ENDANGERED ECOSYSTEMS A WEB-BASED LESSON PLAN FOR GRADES 6-12 By Angelique Maldonado and Nora Nevera.

ENDANGERED ECOSYSTEMS

A WEB-BASED LESSON PLAN FOR GRADES 6-12

By Angelique Maldonado and Nora Nevera

Learner Characteristics

Nepal- Middle school

Nagarjuna Academy Kathmandu, Nepal. Site coordinator, Amit Bikram Sijapati is a social studies teacher who also coordinates a very active Nagarjuna Eco-Club for students.

New Mexico-high school

St. Pius X High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Principal Barbara Rothweiler, PhD has approved the project. St. Pius has several active and functioning student clubs and organizations, one of which is called the “Go-Green Club”.

Content Delivery

Course content

Website

Google Drive

WordPress

Communications

Facebook

Weblog

WordPress

Google +

Learner support and course content at Wordpress.com

Lesson Plans

Inquiry-Based Learning

Exploration of human impacts on river ecosystems: The Rio Grande case study

In this unit plan for mid-high school earth and environmental science, students explore the impact of human activity on the health of rivers in urban and non-urban settings.

Students mimic current scientific research by measuring physical and biological indicators of river health.

The case study on which the unit is based involves the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, NM, but instructions are provided for various settings.

5-E Instructional ModelThe Rio Grande River Study curriculum module follows the 5E Instructional Model.

• In the engagement activity students examine photos of various urban streams and natural streams

• In the exploration activity students begin focusing on the Rio Grande site.

• In the explanation, the teacher leads a class discussion to help students put together ideas from the engagement and exploration

• The elaboration activity students research teams make physical and biological measurements to assess river health at the three Rio Grande research sites.

• Evaluation to gage students’ interest and gives students an opportunity to demonstrate level of understanding

Teacher instructions

Group Work

Divide your students into pairs.

Give each student pair two photos of New Mexico streams, one of an urban stream and one of a natural, forested stream.

Give the student pairs a few minutes to look at their photos and identify ways in which the two streams look different.

Brainstorming

ask students to share ways in which the urban streams looked different from the natural streams.

Help the class come to a general consensus on what traits are associated with a typical urban stream.

Tell the students that they will soon be conducting research on an urban stream in Albuquerque, NM, to determine whether or not it recovers from the effects of urbanization.

Mountain Ecosystem in NepalA lesson plan for grades 6-12

Information Skills, Science, and Social Studies

Mountains are a dominant feature of Nepal’s physical landscape. In this lesson, students will learn about the mountain ecosystem of Nepal and begin to understand the terrain, climate, and biodiversity of the mountain regions.

Learning outcomes

Students will:

define ecosystem and biodiversity

apply scientific tools, personal research observation, and research logs

gather information about the ecosystems found in the Nepalese mountains

locate Nepal and specific mountains or mountain ranges on a map

view photographs and research on the web, in reference materials, and from other sources and take notes on Nepalese mountain ecosystems

create a five-entry journal of a short mountain “ecosystem” hike using research logs, images, and maps gathered

Learner Materials

New Mexico & Nepal

‘Bridging the Gap’

Initial Research

Research is conducted with the missions, field sites and field reports.

Students are encouraged to access the media resources available at course website. Course Blogs, blogs on WordPress and blogs on Google+ are also free available sources for building social presence and generating interest and feedback.

Field Sites

Essential or Invasive?

Among the butterflies being smuggled out were the Southern Birdwing, Common Blue Bottle and the Malabar Tree Nymph which are all on the endangered list.

Apparently the caterpillars were just extreme in their numbers and causing extreme defoliation," he said. "They have already stripped the trees."

Game-Based Learning

Reinforcing learned ideas from research with a fun game-based approach.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/resources/health/field-guide/images/large/fid-f047-large.jpg

Reinforcing concepts and learned ideas

One-Stop Science Resource Site

http://www.unm.edu/~pearl1/GlobalEcosystems.htm

Learner support

QUESTIONS?