Environmental Science 20: Aquatic Systems Unit

Outline Martina Leader, Derek Sembaluk, Brianna Rackow, Hilary Roemer, Corey McCowan

Outcome– ES20-AS1 Analyze the function and condition of freshwater aquatic systems such as rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands and watersheds. (CP, DM, SI)

Outcome - ES20-SDS1Create and carry out a plan to explore one or more topics of personal interest relevant to Environmental Science 20 in depth. (CP, DM, SI, TPS)

Goals ● Students understand that many different

abiotic factors interact such as oxygen and temperature.

● That students understand the role nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous impact water quality

● Students are able to devise a plan using research and previous knowledge to come up with a solution to poor water quality.

● Students are able to take previous research and information and devise an argument. Students are then able to create a documentary elaborating their arguments with evidence presented.

Classroom Curriculum WorkClass work consists of a variety of assignments including videos, worksheets, class activities, reports, etc. Assessments for these assignments will vary with the nature of the assignment. Some assignments will meet curriculum outcomes by completion of the task. The success for each task is included.

CLASS 1Task #1: The Role of Dissolved Oxygen in Water Quality Exit Slip Flip Grids

Due: By Start of Class #2 Percentage of Final Mark: 2%

Formative Assessment: Students will understand the role of dissolved oxygen in water quality. Students will learn how different temperatures can affect the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water. They will also learn the difference between dissolved oxygen in the water and biologically available oxygen. We will discuss how changing levels of oxygen can affect one species within the food web and how this can have large impacts on other levels of the food web. Class discussion based on prerequisite learnings assist teacher understanding of where student knowledge is at. Individual Flip Grids are used for summative assessment to ensure individual comprehension.

Summative Assessment: Exit slip Flip Grid – If the temperature of the water increases what happens to the amount of dissolved oxygen? Is this an accurate way of measuring the temperature of the water? Why or Why not? Answer: As the temperature increases the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water decreases. This is because gas is more soluble in cold water. The solubility of Oxygen also depends on salinity and elevation as well as pollution in the water.

*This is to assess that the students understood the connection between the temperature of the water and to get them thinking about what else might affect the oxygen in the water. The use of flipgrid is to get them used to making videos and talking in front of the camera with their own ideas and thoughts. This will be the first step in preparation for the documentary project at the end of the unit.

Success Criteria: ● Flipgrid must be a minimum of 30 seconds long ● Student must mention the correlation between temperature and the solubility of gas ● Student hypothesizes in whether or not this would be an accurate way to measure the

temperature of water. Their prediction must be backed by at least one reason why they think that.

● Students must speak clearly and video must be audible (minimal background noise).

CLASS 2Task #2: Nutrients in Water LabDue: At End of Class #2Formative Check-in

Students run an experiment to determine how Nitrogen and Phosphorous affect the growth of algae in freshwater systems. Students will work in groups to determine predictions.The group works together to conduct the experiment and individually record results. This is to get the students to gain more information that they are able to use when making their documentaries. Additionally, students need to provide evidence from results to communicate concluding points across effectively.

Formative Assessment: Students will learn how nutrients, phosphorous, and nitrogen impact the growth of algae. Students will have to filter and mark down which set of buckets (either the one with the nitrogen added or the ones with the phosphorous added) had the largest increase in algae. Students will then have to come up with a reason why that is the case and if there was no change why? Students will be provided with a lab worksheet at the beginning of the class. They will be expected to record their results, concluding with their explanation of why/why not the change was evident, based on their initial predictions. The teacher will collect each data sheet at the end of class and use them to formatively assess that students were able to make predictions, complete the experiment, and form conclusions that exhibit an understanding of the research. This research is prerequisite learning/knowledge for the final documentary project.

Students will discuss different reasons as a class why the algae growth did or did not change using the information they have previously learned about these nutrients and their impacts on water quality.

CLASS 3Task #3: Group Challenge Application QuestionDue: By Start of Class #4Percentage of Final Mark: 4%

Summative Assessment: Students will be given a situation where the water quality of a lake is poor or degraded. It is up to them as a team to decide the best way to improve the water quality of that system. Teacher will be looking for the students understanding and control of nutrients into the system as well

as nutrient sources that are already in the system. They should also be able to use the information provided to determine which types of solutions will work best. Examples would be wastewater treatment plants, artificial wetlands, introducing planktivorous fish, culling macrophytes etc. I will also be looking at students coming up with creative ways of solving water quality problems.

