Posters on the walls

We put up a lot of the posters today and started reviewing them. Each student needed to fill out a self-evaluation for their own poster and evaluations for two other posters.

Posters are being Finished

We are close to having our posters finished. A lot of students were putting the finishing touches on them today. Several went up on the walls in the hallway and the rest should be finished by tomorrow.

Posters

We have been putting together the posters today. Some folks are still typing up their descriptions and getting pictures together. One or two people finished their posters and put them on the wall. Hopefully most people will be finished on Monday and have some time to make changes if needed. Final due date is Wednesday, Dec 19th.

Food and Corn Production

We have been wrapping up the research on our "It cost what?" projects over the last several class periods and are just about finished. Now we will concentrate on planning out and creating our posters for presentation.
Today we split into small groups and read different sections of Michael Pollan's book, "Omnivore's Dilemma." We concentrated on the farming of corn on a large scale, the processing of corn into different products, the corn that is hidden in about a quarter of the things that we eat and use, and the raising of corn fed beef. Each team then presented what they had learned to the rest of the group. We got through about half of the presentations today and will finish the rest of them tomorrow.

Tee Shirt Travels Movie

Today was block schedule and during 2nd period we watched a movie called Tee Shirt Travels. This movie is a documentary from 2000 that follows a used clothing seller in Zambia as he buys a bale of clothes from the US and sells them in his village to raise money to support his family. It explains the economic history of Zambia and other African countries and how they have become inundated with used products from the US and Europe. This extends the story of the origins of our tee shirts and looks at what happens to some of them after we donate them to a thrift store. Here is a link to the PBS program "Independent Lens" in which they describe the film along with some pictures. Here is a link to an activity on their website that allows you to follow the journey of a tee shirt from New York City to Zambia. Tee Shirt Tracker.

A well traveled breakfast

We listened to a short piece from public radio's MarketPlace this morning. It is called "A well-traveled breakfast" and it explores the global connections to the food that we eat in America. It turns out that most of the food that we buy from the grocery store has traveled an average of 1500 miles. Food transportation uses about 240 million barrels of oil a year in the United States, that's about 10% of our national oil production. You can listen to it at this link: MarketPlace Breakfast. Or you can read the transcript here: "A Well Traveled Breakfast." We spent the rest of the morning researching our topics for the "It Costs What?" poster project. Here is a blank chart for taking notes on the research "Outline Notes." We hope to be finished with our research by the end of the week and to start work on making our posters next week.

It Costs What? Project Started

Today we started researching our It Costs What? projects. Students chose a product and began searching for information about what goes into the production of each thing and the resources used along with any pollution that might take place as well. We will make physical posters, called storyboards, that we will hang in the middle school. The finished posters are due on Wednesday, Dec 19th. Here are links to the Storyboard Project Description and the Project Rubric. Everyone should have their product chosen by Monday, December 3rd.
Thursday we introduced the project and went over the description.

We read from Derrick Jensen and Stephanie MacMillan's Graphic Novel, "As The World Burns, 50 Simple Things You Can Do To Stay in Denial." It paints a rather radical view of what needs to be done in order to save the planet from destruction. He is the sort of environmentalist who makes everyone nervous. It prompted some good discussions about how our lifestyles affect the environment and some of the root causes of the environmental issues that we are faced with today. Here is a page from the book that sums up some of the arguments:

It Costs What?

We read a short article from Ranger Rick called, "It Costs What?" Which is about the hidden costs of a simple tee shirt. It digs into the resources used to make a cotton and polyester blend shirt, by looking at the resources used to grow, harvest, and process the cotton and the oil and processing for the polyester as well as the packaging and transportation involved in getting it to a store near you. We went through a note taking chart to keep track of all the details. Here is a copy, "Chart Notes for It Costs What". If students were not able to finish it in class, they need to do it for homework tonight, due Thursday, November 29.

