The School Yard Environment Objectives: I will analyze the ecosystem that borders our school.

l. I will apply what I have learned about living and non-living things as well as cells in order to determine a health rating for the schools ecosystem.

Standards: Maryland Department of Education Standards o 1.A.1. Design, analyze, or carry out simple investigations and formulate appropriate conclusions based on data obtained or provided. o 1.B.1. Review data from a simple experiment, summarize the data, and construct logical arguments about the cause-and-effect relationships in the experiment. o 1.C.1. Develop explanations that explicitly link data from investigations conducted, selected readings, and when appropriate contributions from historical discoveries. o 3.E.1. Explain that the transfer and transformation of matter and energy links organisms to one another and to their physical setting. o 6.A.1. Recognize and explain the impact of a changing human population on the use of natural resources and on environmental quality. o 6.B.1. Recognize and describe that environmental changes can have local, regional, and global consequences. Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards: o Standard 1: Environmental Issues Topic A, Indicator 5: Use data and references to interpret findings to form conclusions. o Standard 5: Humans and Natural Resources Topic A, Indicator 1: Analyze the effects of human activities on earths natural processes.

o Standard 6: Environment and Health Topic A, Indicator 1: Identify and describe natural changes in the environment that may affect the health of human populations and individuals. Topic B, Indicator 1: Describe and explain that many changes in the environment designed by humans bring benefits to society as well as cause risks. Topic C, Indicator 1: Analyze and explain that human activities, products, processes, technologies and inventions can involve some level of risk to human health. o Standard 7: Environment and Society Topic A, Indicator 1: Investigate factors that influence environmental quality. Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice o Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them o Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. o Use appropriate tools strategically o Attend to precision Common Core State Standards for English and Language Arts grades 6-8: Reading Standards for Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects o Key Ideas and Structure: Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks. o Craft and Structure: Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 68 texts and topics. o Craft and Structure: Analyze the authors purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text. Next Generation Scientific and Engineering Practices o Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering). o Developing and using models. o Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering).

o Engaging in argument from evidence. o Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Next Generation Crosscutting Concepts o Patterns

Lesson Specifics:

Preparation: To prepare for this lesson the teacher will need to survey the school grounds looking for important attributes of the environment. Specifically, the teacher should be looking for water runoff pathways, water ways, clues as to what type of environment the school is located in, as well as how the environment was changed when the school was built. Additionally, pictures of key features of the school grounds will need to be taken. These features can be uploaded into Google Earth. More importantly, it is these photos that will start off the lesson. Keep in mind that if you wish to use Google Earth that the photographs were taken with a Global Positioning System (GPS) camera so that the pictures can be placed exactly where they were taken.

Engage (15 minutes): Using no more than ten images of just the schools ecosystem, without any buildings being shown, students will pair up and will review all ten pictures in order to determine where on the school grounds they were taken and to determine the health of ecosystem. After the partners have had a chance to discuss the images then they will be regrouped with another group and will continue the conversation. Return the focus to the front of the room where the Smartboard can be used to discuss the images as well as to show where the pictures were taken with Google Earth. Finally, discuss how accurate the students predictions were as well as how the students graded the environment.

Exploration (45 minutes): After seeing the photographs in Google Earth, students will be taken on a tour of the school grounds. The teacher should have already planned a path so that this can be done within

the time allotted. Before leaving the classroom, students will be given a worksheet to write their observations. This worksheet will have them focus on concepts that they are learning in the traditional curriculum as well as encourage students to think about how humans have impacted the environment. On the tour, the teacher should create a dialogue with students to point out key features as well as components of the ecosystem that are healthy and those that are not. This would be a great opportunity for students to use the GPS camera to document their findings if there are enough cameras for multiple students to use. The teacher should, however, have a list of specific features that may be beneficial later on in this unit. If students do not pick up on these features then the teacher should prompt them with questions in order to make sure that these features are discussed. Examples of features include drainage pathways, storm drains, evidence of human impact, borders between ecosystems, natural filters and any other environmental piece that could lead to deeper questions.

