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.