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.