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West Chicago Middle School
West Chicago, located in a far western suburb of Chicago, has a student population of approximately 700 students divided into 5 teams with "gifted clusters" and full inclusion. The five member teams have one teacher for each discipline; language arts, reading, social studies, math, and science. It is a culturally diverse population that is approximately 30% Hispanic. Class sizes vary between 25 - 32 students. Each class period is 41 minutes long with one additional resource/ teacher assistance period during the day. There is one computer with Internet access in the LLC, but a fair number of students in each class have access at home. We do have access to a MAC computer lab for word processing and CD-rom research as well as 3 computers in the LLC and 1 PC in my classroom.
In the Beginning....
Students will use lab activities involving the scientific method to investigate the ecological principles of interaction and balance between the living and the natural world. They are invited to assume the role of resident expert in Oil Spill!, an event-based science module written by Russell Wright. The entire unit is designed for a minimum of five weeks. This program offers many resource suggestions, background materials, and supplementary activities. The Project Timeline will help teachers organize their planning and provide a list of resoures available on the Internet.
As students enter the classroom, a copy of the lead article covering The North Cape Oil Spill is posted., reporting an oil spill accident off the coast of Rhode Island."Why should we be concerned, anyway, when we don't live anywhere near the spill?" Jeremy asks. "Because the world isn't as big as it used to be, Jenny answers. Don't your parents drive cars? Oil is used for a lot of things. Just because we don't live near the site doesn't mean we won't be affected." The class decides to make a list of all ways that we depend on oil. "Besides the cost of oil going up if a lot of oil should be lost at sea, what are some other effects of oil spill disasters?" the teacher asks. A student volunteers to write the suggestions on the overhead for all to see. "Do you see any common groupings?" Students decide on several broad categories to help them organize the list. They then divide into working groups to brainstorm additional effects for each category. The groups write their list on large paper which is posted on the wall. "Wait a minute! How can the same effect be under two different categories? Where does it really belong?" Josh asks. "Aha! Things don't stand alone in nature, do they? There is a natural interaction among living and non-living things," the teacher points out. "What's going to happen now?" Arianna asks. "How are they going to clean it up?" The teacher suggests investigating older oil spills to find out what was done and how effective the results were..."Any suggestions?" "The Exxon Valdez!" Kyle shouts. The journey into the world of supertankers, ocean currents, and wildlife preservation begins.
The first two days of this unit are spent gathering background information on oil spill disasters by investigating the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989. Even though it is not a current event, it has the advantage of being well documented and the results of clean up efforts can be evaluated. Some mistakes were made, as the students will soon discover. A copy of a CNN video of news coverage of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, off the coast of Alaska is playing as soon as the students enter the class the following day. The students are making notes of questions that come up as they watch. Amy wants more information about how many birds were lost and what the cost per bird was. John wants to know what it was like to actually be a part of the clean-up efforts. Andrew is fascinated by the size of the tanker and wonders how it floats in the first place! The search for answers continues. Three students volunteer to use the Internet to find additional information on the Exxon Valdez disaster while others search the library for old newspaper articles on microfilm. One group is interested in finding out about the composition and behavior of crude oil, its effects on the environment, and how it becomes a usable product for us. They're hooked! The following questions are generated by the class as a basis for lab activities.
Lab activities are a perfect format for engaged Learning Indicators learning. Students are working in preassigned cooperative groups at the six lab stations in the science room. Today, they are investigating the nature of oil as it pertains to clean up . They are using a selection of items provided in an effort to contain the "spill". Nate's group asks for some additional supplies. "This stuff is impossible to clean up. It sticks to everything!" Melissa shouts. "There's no way a bird can fly with oil on its wings," Sarah's group comments. "How long would it take to clean each bird?" The class offers suggestions of where to go to find the answer...and Sarah's group sets out for the library and the Internet. They plan to report their results to the class tomorrow.
As the week continues, students conduct investigations into the marine life community by completing a profile of the tidal zone.Students are using media center resources, reference materials, and Internet access to compile their data. In math class, the capacity of oil tankers is calculated at the same time that students are investigating the how much a ship can carry in science." Wow! These ships are huge!" "No wonder it's a disaster when there is an oil spill." are a few reported comments. Estimating the area of the harbor in math really tests their ability to estimate the area of irregular surfaces and apply that knowledge to the Exxon Valdez event.
The Task
The simulation begins. Students will form teams of experts consisting
of a harbormaster (team-leader), physical oceanographer, marine biologist,
economist, and risk planner. Each team will be assigned to investigate
and analyze one of six cities being considered for a new port facility
for supertankers. The teacher begins class with, "Today, you have
received an introductory letter and job application
from Port Consultants, Inc. They have heard of your outstanding contributions
in your field and are interested in offering you a job as a marine biologist,
harbor master, economist, risk planner, or physical oceanographer. Please
identify the position you are seeking, complete the form, and return it
for consideration. "What does a risk planner do?" The class decides
that they need more information about these careers by e-mailing the real-life
experts.
