Exploring Our Fluid Earth

This lesson will also be all about geological sampling on another planet in our solar system! Somehow the Mod 4 Environmental lessons were easier to sync together into one focused unit than any other.... and we don't go anywhere near the ocean! Who would have thought!

Not that we've done this lesson yet! We are still completing lab report write ups for lesson 2. Next week we'll get to this one. I hope it doesn't take as long as some people are suggesting. We are running out of time fast!

I used this with an honors chemistry class. Mostly they are not really honors level students but what are you gonna do, eh? Anyway, I find that the activities are written for their level of comprehension. They work well just using them the way they are written. I can't imagine what middle school teachers must have to do to modify the material for those levels. Anyway, the one problem I did have was with the data sheets for this activity. They were pretty hard for the kids, and me to figure out.

Along with the M&M Sampling Design and the Transect/Quadrat Sampling for Abundance activities, I also did an activity with my students that I remembered from an Introduction to Biology course in college. I thought I would share, as the students seemed to enjoy (and learn from) it.

This was SO much fun! After the initial contest, my students just wanted to keep creating plankton models and racing them to see which 'adaptations' worked the best.

During second quarter in my 7th grade life science class, the focus is on plants before moving on to animals in 3rd quarter. I am wondering if someone has ideas on how to incorporate sampling for abundance in a study site featuring plant life.

"I once found myself seated on an airplane next to a charming woman who's interests revolved primarily around the activities of her very energetic family. At one point in the conversaion came the inevitable question: 'what sort of work do you do?' I confess that I rather hate that question... I replied to the woman: 'Well, I work with fish populations. The trouble with fish is that you never get to see the whole population. They're not like trees, whose numbers could perhaps be estimated by flying over the forest. Mostly, you see fish only when they're caught...

I used this with an honors chemistry class. Mostly they are not really honors level students but what are you gonna do, eh? Anyway, I find that the activities are written for their level of comprehension. They work well just using them the way they are written. I can't imagine what middle school teachers must have to do to modify the material for those levels. Anyway, the one problem I did have was with the data sheets for this activity. They were pretty hard for the kids, and me to figure out.

Hope this works this time!

e.g. I am wondering how to...

e.g. I am wondering how to...

e.g. I am wondering how to...

We prepped this Activity over 2 class periods by reading the website explanations and examples. Then we set-up our "mock reef" in the classroom just like the one in the TSI workshop. We used three patterned sheets, 18 shoe boxes and all of the blue tickets, orange 1/2 cards, pink index cards, and green popsicle sticks that TSI provided for "organisms". We used the transects, quadrats, % coverage and all the data sheets. Each Table Group had 4 students, who each participated in the Sampling Activity by having a chosen role.

i took the students outside and brought the results back into the class, then went out again. the chance to take our investigation outside changed students focus and for some connected to other environments, like the beach.

I completed this activity in 3.5 days. Yes, I said 3.5 days. Three full days of actually going through the lesson with the the third day having some time to discuss the activity questions. The .5 day was used wrapping up what was learned and going through the interpretation phase. It was a great lesson, and my students were really engaged. :)

The great thing about this lab activity is creating your own (class) sample site with various random supplies to recreate that marine field experience.

Great way to introduce sampling technics with something that is attention grabbing and comparable.

I took my class on a field trip to Aliomanu River and did a bio assessment . We collected data about the river mouth and the aquatic environment.

Students are given a task - launch a marshmallow as far as possible. They are given materials (blocks, ruler, rubber bands, string, plastic spoon, etc.) and a couple of parameters (no throwing, don't hit the teacher with a marshmallow).

Students are given a task - launch a marshmallow as far as possible. They are given materials (blocks, ruler, rubber bands, string, plastic spoon, etc.) and a couple of parameters (no throwing, don't hit the teacher with a marshmallow).

The more I've thought about this lesson starting with the pizza pics and then the M&M sampling, the more I'm thinking this is a lesson that helps lay a good foundation for students doing their own surveys. I'm thinking of so many of the "science fair" projects I've seen over the years that didn't really show an understanding of good sampling protocol. The flip side of this initial discussion of sampling design sometimes gets rushed by teachers of other mentors when project deadlines are already causing pressure.