E.g. You are contracted by the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environment. They want you to devise a plan to decrease the algae blooms that are occurring in Kenosee lake each summer. A researcher at the University of Regina has already done some analyses and discovered that there is on average 16.1 µg/L of phosphorous entering the lake and on average 604 µg/L of nitrogen. The lake has a large amount of piscivorous fish and dissolved oxygen of 10 µg/L. Looking at the surrounding watershed you also discover that there is a lot of agricultural land that the water runs through before it enters the lake. What is your plan for decreasing the number of algae in the lake? Describe your plan in detail including several solutions to the problem and how you would accomplish these solutions.

This is to get the students to take knowledge they have already learned and apply it to practical situations. The idea is that students should not just regurgitate the information they have learned but be able to apply it to varying situations. The idea is to get students thinking about the different solutions for poor water quality that they can use in their documentary.

Students are to come up with a conclusion on the water quality of the lake. Success criteria/rubric will be provided with assignment description at the beginning of the class.

Rubric for Group Challenge Application Question

4 3 2 1

Plan The plan is well thought out, backed up with evidence and reasoning. At least 3 sources used.

The plan is mostly thought out with some evidence and reasoning used. 1-2 sources used.

The plan is kind of thought out with none or little evidence or reasoning used. At least one source is used.

The plan is not thought out and there is no evidence or reasoning used.

Identified one problem

They correctly identified a possible problem and came up with

They correctly identified a possible problem and came up with a

They correctly identified a possible problem but did not provide a

The did not correctly identify a possible problem and did

more than one possible solution.

possible solution.

possible solution.

not provide a solution.

Solutions The solutions are well thought out and explained using multiple evidence based reasons.

The solution contains one evidence based reason and explanation is relatively clear.

The solution is not well thought out and did not use realistic ideas or evidence

There is no solution provided

CLASS 4 - 7Major ProjectDue: By Class 7 (Presentation date of group documentaries)Percentage of Final Mark: 4%

Part #1: What Do Bugs Tell us about Water?

CLASS 4

Students are discovering what Macroinvertebrates can tell us about water quality. They are learning how to make observations and make connections between those observations. Students will be evaluated on their observations and conclusion using the criteria listed in the rubrics and checklists. In groups of 5-6, students will be sampling Wascana water for Oxygen levels, nitrogen and/or phosphorous levels for their documentary. The teacher will provide water sampling kits for each group to use in the field. Students are therefore required to a) perform the experiment (sample the water), b) record data information to be used in the documentary, and c) shoot footage for their documentary.

Formative Assessment: Before the end of the class, the teacher will meet with each individual group to formatively assess where each student is at in their research. Questions teacher will ask groups:

1. What have you chosen to sample and discuss in your documentary (e.g. oxygen/phosphorous/nitrogen)?

2. What invertebrates have you found? What other visual elements are specific to this

3. How does the surrounding environment connect to the research from your samples?

FURTHER KEY QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Does the time of year matter? Yes, this will determine the species present and the amounts

What factors do you think would contribute to which species are present?

Oxygen in the water, nutrients available (N, P), amount of algae, macrophytes, toxins in the water

Does the location you choose to sample matter?

Yes it can matter because you may miss Macroinvertebrates that are in a different area

Could you sample the whole lake? If so why if not, why?

No it’s too big to sample the whole lake in a reasonable time.

You can’t sample the whole lake so what is the best way to sample?

Semi-random sampling. Make sure to sample in different areas but try and go to areas that look different from each other.

Part #2: Documentary

CLASS 5 AND 6

Students will be given two lesson periods to work on part #2 of the major project. Students will continue research from the previous class if needed and continue filming. Next they will move on to creating the actual documentary of their research. In the documentary students will have to scientifically describe Macro Invertebrates encountered and then outline the oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus levels they observed. To tie this all together students will then make speculations about how the Macro Invertebrates encountered affect these levels.