Wrapping up The Unit

On Monday, 1st and 2nd period got to see the slideshow about water use and water treatment from Alessandro Maresca, our Italian visitor from last week. 3rd period took the final unit test for Ecology. Tuesday everyone got their tests back and we went over it a little bit. In general, everyone did pretty well. We then did a activity that I called "Take a Stand." There are two posters on opposite walls that say "Strongly Agree" and "Strongly Disagree." Then after I read a statement, everyone lines up according to how they feel about that statement. Then we shared why we stood where we did. Some of the issues we discussed included vegetarianism and the availability of food around the planet, the higher cost of environmentally products and whether we should be obligated to buy them, nuclear power as an alternative to greenhouse gas emitting sources of energy, and the desire of poorer nations to grow and develop at the expense of the environment. Here is a link to some more of these types of questions: Take a Stand.

Ecology Unit Test

Monday we reviewed and studied for the unit test. We made flash cards, fold over quiz sheets, and quizzed each other on the details. Tuesday 1st and 2nd period took the test. 3rd period had a guest speaker from Italy, Alessandro Maresca. He is an environmental engineering consultant in Napoli who specializes in sustainable water treatment programs. He gave a slideshow presentation about global water usage and the treatment of clean drinking water. 3rd period will take the unit test next week after Thanksgiving break and 1st and 2nd periods will see the slideshow presentation.

Friday we had a practice test for the upcoming unit test, which will be on Tuesday, November 20th. We went over some strategies for taking this type of test. It has multiple choice in which you choose the one best answer by eliminating the ones that you know are not right and following the directions by circling the letter of the best answer. We looked at fill in the blank answers and True or False questions. For the true or false, if it is a false statement, then they need to correct the statement by replacing the underlined section with a word or phrase that makes it a true statement. For short answer questions, they need to use full sentences and to explain the concept clearly and to make sure that they are answering all of the question that is being asked. For the show and tell section, they need to draw a picture or diagram, label it correctly and explain what it is showing or demonstrating. Here is a copy of the practice test: Ecology Unit Practice Test.

Review for end of unit test

Monday and Tuesday we shared our wikipages and presented our bird studies. Everyone did a great job explaining what they did and how they did it. Wednesday was service day in the middle school. Today we started reviewing for our end of unit test, which will be on Tuesday, November 20th. Here is a copy of the Study Guide. We may add a few things to it as we work through the material.
Today is the first day of the 2nd Trimester. We will be learning about resources, pollution, and energy use in the production of various everyday objects during our weeks from Thanksgiving to the Winter Break.

Project Reviews and Self Evaluations

We spent this week finishing details for our bird investigations. Peer Review groups gave each other feedback and helped with editing. Some folks needed to redo their graphs and to rewrite their discussion/conclusions. We have been using the Bird Study Rubric to help us focus on the details. This rubric is also available on the wikispace. Monday and Tuesday we will make our presentations to the class. Each student will share their wikipage and tell the story of their project. The trimester ends on Tuesday, November 13th. Students have been asked to fill out a self evaluation that is due on Tuesday.

Peer Review Process and wrapping up reports

We worked some more on the details in our reports. I gave everyone the option of using a paper format for the peer review process. Here is an electronic version of that form: Peer Review. Ideally the feedback will be based on the online rubric and the comments and suggestions will be posted on the individual wikipages on the discussion link. Tomorrow is the deadline for the rough draft and the peer reviews are due on Thursday. Monday and Tuesday we will make our presentations to the class.

Ecology Field Trip

Friday we took a short field trip across Friends School Road to learn about the Ecology research project that is happening over there. We were met by Aspen Reese, an ecology doctoral student and she told us about the project that is looking at patterns of succession as a grassy field turns into a forest over time. They have six study sites of which this is one. The other sites range from Florida to upstate New York. They are looking at similar grasses that grow in each site and golden rod (Solidago) and they are growing them in different types of soil that are various mixtures of sand and topsoil. In order to control their experiments they are doing everything in kiddie pools. Kinda like giant flower pots. They will plant trees next year to continue the study.

