A Picture of Health: Ecosystem Health Continuum

Activity Title

Author(s)

Sarah Morrisseau

Gulf of Maine Research Institute

Vital Signs Program

Questions

How can I tell whether this ecosystem is healthier than that ecosystem?

Overview

The Ecosystem Health Continuum gets students playing and experimenting with their own understanding of and assessment criteria for determining ecosystem health. Students look at a series of photographs of ecosystems that show a range of health. They arrange them along a continuum from healthy to unhealthy, and practice backing up the claims they make using evidence.

Once they make a personal connection with the concept of health, they can then begin to apply it to ecosystems in Ecosystem Health Continuum.

Science & Technology Standards (MLR)

B1e. Use logic, critical reasoning and evidence to develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models

B1f. Communicate, critique, and analyze their own scientific work and the work of other students

E2. Ecosystems: Students examine how the characteristics of the physical, non-living environment, the types and behaviors of living organisms, and the flow of matter and energy affect organisms and the ecosystem of which they are part

Learning Objectives

· Students generate and use established criteria to evaluate ecosystem health

· Students rate and compare the health of a number of local ecosystems

· Students support their claims with evidence

· Students use talk and argument to discuss and debate with peers

Grade Level

Setting

Classroom

Activity Type

Exploratory

Materials

Ecosystem health photos document: vs_ecosystemhealth_photos_042911.ppt

Time Needed

Activity Procedure

Part 1. PLAY WITH WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW ABOUT ECOSYSTEM HEALTH

1. Together or in small teams, look through the set of “ecosystem health photographs” that show a range of health

2. Organize the slides from what you think appears to be the LEAST HEALTHY ecosystem to the MOST HEALTHY ecosystem

3. In the notes section under each slide, write the evidence or reasons why you put the ecosystem where you did along the health continuum.

“We think this ecosystem is a 5 because we see….”

“We think this ecosystem is a 5 because it has….”

Part 2. LEARN FROM YOUR PEERS AND REVISIT YOUR CONTINUUM

Check out another team’s continuum and evidence. How is it the same or different than yours? Talk about what is different and why.

1. Visit the work done by other teams

2. Take note of ecosystems that other teams ranked differently, and what evidence was used to support the different ranking

3. Take time to ask each other questions about rankings and supporting evidence

4. Revisit your own team’s work and make adjustments to your own rankings and evidence based on what you learned from your friends

Part 3. LEARN FROM SCIENTISTS AND REVISIT YOUR CONTINUUM

1. Read a short article or watch a video to learn more about different indicators of ecosystem health from a scientific perspective:

General ecosystem health and services:

· http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/samper.html

· http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/esa.html

· http://www.wri.org/publication/content/8381

· http://www.enature.com/home/

Biodiversity:

§ Bill Nye the Science Guy, Biodiversity Part I video (Season 1 Episode 9) http://tv.blinkx.com/show/bill-nye-the-science-guy/Br8O69m8lZ6B6bGyYSHj5tRDvYI

§ Biodiversity Watershed Experience, Background Information http://vitalventure.gmri.org/watershed-experiences/biodiversity/ (NOAA RESOURCE?)

Invasive species:

· http://www.naturalinquirer.org/Invasive-Species-Edition-i-10.html

· http://www.nature.org/initiatives/invasivespecies/

· http://www.nature.org/initiatives/invasivespecies/features/art21255.html

· http://vitalsignsme.org/species-interest

Water quality:

· http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/waterquality.html

· http://coastalmanagement.noaa.gov/water_quality.html (NOAA RESOURCE!)

Land use/ management:

· http://gallery.usgs.gov/videos/298

2. How does this new information support your continuum or change your mind?

3. Revisit your continuum and see if you need to make adjustments to your own rankings and evidence based on what you learned

Part 4. MINE YOUR EVIDENCE FOR IMPORTANT INDICATORS OF HEALTH

1. Use evidence from your continuum to create a preliminary list of what you think healthy ecosystems look like. This can be done in teams or as a class. Lists generated by middle school students typically include:

· Healthy/ green plants

· Different plants

· Flowers

· Places for birds and animals to live

· Food for birds and animals to eat

· Not used by people

· No houses or roads

· No trash

2. Keep a second list of the health indicators that can’t necessarily be seen, but could be measured another way. Lists generated by middle school students typically include:

· Clean water/ clear water

· Good soil

· Fresh air

· Quiet

The second list shows us that just looking at ecosystems does not necessarily give an accurate or complete measure of health. Photos can only tell us so much. We need to make measurements or look more closely to figure out whether an ecosystem is healthy or not!

Part 5. LATER, AFTER YOU’VE FINISHED YOUR OWN INVESTIGATION

After you do your own ecosystem health investigation, grab your study site photo. Based on the data you collected and observations you made in the field, where does your study site fit along your Health Continuum?

NOTES FOR EDUCATORS/ FACILITATORS

If computers are not available, print out the photos and write evidence on post-it notes

There are no “right” answers on purpose. Emphasize the importance of having solid, appropriate evidence to back up where an ecosystem is placed along the health continuum.

To scaffold the activity for students:

1. Ask questions that prompt students to make observations of the ecosystem:

· Imagine yourself here. How do you feel? What do you see, smell, etc.?

· Do you think this would be a healthy place for X species to live?

· If you were X species, do you think this ecosystem would have what you need to live?

2. Model for students your own thought process as you make observations and support them with evidence.

3. Give students sentence stems to help them construct evidence statements:

· “We think this ecosystem is a 5 because we see….”

· “We think this ecosystem is a 5 because it has….”

4. If peer learning is new for your students, try modeling or practicing with them a productive peer-peer conversation. Read the National Research Council’s Ready, Set, Science! Chapter 5 Making Thinking Visible: Talk and Argument to learn more about best instructional practices around scientific conversation and communication.

Reflection or Formative Assessment Ideas

Assess your teams’ Ecosystem Health Continuum.

Did you support each of your ecosystem placements with appropriate evidence?

Did you revisit your continuum after you talked with another team?

Did you make changes after you did some research?

Assess your own performance as part of a team

Did you listen to others’ ideas with an open mind?

Did you make changes to your health continuum based on what you learned from others?

Did you share your ideas carefully and thoughtfully with the group?

Extension Ideas

Give students cameras and have them take photos of the healthy and unhealthy ecosystems they see every day. Have them make their own continuum challenge and post it to the Vital Signs Project Bank (www.vitalsignsme.org/project-bank) for others to use.

Put the site photos you take during your investigation on your health continuum to see where they land in relation to the photos you’ve been working with.

Resources

Ready, Set, Science! Chapter 5 Making Thinking Visible: Talk and Argument