|
SLO Information:
District: Watervliet
City School District
School/District Representative: Allison Novotarski
SLO Project Name: Global Warming Inquiry Project
Authored by: Paul Abate & Allison Novotarski
E-mail: anovotar@vliet.neric.org
Homepage address: http://www.watervlietcityschools.org
Grade Level(s): 9-12
Subject Area(s): Living Environment, General Science
Learning context:
Actual Learning Standards Referenced:
ELA Standard 1 Reading:
- Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and
understanding.
ELA Standard 1 Listening:
- Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and
understanding.
ELA Standard 3 Listening:
- Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis
and evaluation.
ELA Standard 2 Speaking:
- Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response
and expression.
ELA Standard 3 Speaking:
-Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis
and evaluation.
MST- Science- Living Environment- Standard 1:
-Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and
engineering design, as appropriate, to pose
questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.
MST Technology 2: Information Systems
-Information technology is used to retrieve, process, and
communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning.
Performance Indicators:
(taken from NYS Core Curriculum & Standards)
MST- Science- Living
Environment- Standard 1:
-Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and
engineering design, as appropriate, to pose
questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.
Key Idea 1 Performance Indicators:
1.2: Hone ideas through reasoning, library research, and discussion
with others, including
experts.
-1.2a Inquiry involves asking questions and locating, interpreting,
and processing information from a variety of sources.
-1.2b Inquiry involves making judgments about the reliability of the
source and
relevance of information.
Key Idea 2:
Beyond the use of reasoning and consensus, scientific inquiry
involves the testing of proposed explanations
involving the use of conventional techniques and procedures and
usually requiring considerable ingenuity.
- 2:1 Devise ways of making observations to test proposed
explanations.
- 2:2 Refine research ideas through library investigations,
including electronic information retrieval and reviews
of the literature, and through peer feedback obtained from review
and discussion.
-2.2a Development of a research plan involves researching background
information and
understanding the major concepts in the area being investigated.
Recommendations for
methodologies, use of technologies, proper equipment, and safety
precautions should
also be included.
Key Idea 7:
Population growth has placed new strains on the environment. Massive
pollution of air and water, deforestation and extinction of species,
global warming, and alteration of the ozone shield. Some individuals
believe that there will be a technological fix for such problems.
Others, concerned with the accelerating pace of change and the
ecological concept of finite resources, are far less optimistic.
What is certain, however, is that resolving these issues will
require increasing global awareness, cooperation, and action. Since
the students of today will be the elected officials and informed
public of tomorrow, the teacher should
encourage a diversity of activities that will allow students to
explore, explain, and apply conceptual understandings and skills
necessary to be environmentally literate.
Performance Indicator 7:1
Describe the range of interrelationships of humans with the living
and nonliving
environment.
-7.1a The Earth has finite resources; increasing human consumption
of resources places
stress on the natural processes that renew some resources and
deplete those resources
that cannot be renewed.
-7.1b Natural ecosystems provide an array of basic processes that
affect humans. Those
processes include but are not limited to: maintenance of the quality
of the atmosphere,
generation of soils, control of the water cycle, removal of wastes,
energy flow, and recycling
of nutrients. Humans are changing many of these basic processes and
the changes
may be detrimental.
-7.1c Human beings are part of the Earth's ecosystems. Human
activities can, deliberately
or inadvertently, alter the equilibrium in ecosystems. Humans modify
ecosystems as a
result of population growth, consumption, and technology. Human
destruction of habitats
through direct harvesting, pollution, atmospheric changes, and other
factors is threatening
current global stability, and if not addressed, ecosystems may be
irreversibly affected.
Performance Indicator 7:2
Explain the impact of technological development and growth in the
human population on
the living and nonliving environment.
-7.2a Human activities that degrade ecosystems result in a loss of
diversity of the living
and nonliving environment. For example, the influence of humans on
other organisms
occurs through land use and pollution. Land use decreases the space
and resources
available to other species, and pollution changes the chemical
composition of air, soil,
and water.
-7.2b When humans alter ecosystems either by adding or removing
specific organisms,
serious consequences may result. For example, planting large
expanses of one crop
reduces the biodiversity of the area.
-7.2c Industrialization brings an increased demand for and use of
energy and other
resources including fossil and nuclear fuels. This usage can have
positive and negative
effects on humans and ecosystems.
Performance Indicator 7:3
Explain how individual choices and societal actions can contribute
to improving the
environment.
-7.3a Societies must decide on proposals which involve the
introduction of new technologies.
Individuals need to make decisions which will assess risks, costs,
benefits, and
trade-offs.
-7.3b The decisions of one generation both provide and limit the
range of possibilities
open to the next generation.
MST Technology 2: Information Systems
-Information technology is used to retrieve, process, and
communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning.
Performance Indicators:
use a variety of equipment and software packages to enter, process,
display and communicate information in different forms using text,
pictures, and sound
access needed information from media, electronic data bases and
community resources
ELA Grade 9 Standards:
ELA Standard 1 Reading:
- Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and
understanding.