Graphing data

Wednesday we practiced our graphing skills using Excel and Numbers. Each student got a fun-sized bag of M&Ms and had to practice graphing by counting up the numbers of each color of M&M in the package. We also graphed the class data. They had to do a pie chart and a bar graph and a chart of their choice.

Friday we will go on short field trip across the street to visit the Duke field study plot.

Graphing Intro

We went over the latest deadlines for our bird studies. Everyone should be pretty much done with their data collection by now. Friday, Nov 2nd is when everyone should have their data posted and graphed on their wikipages. We looked at 4 basic types of graphs and charts and when to use them. We used a short introduction from the Cornell BirdSleuth guide. Here is a copy of the section that we looked at: 4 Basic Graphs. Depending on the type of data that they collected, they will need to choose the most appropriate type of graph to show that data.

Nutrient Web Quest

We went to a website set up by Harvard School of Education to learn more about nutrients and chemical testing in a small pond outside of Cambridge. With a recording/note-taking sheet to guide us, we went through several tutorials on dissolved oxygen, the carbon cycle, phosphorus, chlorophyll, pH, and turbidity. Here is a link to the site: http://ecomuve.gse.harvard.edu/Pond_LQ.html.
And the worksheet that we used: Nutrient Learning Quest.
For folks who weren't able to do this today, they can do it for homework, due on Monday, October 29. We will go over the details on Monday.

More Nutrient Cycles

Wednesday, we skimmed over a reading, Nutrient Cycles, that won't be fully due until after Halloween, unless people are not too busy with their projects. We watched two slideshows that follow an Oxygen atom through a food web in a forest ecosystem and a Phosphorus atom through a forest and pond ecosystem. You can check those out here: Oxygen slideshow and Phosphorus slideshow. We revisited the concept of Eutrophication,when bodies of water become choked with algae and decomposers after excess nutrients end up in them. Here is a photo from the TakePart.com website.

Nutrient Cycling

We went over the rubric again for the bird study project. Here is a link: Project Rubric. It is on the wikispace. Everyone should be well on their way with collecting data or digging through the data to look for answers. We have one more week to finish this up. Everyone should have all their data by October 30th. Then we will look at the data and see how we can make graphs or charts to show our results.

We played a simulation game about nutrient cycling. Each player was an atom of some nutrient like Carbon or Nitrogen and they moved through the ecosystem from one organism to another depending on which "interaction card" they pulled. There was no beginning or end, but rather a continuous cycling of the nutrients.

Parent Teacher Conferences and Bird Studies

Monday and Tuesday we worked on our bird studies and updated our wikipages. Most everyone is ready to start their bird studies during the time off for Parent-Teacher Conferences.

Photosynthesis, Respiration,and the Carbon Cycle

Photosynthesis in action

Building a glucose molecule

Building water molecules

Carbon dioxide molecules

Glucose

Glucose

6 Oxygen molecules

Wednesday we modeled photosynthesis using Starburst candies to represent atoms and toothpicks to represent the chemical bonds that hold them together as molecules. We started with carbon dioxide and water and transformed them into glucose and oxygen molecules. Class was disrupted a bit by school picture taking during 3rd period, but we managed to make our way through it.

We watched a powerpoint about the carbon cycle that follows a carbon molecule through a pond ecosystem: Carbon Atom Tracker Slides.
Thursday we worked on our bird studies. Friday we had a short review quiz: Eco Picture Quiz. We spent more time on our wikisites updating our pages and doing more background research on our topics of investigation. Monday, October 15, we should all have our materials and methods figured out and posted on our sites so that we can begin collecting data or digging into the data that we are going to be using.

Photosynthesis and Respiration

We went through the details of Photosynthesis and Respiration.
We looked at how the parts of the chemical reaction reflects what takes place in the cells. The same number and types of atoms go into the reaction as reactants and are still there when they come out as the products.
Here is a link to the notes: Photosynthesis and Respiration.

Posting our Bird Study Questions.