Formative Assessment Class #5: The teacher will interact with the groups throughout the preparation of the documentary, ensuring that students are on task, comprehending the expectations of the assignment, referencing the research, referencing the success criteria, and answering any questions students may have. At this point in time, the teacher should be able

to assess how much time students may need to complete the project outside of class. Upon agreement between teacher and class, the presentation date may be altered.

Formative Assessment Class #6: Students will be provided with a self-assessment template to assess the work that has been done in the research and documentation process thus far. Students should be close to completion of their documentary (and will be provided time to finish outside of class). The self assessment will address topics such as a) ability to work in a group, b) ability to collect data, c) ability to connect research to script, d) comparing group documentary to success criteria (checklist).

CLASS 7

Groups will present their documentary videos with a brief, in-class introduction (1-2 minutes). Students expected to respectfully watch each of the other videos. Groups will be expected to submit their videos to the teacher by the end of the day on the presentation date.

The presentation date will be provided at the beginning of the unit, however is subject to change upon teacher discretion. The presentations can take place after a new unit has already started, in order to allow the students enough time to finish the project.

Name:_______________________Success Criteria for Major Project: Part #1

Criteria for a Good Observation Met Not Met

Specifics measurements (length, width, mass) number of characteristics (e.g. 10 jointed legs)

Descriptive Words (e.g. Iridescent, spherical, scaly, powdery, etc.) and details (location, colour, texture, quantity, sounds, smells, etc.)

Analogies (It reminds me of..., it looks like...)

Speculations

Possibly used to..., an adaptation for...

Observations Include: Feedback:

Specifics

Descriptive details

Analogies

Speculations

Students are making observations of the lake, surrounding area and the invertebrates that they find.

Success Criteria for Major Project: Part #2

Criteria for Documentary

4 3 2 1

Clear and audible video

All parts of video are easy to hear, speech is clear, minimal background noise.

Most of the video is easy to hear, a little bit of background noise but voice is loud and clear.

Audio is a bit quiet, a lot of background noise is present.

Difficult to hear what narrator is saying due to quiet audio and a lot of background noise.

Makes connections

Connections are made between macro invertebrates, their characteristics, and the condition of the water. These connections lead to evidence based conclusions. Addresses water quality conditions

Connections are made between two of the three research elements. This connection leads to an evidence based conclusion.

Connections between elements of research are weak, with little evidence to support. Conclusion is not drawn

There are no connections made between elements of research. No clear conclusion drawn.

and reasons why (example algae as a result of surrounding watershed having runoff from farmers fields).

from connections.

Uses research and reasoning

Every scientific claim made is backed up by research. Some research is scholarly.Research supports reasoning why water quality is good or bad.

Majority of scientific claims are backed up by research or in class material.

Some arguments made are backed up by research or in class material.

None of the claims made are backed up by evidence or in class material.

Length of video must be between 10 and 15 minutes in length.

Video is between 10-15 minutes

Video is a minute or two shorter or longer than time frame.

Video is 3-5 minutes to short or too long.

Video is more than 5 minutes too short of too long.

Philosophy of Assessment: Justification

We chose documentaries as an evaluation because the documentary is a useful assessment tool with the ability to bring the world to students in a very real way. Through use of the documentary, students are able to raise awareness on global issues and focus on current events. The documentary is a tool which can immerse and engage students in the environment as it brings place, time, and culture to an assignment. According to Witschonke’s research, using an alternative to traditional textbooks such as a documentary will be more effective for teaching because it is more visually appealing and better at engaging the students (Witschonke, 2007). Students are exploring and explaining within the actual context and they will be using critical thinking and analysis of this specific topic. The documentary is a great way to dive into real-world issues such as water quality and analyze the environmental and societal factors that affect water quality. The entire class also gets to watch each documentary which Berk thinks will have a strong effect on viewers minds and senses and easily grab students attention, elicit emotion, and foster deeper learning (Berk, 2009). This means the whole class will have multiple opportunities to look at water quality in their own city and to critically think about infrastructure, pollution and policy within their municipality.

