that gave students direct experience using increasingly sophisticated tools to make more detailed observations and measurements of light. Through these lessons, students experienced a key aspect of the nature of science (McComas 2004), namely how scientists constantly refine and modify theories as they make more exact measurements using precise instruments.
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Biobottles are miniature ecosystems made from 2-liter plastic soda bottles. They allow students to explore how organisms in an ecosystem are connected to each other, examine how biotic and abiotic factors influence plant and animal growth and development, and discover how important biodiversity is to an ecosystem. This activity was inspired by an idea developed by the Rachel Carson Center for Natural Resources.
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