OOPS! The students have no training on how to write a resume. The language arts teacher offers to use her class time to assist students in completing the applications. Students proofread their letters of introduction and practice interviewing each other. The team teachers meet to assign the roles based on the application and interview results. Congratulations! Letters of acceptance are distributed at the beginning of class the next day. "Now that you know your focus, it's time to get to work. Please review the information from your resident expert and meet with others from your department," the teacher states. The groups scatter to talk in private. The marine biologists are deep in thought, sorting out their responsibilities, but the economists are not as focused. They are overheard to be unsure of where to begin. The teacher suggests that they go to the Internet to Pitsco's Launch to Asking an Expert the Expert for more specific information on what their responsibilities will be. "Departments" meet to compose an e-mail message. Communicating with their real-life counterpart is one of our goals.
The following day, there is excitement in the room. A memo from the President of Port Consultants has been received, and teams have been assigned a city to investigate. All groups are meeting as "city teams" to formulate a plan for gathering information. The room is productively noisy while the teacher is circulating from group to group, asking questions as necessary to provide focus or redirection.. Students are reminded that their task is to show both the pros and cons of choosing their assigned site for a new harbor terminal, not to influence the choice of their city over another. They are not in competition with other teams or other cities since all students work for the same consulting firm. With their strategies in place, they are ready to roll!
As the project progresses, the students are realizing that they need
to check several different resources to get their information. At the beginning
of class, the teacher , acting as the project manager, meets with the entire
group of experts to address common concerns.
" I need an update on your progress so far. What have been your best resources for information?" The students refer to the journal-logs they have been keeping. John's group prefers the Internet, but others have found it frustrating and time-consuming. "John, could you please share with the group how you have been so successful? What strategies have you used to cut through some of the delays?" Students make notes of John's suggestions.
"Do you have any questions for me?" "Has anyone received any e-mail?" the teacher asks. Sarah has gotten messages from the University of Miami department of Marine Biology. "I think we need to figure out just what animals will be affected in an oil spill," she says. The teacher agrees. "Let me know if you need any help."
The teacher continues, "How often are you meeting as a city team? I have left this up to each of you and I want to know if you feel it's enough time...or too little." It is agreed that at this time, there is more of a need to meet as expert groups so that they can share resources to gather their information to take back to their city team. They have met as city teams at the beginning of the class period every second or third day, but two groups have met briefly each day. Their team leaders respond that he think it helps to focus his team before they begin to work. "Don't forget that your journal-logs must be kept up-to-date."
The harbormasters and risk managers realize that they need more information on tides, currents, dredging, and geological data. The teacher asks, "Is this information that everyone connected with this project would benefit from knowing?" The class agrees that it is helpful for all involved in this project to have an understanding of tides and currents. In math class the next day, students are busy studying tidal charts and plotting the data to form graphs for high and low tide. It is harder to do than they expected, and they are surprised with the results....the search continues for more information.
Two days later, there is a loud group working at the back of the room. It's the economists. As they approach, the teacher observes that they are not a happy bunch. "There is too much writing to this job, and statistics are boring! We are stuck trying to write an Environmental Impact statement. There are too many regulations."
"I hear your frustrations. Maybe the class can suggest some ways to make your job easier," the teacher responds. This is not an unexpected reaction as they assume this role.The risk planners offer a suggestion. "We felt that way last week. We decided to make a list of what things had to be done and divide the tasks. We meet every day to share information. If someone gets stuck, another team member gives it a try. We still have to get the facts for our own city, but it helps to work together." The economists begin to devise a plan.
The Decision
As the project nears its end, the teams are busy compiling their collected data to make a presentation/recommendation to the COPCo management (the class members). They refer to the information requested by the original letter from M. Johnson as they prepare for their fifteen minute presentation complete with charts, maps, personal interviews, graphs, models, videotapes, and so on.
As presentations are made, the students keep notes of the information as it pertains to each aspect being considered. "Now that you've heard all of the presentations, how will you decide which three cities to choose?" The class decides to meet in small groups to discuss their views before deciding. "Submit a written response for your selected cities. Be sure to support your choices with factual information from your presentation notes."
Each teacher completes the project assessment rubric as students complete their final journal activity with the prompts of "What did you enjoy the most during this simulation?" "What did you find most difficult?""What do you know now that you didn't know at the beginning?" "How will you apply what you learned from this experience?" "What would you suggest be changed the next time this project is done?" "What resources did you find the most helpful?" Several students offer to share their responses with the whole group.
Final comments by the students include: "I want to learn more about whales."æ" I want to find out more about the oil spill in the Amazon. I didn't even know they had oil tankers going there." "I'll bet there's a lot of information from NASA on the Internet. Can we look? " "When can we do another project using the Internet?"
This simulation allows students to use acquired knowledge in an event-based setting. Since there is no right or wrong answer, all decisions are fair if adequately supported with facts. The purpose of the task is to apply scientific and math concepts in an authentic setting . The Internet is a valuable resource in providing the latest information and scientific resource data to meet this goal.
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