According to our assessment philosophy, both formative and summative are important tools to use for educators. Formative assessment is used as data collection to inform teaching and guide student learning. There will be multiple formative assessments throughout our unit including a discussion, lab activity, worksheet, questioning, and self-assessment. We believe

that differentiated assessment is important to give students who all have different needs the opportunity to succeed. Mantei’s research highlights the importance of using digital technologies as one way to provide students with new ways to represent meaning making (Mantei, 2017). Öman goes further to say that in present times language has developed beyond simply reading and writing skills to technological literacy (Öman, 2015). Technological literacy is critically important in science because it allows us to better understand the world, and a documentary is one form of assessment that allows students to explore technology for the classroom. Our philosophy of assessment includes continuous differentiated formative assessments, so we will use them throughout the unit. These aim to gauge student knowledge, and ensure that they are on the right track. The check-in questioning process during the research will assess students current knowledge to ensure they are on the right track and there will be no surprises come the documentary. These ongoing assessments are important to determine what students are learning and if they are grasping the big ideas.

Summative assessment or evaluation involves judging the evidence that we receive and is important to determine what the student knows with regards to the class outcomes. The teacher will summatively assess the students research and speculation about water systems. Summative assessment will include the challenge question, the documentary, and the flipgrid. We believe that need to have clear expectations and examples prior to evaluation and have input into the criteria and rubric. To help students succeed and know what is expected of them we will provide students with the success criteria and go through it together before students complete their documentaries. We are using multiple forms of evaluation to cater to students different learning styles and allowing all students the opportunity to have academic success.

Using the documentary to assess student learning most resembles constructivist epistemology for us because using a documentary there is no one single correct answer and it is not lecture based where the teacher gives the student information. Most of the work being done is the students taking research and formulating their own argument using evidence and reasoning. Our group debated this a bit because science is generally seen as more positivistic with one clear cut answer that we can prove with experiments, but the documentary just doesn’t fit that mould. The documentary is based on students working together to research to get data, and use their creativity to speculate. Kim’s research backs up our assessment philosophy by emphasizing the importance of developing student creativity, critical testing, collaboration, and prediction skills in science education; all of which the documentary handles (Kim, 2013).

References

Berk, R. A. (2009). Multimedia Teaching with Video Clips: TV, Movies, YouTube, and MtvU

in the College Classroom. International Journal of Technology in Teaching and

Learning, 5(1), 1-21.

Kim, S. Y., Yi, S. W., & Cho, E. H. (2013). Production of a Science Documentary and its Usefulness in Teaching the Nature of Science: Indirect Experience of How Science Works. Springer Science 1-20.

Mantei, J., & Kervin, L. (2017). Using Short Films in the Classroom as a Stimulus for Digital Text Creation. The Reading Teacher, Vol 70 1-6.

Öman, A., & Hashemi, S. S. (2015). Design and Redesign of a Multimodal Classroom Task - Implications for Teaching and Learning. Journal of Informational Technology Education: Research, 14, 139-59.

Witschonke, C. (2007). Creating Your Own Alternative Texts for the Classroom: How film has put to rest an age-old student question. Social Studies Review; Education Database 70-74.

Group Evaluation Assignment #2 (Presentation): ECS 410

Names of Presenters:Hilary Roemer, Derek Sembaluk, Martina Leader, Brianna Rackow, Corey McCowan

Grade: 85%

Overview of the medium (video games, digital comic books, spoken word poem/rap, cellphilm/documentary, community-based event/community engagement, or place-based activity) is explained in detail, including how the medium can support learning in the classroom (benefits and why we might incorporate them into the classroom). Research is cited (at least five academic sources) to support claims.

An overview of the medium was present. We should have gone into more detail about actual documentaries themselves and what parts are important to make the film a documentary. We did give examples of common documentaries and joked about how they usually are narrated by a person with a Australian or British accent. We also joked about celebrities doing voice overs. There was a little discussion at the end of the explanation of the unit but not enough. Research was cited and several areas of where it can support learning in the classroom were mentioned.

Description of the unit and culminating activity is provided. Unit is outlined sequentially. Unit is well-organized and supports student learning in the subject area, as outlined in the curriculum. Culminating activity is explained.

The unit was described in detail with each activity and how it is working towards the culminating activity. It was outlined sequentially over the 7 classes. We used scaffolding throughout the lessons to support student learning.

Connection between the unit and the curriculum is offered. The subject area and specific outcomes that the unit meets are identified and explained. Specific elements of the curriculum (outcomes) are identified with curriculum documents referenced.

