Fermilab LInC Online

Stream Doctors

An Environmental Study of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Scenario

Summary

Student Pages

Index of Projects

 

The fourth/fifth students in the Accelerated Math Class at Atholton Elementary School, Columbia, Maryland have just solved the mystery, "What Killed the Stream?" They are anxiously waiting to hear from a sixth grade class at Blessed Sacrament School in Washington, D.C. The two classes are working cooperatively this spring on Phase I of a simulation to monitor and improve the health of streams in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (CBW). This unit will last approximately six weeks during Phase I with the classes working approximately one hour a day three to five days a week. The goal of the unit is to determine the health of the local stream, assess what geographical areas in the CBW still need to be investigated, and finally to locate schools in these geographical areas and encourage them to work on the project during Phase II. The teachers have planned this unit to cover the required CBW environmental unit while at the same time facilitating the interaction of using telecommunications between their two classes. Both classes have worked on like telecommunications project before, but have not worked cooperatively on the same telecommunications project.

While working on the problem solving activity, "What Killed the Stream" at http://www.mobot.org/MBGnet/fresh/mystery/index.htm students in both classes began to question how accurate the mystery was. Students began to ask if the techniques and procedures used in this Water Mystery could, in fact, be used to analyze the health of the stream that flows adjacent to their school. Mrs. Lewis, "Can we take the same water measurements of Running Babbling Brook and see how healthy or sick it is?" "Can we work with other schools and find out what the water quality of their streams and rivers are?" "Maybe we could contact JASON Schools and work with them?" "Maybe you could find a JASON teacher and we could work with her class." The teacher directs the students to go to the JASON At School (J@S) Server and look at schools participating in last year's Aquatic Field Study. In searching through the database, Blessed Sacrament School in Washington, D.C. is located. The teacher agrees to contact Blessed Sacrament School and ask if they would be willing to do a correlational stream study.

The teachers at both schools have planned this project as an innovative way to cover mathematics, science, problem solving, and communication skills while teaching the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Environment Unit and telecommunication skills. The simulation provides an opportunity for students to direct each other's learning as well as provide an authentic audience for their work. Phase I of the simulation will last until the end of this school year. During this time, students will begin to investigate the local stream's location as part of the CBW. Through class discussion, meeting with mentors from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and online discussions with students at Blessed Sacrament School the students will begin to question how the health of Running Babbling Brook compares with other streams that empty into the Chesapeake Bay. Phase II of the simulation will be introduced next fall. During that Phase, students will use an implementation plan written during Phase I to monitor and determine the health of the CBW.

The students will select one of four teams to work on. Each team will have their own "CBW Journal" on the J@S Online Student Journal. These journals will be housed on the JASON Foundation Server and accessible by computers in the school computer labs as well as from home. During the daily class session, a member from each team will check the CBW Journal for notes from the teacher as well as make journal entries for the day. The journal entries will be a record of the teams work on the project as well as team notes. These entries will tell the teacher what the team has worked on, what the team has accomplished, and any problems the team is encountering. The teacher will use these journal entries to communicate with the students, to monitor and record progress of the teams, and as one means of assessment. By using the JASON Server, both students and teacher will have access to the CBW Journal after normal school hours.

As previously mentioned, students will work on one of four teams. One team will be responsible for contacting the appropriate authorities and obtaining permission to do water quality analysis of the local stream. They will use the telephone to contact the proper authorities and find out the name of the specific individual they need to write to. Another group will be responsible for determining the protocol to be used for stream analysis. This group will review the tools used in the Water Mystery and will look online for other stream monitoring projects being conducted. A third group will be responsible for locating other schools in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (CBW). This group will use the GLOBE Server to identify schools in the CBW and to obtain their email addresses. The final group will be responsible to check email every day for messages from Blessed Sacrament School. This group will have access to the teacher's computer in the E.T. Room.

Throughout the simulation, the students will be assuming the roles of researcher, scientists, politician and writer. Students will not only be the consumers of knowledge, but will also be the producers of knowledge. Although this is a simulation, the desired outcome of developing an implementation plan to improve the health of the CBW will have far reaching effects for many years to come.

Throughout the simulation, the teachers role will be that of facilitator. The teachers will be monitoring progress and provide support and direction to students by checking the online journals. Teachers will assess the productivity of the group as well as the cooperative effort of the individual student. By checking the CBW Journals, teachers will have a daily assessment of group performance. By the end of the unit teachers will expect to see:

The teacher will monitor groups on a daily basis and assess how cooperatively individuals are working within the group. The teachers will provide support to each other via daily email communication and predetermined Global Chat communication.

Throughout the simulation the students will be directing their own learning activities. The fourth/fifth grade class will assist the sixth grade class by locating CBW Schools using the GLOBE Server. The sixth grade class will assist the fourth grade class by examining CBW Maps and locating other schools in the CBW. Both classes will debate which parameters of stream health will be used and what materials are needed to obtain the desired data. Both classes have previous experience in this area since both worked on NASA's "Planet Explorer Toolkit" Activity last year. The sixth grade class, using the internet and email, will be a mentor to the fourth grade class in this activity. Part of the challenge of this simulation will be the cross age grouping of students.

At the conclusion of Phase I, students from both schools have monitored the health of their local streams. They have worked cooperatively to develop an implementation plan to monitor the health of the CBW, and have generated a list of schools willing to participate in a CBW monitoring program the following school year. Each team of students from both schools will work cooperatively online using Global Chat to write a summary of their work during the simulation. These summaries will be compiled into one report and sent to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and local agencies supporting the simulation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

Created for the Fermilab LInC program sponsored by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Education Office, Friends of Fermilab, United States Department of Energy, Illinois State Board of Education, and North Central Regional Technology in Education Consortium (NCRTEC) which is operated by North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL).

 

Author(s):Mellie Lewis (mlewis@umd5.umd.edu)Atholton Elementary School, Columbia, Maryland and Susan Hurstcalderone (calderone@sysnet.net),School: Blessed Sacrament School, Washington, DC . Created: April 19, 1998; updated May 3, 1998
URL: /lincon/w98/projects/chesapeake/scenario_aes.html