Performance Indicator 1: Locate and use school and public
library resources for information and research
- define a purpose for reading by asking questions about what they
need to know for their research
Performance Indicator 3: Interpret and evaluate data, facts,
and ideas in informational texts, such as national newspapers,
online and electronic databases, and websites
ELA Standard 1
Listening:
- Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and
understanding.
Interpret information from media presentations, such as news
broadcasts and taped interviews
Listen to and follow complex directions or instructions
Identify the speakers purpose and motive for communicating
information
Recognize appropriate voice and tone
ELA Standard 3: Listening
- Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis
and evaluation.
Recognize and acknowledge various perspectives on issues of local
and national concern
Determine points of view
Use prior knowledge, as well as the perspectives of other
individuals, groups, and recognized experts, to analyze and evaluate
presentations
Evaluate the content and organization of the presentations,
applying criteria such as point of view and appropriateness and
completeness of reasons, examples, and details
Evaluate the possible bias of the speaker, in order to judge the
validity of the content
Recognize the use of protocols and traditional practices in public
speakin
ELA Standard 2: Speaking
- Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response
and expression.
Express opinions and support them through references to the text
- engage in a variety of collaborative conversations, such as
peer-led discussions, paired reading and responding, and cooperative
group discussions, to construct meaning
Describe the features of the genre to interpret and respond to
literary text
Use literary devices, such as volume, rate, rhyme, rhythm, and
repetition, to create an emotional or aesthetic response
Use media to support presentation of original and interpretive
texts
Ask and respond to questions and follow-up questions to clarify
interpretation
- engage in a variety of collaborative conversations, such as
peer-led discussions, paired reading and responding, and cooperative
group discussions, to make applications of the ideas in the text to
other situations, extending the ideas to broaden perspectives
ELA Speaking Standard 3:
-Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis
and evaluation.
Express opinions or make judgments about ideas, information,
experiences, and issues in literary and historical articles
Articulate personal opinions to clarify stated positions
Present content that is clearly organized and based on knowledge
of audience needs and interests
Present arguments from different perspectives
Speak extemporaneously to clarify or elaborate
Respond to constructive criticism
Use visuals and technology to enhance presentation
Ask and respond to questions to seek clarity
Assessments:
1) Successful
Completion of the Web quest
http://www.koshland-science-museum.org/teachers/wq-gw-gd001.jsp
2) Completion of Carbon Footprint Activity
3) Completion of the "Global Warming" Online Quiz
http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/GlobWarmTest/start.html
4) Successful completion of the research paper
Student Outcomes (Exemplars):
1) Students will have a
greater understanding about "Global Warming", its causes and what
we can do to solve the problem.
2) Student develops a coherent "point of view" that is supported by
information gathered from various sources.
3) Students demonstrate their ability to be independent learners.
4) Students will gain a better understanding for using the resource
available through the Library Media Center.
5) Students should be able to apply the inquiry based learning
method used for this project in other subject areas.
Procedure:
Specific inquiry/activity:
Step 1: Introduce
students to the topic of Global Warming
- View the movie "Day After Tomorrow" or "An Inconvenient Truth"
Step 2: Have students complete Global Warming Web quest
( http://www.koshland-science-museum.org/teachers/wq-gw-gd001.jsp )
Step 3: Discuss the concept of a Carbon Footprint
- Students calculate their carbon footprint using one of the below
websites:
http://nationalgridfloe.com/?gclid=CJGBwKP70JkCFRIhnAodNwG8ug
http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/
http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/
http://science.howstuffworks.com/carbon-footprint1.htm
http://w.plant-a-tree-today.org/NewQuickOffset.asp
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/personal_footprint/
Step 4: Discuss what can be done to minimize a carbon
footprint
Step 5: Students take one of the below "Global Warming"
quizes
http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/GlobWarmTest/start.html
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/quiz-global-warming.html
Step 6: Introduce the research project
Step 7: Work with the Library Media Specialist to work
through the Inquiry Learning Model to accomplish research
Step 8: Students work on Research Project
Step 9: Students present their projects
Step 10: Wrap up
Instructional Modifications:
- Large Type Verions of
both online and print items are available for use.
- Format of student created projects is the choice of the student. (ie:
paper, PowerPoint presentation, Podcast, Video etc.)
Time Required: Approximately
1 month (40 min/day) of class time including a week for research
Resources (materials):
Web sites referenced:
Webquest:
http://www.koshland-science-museum.org/teachers/wq-gw-gd001.jsp
Carbon Footprint Websites:
http://nationalgridfloe.com/?gclid=CJGBwKP70JkCFRIhnAodNwG8ug
http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/
http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/
http://science.howstuffworks.com/carbon-footprint1.htm
http://w.plant-a-tree-today.org/NewQuickOffset.asp
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/personal_footprint/
Global Warming Quizes:
http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/GlobWarmTest/start.html
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/quiz-global-warming.html
Sites from Koshland Museum (includes links to other websites,
as well as worksheets and rubrics for evaluation)
http://www.koshland-science-museum.org/teachers/wq-gw-gdt007.jsp
Reflections:
- This inquiry based
learning project can be adapted to be used in almost any subject
area.
- Students seemed to enjoy this project more than the traditional
research project. They also learned more because they could
focus on what they were interested in and present it using a form of
media they are partial to.
|