Connections with the Environmental Science curriculum were provided including the two outcomes the unit was addressing. The outcomes have embedded links that reference the exact pages of the outcomes within the curriculum online.

Brief account offered of how the medium might be used to support learning for other elements of the curriculum and for other subject areas. Specific elements of the curriculum (outcomes) are identified with curriculum documents referenced.

Several areas of the curriculum were mentioned such as Math and Media Studies 20, with their accompanying outcomes, where a documentary can be used to support learning.

Assignment(s), assessment tool and formative assessment tool(s) explained, including an account of rationale for selecting this particular method.

Both formative and summative assessment tools were explained and the rationale for why we were using those assessment tools was included. We created examples of what the assessment would look like by creating rubrics, success criteria, and observation criteria.

Evidence that group has mastered (to some extent) the medium is provided: either by showing and explaining something they have created using this medium (e.g. a page of a digital comic, a short cellphilm, a spoken word poem, etc.) or by offering a brief tutorial on how to use this medium (e.g. recording a rap on Flocabulary, how to put together a panel on ComicLife). If the latter, steps are presented sequentially.

A demonstration of how to create a documentary using footage shot on a camera or cell phone was done. The program Da Vinci Resolve was explained and shown how it can give students more control than just imovie. Also, we discussed using Flipgrid for a scaffolding method.

Content well organized and delivered in a manner that would make it easy for the audience to follow and understand.

The content was organized in a logical manner so that one section flowed into the next. We made deliberate choices about the order of elements in the presentation to assist in understanding the development of our activity (i.e. discussing the medium over various elements of the curriculum first, and then focusing on the Science curriculum; explaining our assessment immediately after each task to relate assessment to activity).

Presentation is interesting and engaging. Speed of delivery is appropriate, as is volume and pacing.

The presentation was interesting and engaging. We had pictures within the presentation and visual examples of assessment throughout the presentation. We tried to not make the powerpoint slides too overwhelming so we reduced the amount of text and create slide notes to help us with our talking points. We had a demonstration of video editing at the end of the presentation.

Group members are identified at the outset of the presentation.

The group members were identified at the outset. We each introduced ourselves.

Presentation is 20-30 minutes in length. The presentation was just over 20 minutes

Reflection on Learning

What key challenges did you encounter in completing this assignment? What was one major area of growth? What learning surprised you?

One of the largest challenges was finding academic resources, where the creations of documentaries were used to support learning in the classroom. There were a lot on the showing of documentaries in the classroom but few on actually creating documentaries. One major area of growth was our understanding of whether peer and self evaluation should be formative and summative. There were disagreements in our group over which they should be and after doing research and discussing it we decided that formative made the most sense. We were surprised through the project to realize that science is not as positivistic as we thought. It has or can be taught in a very positivistic way however a lot of principles of science and science education such as inquiry and independent learning are constructivist.

University of Regina Percentage gradesGrade Description

90- 100 An outstanding performance with very strong evidence of:· an insightful and comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the course

material;· an ability to make sound and original critical evaluation of the course material;· highly original, creative and/or logical thinking;· an exceptional ability to organize, to analyze, to synthesize, to integrate ideas,

andto express thoughts in writing.

80-89 Excellent performance with strong evidence of:· a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the course material;· an ability to make sound critical evaluation of the course material;· original, creative and/or logical thinking;· an excellent ability to organize, to analyze, to synthesize, to integrate ideas, and

to express thoughts in writing.

70-79 Very Good performance with evidence of:· a substantial knowledge and understanding of the course material;· sound critical evaluation of the course material;· some original creative, and/or logical thinking;· an above-average ability to organize, to analyze and to examine ideas in a

critical and constructive manner, and toexpress thoughts in writing.

60-69 Good performance with evidence of:· an acceptable basic knowledge and understanding of the course material;· some ability to make critical evaluation of the provided course material;· acceptable creative and/or logical thinking;· an acceptable ability to organize, to analyze and to examine ideas, and to

express thoughts in writing.

50-59 A barely acceptable performance with evidence of:· some familiarity with the course material;· some evidence that analytical skills have been developed;· partially successful attempts at creative or logical thinking

partially successful attempts to organize, to analyze and to examine ideas and basic competence in writing.

0-49 Unacceptable performance.