March 15 th, 2014 University of Washington. Introductions & Acknowledgements Karen Matsumoto Nicole Ivey CS Staff & Volunteers Louise Mead Melissa Kjelvik.

March 15th, 2014

University of Washington

Introductions & Acknowledgements

Karen MatsumotoNicole IveyCS Staff & Volunteers

Louise MeadMelissa KjelvikLiz Schultheis

Billie SwallaBryan BartleyLauren VandepasEmma Timmins-Schiffman

Andi Anderson

Goals for Today1. Teachers will learn a simple, logical framework for creating and implementing scientific field investigations. Teachers will gain confidence guiding their own students’ inquiry projects.

2. Teachers will practice graphical analysis with Excel, while gaining familiarity with real-life environmental monitoring data.

3. Teachers will learn how to practice scientific inquiry in the classroom using Data Nuggets worksheets. Furthermore, teachers will use the provided data sets to explore their own investigative questions and create their own Data Nuggets. The Citizen Science program hopes to share outstanding examples of students’ and teachers’ Data Nuggets about marine science topics on the datanuggets.org website, as a resource for other educators and the public.

Where does inquiry begin?

"Once the emotions have been aroused - a sense of the beautiful, the excitement of the new and unknown, a feeling of sympathy, pity, admiration, or love - then we wish for knowledge about the object of our emotional response. Once found it has lasting meaning.“

—Carson, The Sense of Wonder, 1956

Life is the most complex physical phenomenon in the Universe, manifesting an extraordinary diversity of form and function over an enormous scale from the largest animals and plants to the smallest microbes and subcellular units.

— West and Brown, 2005

http://scaleofuniverse.com/

Look Up, Look Down, Look in the Middlesee Ryken p.16

For the Uninspired…

I am curious about . . .

It surprised me that . . .

My favorite part of the beach is…

I wonder how this part of the ecosystem affects that other part . . .

If I could choose to be any animal, it would be…

adapted from Ryken, p16.

Essential Questions

…are big picture questions that cannot be answered with one investigation

Essential Questions

Essential Questions

http://www.jd-d.co.uk/2012/06/patterns-networks-reef-architecture.html

Some Essential Questions of the Citizen Science Program

•What makes up the environment?

•What is a healthy environment?

•What are the parts and relationships in the intertidal ecosystem?

•Where do I fit into the ecosystem?

•What responsibility do individuals and communities have in the preservation of environmental resources?

Some Essential Questions of the Citizen Science Program

•What makes up the environment?

•What is a healthy environment?

•What are the parts and relationships in the intertidal ecosystem?

•Where do I fit into the ecosystem?

•What responsibility do individuals and communities have in the preservation of environmental resources?

•What are yours?

“Testable” Questions

Manipulated

Responding

Variables

“Testable” Questions

Manipulatedor

Changed

Respondingor

Measured

Variables

“Testable” Questions

Manipulatedor

Changedor

Predictor

Respondingor

Measuredor

Response

Variables

“Testable” Questions

Manipulatedor

Changedor

Predictor

Respondingor

Measuredor

Response

or Independent

or Dependent

“Testable” Variables

Qualitative Quantitative

Qualitative Information

Qualitative Information

What does it look like?

Qualitative Information

What does it look like?eg, radial, concentric

Qualitative InformationWhat does it sound like?

Qualitative InformationWhat does it sound like?eg, high and shrill, low and reverbrating

Qualitative Information

What’s it smell like?

Qualitative Information

What’s it smell like?eg, decay, rich

Qualitative Information

What’s it feel like?

Qualitative Information

What’s it feel like?eg, slimy, rough

Qualitative Information

What’s it taste like?

Qualitative Information

What’s it taste like?You shouldn’t putthings at the beachin your mouth!

Qualitative Information

What kind is it?eg, juvenile or adult,predator or prey,protected or endangered

Qualitative Information

What kind is it?eg, juvenile or adult,predator or prey,protected or endangered

Qualitative Information

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_web

Quantitative Measurement

Physical measurementstimetidal elevationtemperaturepHorganism size (or size of molt)location (GPS app)distance travelled

Quantitative MeasurementRemote and historical data:Historical Citizen Science data

King County Marine-Moorings (green.kingcounty.gov/marine-buoy/

NANOOS Visualization System (nvs.nanoos.org)

CoastWatch (coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov)

GOOGLE Earth (google.com/earth)

Ecological Measurements:Species richness (a la Bioblitz)Frequency (from presence / absence data)Species abundance (counting versus estimating, good for population trends over time)coverage (from habitat and substrate)Biodiversity indices (Simpson’s & Shannon Index)

Quantitative Measurement

Quantitative Measurement

A typical quantitative measurement consists of several repeated measurements summarized by a mean and standard deviation.

Quantitative Measurement

Quantitative Measurement

=AVERAGE(number1, number2,...) =STDEV(number1, number2,...)

3 Types of InvestigationsStephanie Zimsen

Which substrate does Anthopleura prefer?

S = Sand G = Gravel C = Cobble B = Boulder

SD = Shell Debris L = Log

BR = Bedrock

see Example 1 - Comparison.xls

Calculating Frequency from Presence/Absence Data

The frequency of ulvoids for plot 4 is:

quadrats 4

hits 40.1 frequency

Calculating Frequency from Presence/Absence Data

Now assume that the ulvoids are randomlydistributed between the Gravel & Sand areas.

The probability that the ulvoids will be in gravel is 90%.

Their overall frequency in gravel is 90% x 1.0 = 0.9

0.1

What is the relationship between chlorophyll concentrations and dissolved oxygen in Elliot Bay?

by Shawn Larson

https://green.kingcounty.gov/marine-buoy/default.aspx

see Example 2 - Correlation.xls

Examples

How much biodiversity is on Alki beach?

see exercise in Ryken, p. 8

Examples

How much biodiversity is on Alki beach?Descriptive (quantitative)

see exercise in Ryken, p. 8

Examples

What is the food web in an eelgrass bed?

Examples

What is the food web in an eelgrass bed?Descriptive (qualitative)

Examples

How does water pH at the shoreline compare to an isolated tide-pool or a finger-bowl?

Examples

How does water pH at the shoreline compare to an isolated tide-pool or a finger-bowl?

Comparative (different kinds of water conditions)

Examples

How are beaches in developed areas, like Alki, different from those in more protected areas, like Rockaway?

Examples

How are beaches in developed areas, like Alki, different from those in more protected areas, like Rockaway?

Comparative (different kinds of environment)

Examples

Has the area covered by eel grass beds increased or decreased?

Examples

Has the area covered by eel grass beds increased or decreased?

Comparative (or the simplest form of correlation)

Examples

How does an abundance of seastars affect the shellfish population?

Examples

How does an abundance of seastars affect the shellfish population?

Correlative