Today we started posting our Bird Study Questions on our wikispace,  http://cfsbirds-2012.wikispaces.com/. This week we will be working on making a plan for how we collect our data and the materials that we will be using. This will be due Monday, October 15th. This week we will also be doing some background research into our topics to help guide our investigations. Summaries of our research and citations for our bibliographies will be due on the wikis by this Friday, October 12th. For a list of all the due dates go to the wikispace and check out the project timeline page at http://cfsbirds-2012.wikispaces.com/Project+Timeline. The sooner we start our investigations the better, the latest we should start them is by the week of October 15th.
Today I passed out a short reading that needs to be finished by Wednesday, October 12th. Here is a google doc link: Decay and Renewal. It focuses on photosynthesis and respiration and nutrient cycling.

Questions and Wikis

We spent today going over our potential questions for the bird study project. We talked about which questions make for good studies and how we might set them up. We looked at some older projects and decided that it is okay to replicate a study that has already been done or how to do it with some modifications. Here is last year's wiki: http://cfsbirds-2011.wikispaces.com/
We got most of the students logged in and onto the new wiki page. As soon as they develop their questions they can post them on their wikipage. Check it out at: http://cfsbirds-2012.wikispaces.com/
We also looked at some of the data on the Cornell Ornithology Lab's ebird page. This is a great resource for bird sighting data going back many years. If people are interested, they can register and submit their own sightings. Here is that web address: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

2nd Period to the Creek

Mayfly nymph

We had slightly better weather for today's field trip. It was overcast, but it wasn't raining. We found crayfish, mayfly larvae and other aquatic invertebrates under the rocks around the old dam site. There were lots of fallen leaves in the water, reminding us that most of the primary producers in this ecosystem live outside of the water. On our walk in and out we found a colony of aphids feeding on a beech tree. They were waving their fluffy fecal covered abdomens like a bunch of underwater creatures. Here is a link to an article about the aphids from the UMass Agricultural Extension website. Beech Blight Aphids.

Aphids

1st & 3rd periods at the Creek

In spite of the wet and dreary weather, we managed to make it to Johnston's Mill Preserve on New Hope Creek. This section of woods along the creek is part of the Triangle Land Conservancy. We measured the pH, water and air temperature, phosphate, nitrite, and nitrate levels as well as collected aquatic invertebrates. We used a field guide to identify the creatures we found and to determine which ones were pollution tolerant and which ones were not. Tomorrow 2nd period will venture out to do more of the same.

Biodegradation in Water

Today we read a short article about biodegradation in water. Basically, decomposers in aquatic systems and how adding nutrients or organic waste can affect microbe and plant growth and oxygen levels in the water. This was to get us ready for our field trip to New Hope Creek on Tuesday and Wednesday. We will be looking at the macroinvertebrates in the water to get a sense of the health of the stream. We will be out there for our extended block schedule and hopefully will have good weather for our trip.

Ecosystem of a Rotting Log

We went into the woods behind the library today and investigated the ecosystem of a rotting log. A lot of pines had been cut about 10-15 years ago and left to rot. We rolled some over, dug through the debris and attempted to catalogue and identify all the organisms that we found. Lots of decomposers, scavenges, and the some of the predators that prey upon them were found. We used a short guide book to help identify some of the organisms. Here is a GoogleDoc of that guide. We found fungi, termites, ants, slugs, snails, centipedes, millipedes, spiders, worms, beetles and beetle larvae, springtails, crickets, and a salamander.

Bird Behavior Projects

Today we went over the calendar for the bird behavior projects. We looked at due dates for each part of the project. We will start the projects this week and hopefully have them finished by November 12th.
The first due date is October 8th, when everyone needs to have a pretty good idea of the question that they will be investigating.

A few of the groups that hadn't presented their articles yesterday had a chance to do that today. We learned more about Lemming populations, Lynx and Hare populations, and the inadvertent affects of spraying DDT in Borneo during the 1940's.

We put three different types of bread (with and without preservatives) in baggies along with apple, orange, a carrot to watch them rot over time. We will photograph them regularly.