Explain (25 minutes): After taking the walk in the woods, students should start the next day looking at what different individuals observed. The goal here is to show students that different individuals have different perspectives, which can provide more information that will lead to a deeper understanding of the concepts being discussed. Once students have had a chance to discuss their findings, they should be placed into groups of four. Each group will create a circle map (Thinking maps inc.,) of the school environment. They will label evidence that is good with a green marker and evidence that is bad with a red marker. If there are general observations that the group feels are important then they should use an orange marker to write these down. After fifteen minutes, students should share their maps with the rest of the class.

Elaboration (25 minutes): After creating the circle maps, students should refocus on the Google Earth file that showcases the entire school complex. Have students look at the terrain, the waterways, the amount of open space, and how the buildings are arranged. Ask the groups to discuss whether they feel that the builders of this complex were considering the impact on the environment as they were working. Students should provide evidence from their walk as well as evidence that demonstrated how the organisms in the environment were affected by the construction of the

school. Once students have had a chance to discuss their viewpoint, then they should return back to their seats. Once there, the teacher should explain that they are going to complete a Philosophical Chair activity. In this activity, the students will take sides. One side of the room will be that the builders did consider the environment and did little to impact the organisms that lived in it. The other side of the room will be that the builders did not take into account the environment and therefore the organisms were greatly impacted by the building of the school complex. Any student who is uncertain should stand or sit in the middle of the room. The rules are that the teacher is the mediator and is the only one that can grant permission to speak. One side will start the discussion. This student should explain their stance and provide evidence to support it. Next, the other side will be allowed to provide their input. However, this student first has to summarize the viewpoint of the person that went before him or her. After that, they may provide their stance and evidence. Once a student has spoken he or she may not speak for another three turns. This way more students will be allowed to participate in the discussion. As this discussion moves forward students should be allowed to move from side to side or to the middle as they are listening to the different pieces of evidence. The goal is to get the majority of students on either the side that was that the builders were considerate of the environment or the side of the room that says that they were inconsiderate.

Note: If you would like to see a detailed explanation of the Philosophical Chairs Activity please see Appendix C.

Evaluate (Throughout the entire lesson): The evaluation for this lab will come from the daily logs that students are asked to complete. In these logs, the students are to write down the outcome and then rate themselves on whether they were able to reach the intended goal. To confirm this, there is a daily question that connects with the outcome and can be used to assess understanding. Additionally, informal observation during the lab and taking running records during class discussions can also help ascertain level of understanding.

Note: The following pages are the student handouts for this lab. A larger font is utilized for students with reading difficulties.

Name: _________________________________ Date: _______

Class: ___

The School Yard Environment

Directions: We are going to take a walk in the woods. As you walk, write down your observations about these categories. 1. What living things do you see? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 2. What non-living things do you see? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 3. Does the ecosystem look healthy? Provide evidence. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 4. How many drain pipes did you see? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 5. How does the creek look? Provide evidence. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

6. Merriam-Webster states that a wetland is, land or areas that are covered often intermittently with shallow water or have soil saturated with moisture. What evidence can you find that supports that this is a wetland? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 7. What do you want to know about this environment? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 8. What are your opinions of this environment? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 9. What stands out to you about this environment? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________
General Notes:

Anticipated Responses: The School Yard Environment

1. Answers will vary: Students should be writing down any animal, insect, invertebrate, or plant that they see. Encourage students to be more detailed then writing that they saw a tree. They should have a response that provides more detail like, I saw a pine tree, a fern, a snail, and a mouse. 2. Answers will vary: Remind students to think about the qualities that makes something living so that what they write includes only things that are not alive like rocks, cars, or trash. 3. Answers will vary: Students should provide compelling evidence as to their choice. If they say that is unhealthy they should note specific locations and what was occurring in those locations that made them feel that way. For example, a student may say that the environment is unhealthy because at the tree line there was a large amount of trash that included a couch, a tire, and a plastic container as well as a variety of different pieces of paper. If they say it is healthy their response should detail how the organisms look. 4. Answers will vary depending on your school. 5. Answers will vary. This question may be removed if your school does not have a creek nearby. 6. Answers will vary: Students should make note of any standing water as well as a description of the soil. The teacher may want to encourage students to bend down and look at the soil in order to help students in collecting evidence. Students also should make note of the different types of plants that they can observe. This may also be evidence if they can find non-vascular plants, which need to be close to a water source in order to survive. 7. Answers will vary. 8. Answers will vary. 9. Answers will vary.