Ala Wai Outreach Lesson Plan, Written Presentation, and Reflection
Student Teachers
Jeri Miyasato, Shayd Shinsato, Jennifer Kumura, Ian Wong, and Laura Kagami
Weather and Climate
Lesson Plan
I. Introduction to weather section
A. Why are we here?
B. What is weather? (done by Ian)
II. Body
A. What Powers our weather station?
1. Solar Panels
B. Rain
1. Ask for volunteers to put the device on
2. Effects of rains on our stream
C. Humidity and Temperature
1. Ask for volunteer
2. Effects of humidity and temperature on our streams
D. Sunlight
1. Ask for volunteer
2. Effects of sunlight on our streams
E. Wind Speed/Direction
1. Ask for volunteer
2. Effects of wind on our streams
F. Finishing devices
1. Antenna
a. Why do we have an antenna?
2. Data Box
a. How do we check our data?
III. Conclusion
A. Review
1. Which device is used to measure what aspect of our climate?
2. In what ways do these different aspects affect our streams?
B. Any questions?
C. Have fun at your other stations!
Summary of Speech
“Hey Everyone! My name’s Jeri and I am going to teach you guys about the different effects of weather on our rivers and streams. We will be building a weather station so you will be able to collect data in your stream. This data can then be compared to the data my school collected using our own weather station! By examining the data, we can gain a better understanding on our streams and compare the nearby Manoa Stream to the Ala Wai Canal near my school.”
“What is weather?” (Ian)
“So today, we will be talking about the effects of the sun, rain, wind, and temperature. But before we start building this weather station weather station, we have to figure out what will power our weather station. Our weather station will obviously be outside to measure the climate in the atmosphere. However, our weather station needs a source of power to collect data and send it into the database. If our weather station is outside, we won’t have any electricity! So, how are we supposed to feed it energy to function?”
“Solar panels!”
“That’s right and does anyone know how solar panels can power our weather station?”
“It catches the sun, and the sun powers the machine.”
“Yes! The solar panels convert the sun’s solar energy to provide our weather station with enough energy to work and collect our data. So the first thing we are going to put on top of our weather station is a device that measures rain. Which one of these instruments do you think measures rain?”
“The bucket!”
“You are correct! Now, who knows how to work a screwdriver? And who wants to help attach this on the weather station? How about you two? One of you is going to hold the rain bucket here, while you use the screwdriver right here until the rain bucket is secured tightly to the pole. Ian, will help you While they are attaching the rain device to the weather station, let’s talk about how rain affects our streams? Does anyone want to guess how rain affects the stream?”
“It’ll make the water dirty”
“It’ll make it overflow.”
“You guys have very good answers! Lots of rain causes major floods. Floods can cause sewage overflows that can pollute our streams with various pollutants and diseases. These diseases can make the animals in the water’s formerly clean environment to become dirty and unsanitary. This leads to a decrease in their population. However, flooding may bring new organisms into the stream. New organisms, such as jellyfish, that are accustomed to conditions where the presence of freshwater is low may settle in after a storm. You will learn more about animals with Shayd later on. Floods also cause high tides that can sweep animals further down the stream, changing the animal distribution in the water. High tides also participate in runoff and may carry sediment from the stream banks and other things down the river or stream as well, which can affect the chemical content in the water. You will learn about this with Jenn upstairs.
Now, let’s talk about humidity and temperature. Does anyone know what humidity and temperature is?
“It’s how hot it is and how much moisture is in the air.”
“Wow, you guys are so smart. You can attach this device to the weather station since you answered the question. Does anyone know how temperature can affect the water?”
“It’ll make it hot and then the fish will die.”
“Yes. Temperature has a major effect on the living conditions of aquatic organisms. Higher temperatures may increase evaporation of the water. Did you learn about evaporation already?”
“Yes!”
“Well, increased evaporation could lead to a lower water level, where certain animals could not survive in. Another effect of high temperature is that it prevents gas exchange between the water and atmosphere. Did you guys know fishes need to breathe oxygen just like us? High temperatures may lead to not enough oxygen being able to support the life in the waters! Do you guys know what global warming is?”
“Yea, it’s melting Antarctica and polar bears are dying!”
“Yes! Global warming’s increase in temperature in the atmosphere leads to an increase in temperature in the water. Higher temperatures may lead to the organisms used to a cooler water temperature to not survive. This is because the organisms in the water have an ideal temperature in which they can survive in. A higher temperature than this ideal temperature would disrupt their natural environment of those specific species, leading to a decline in their numbers. We are going to talk about the sun next! This device measures the intensity of the sun. Why don’t you two attach this device with Ian. How do you guys think sunlight affects the streams?”
“It heats the water up so fish die.”
“Yes! Anything else? How many of you guys know what photosynthesis is?”
“ME! Plants make oxygen with it.”
“Yea, plants undergo photosynthesis to make food for themselves, which involves releasing oxygen as well. Thus, lots of sunlight spurs lots of plant growth within the water. A greenish tinge in the water may be signs of the algae growing there. These are major food sources for micro invertebrates, which you will be learning about with Laura. However, too much algae may prevent oxygen from coming into the water, and will also suffocate the fish. Last, but not least, we will attach this. What do you think this measures?”
“Oooh, the wind!”
“Yes, it measures the wind’s speed and direction. Why don’t you and another one of your classmates come and help Ian put this on the weather station. Who can tell me how wind affects our streams?”
“It creates waves.”
“Yes, any thing else? Wind can also sweep up some dirt and fertilizer and deposit them into the water. This can affect the water’s chemistry and chemical components. Fertilizer also brings us back to the growth of plants within the water. Micro invertebrates also feed on the sediments that flow into the water. Thus, more plants and micro invertebrates will gather in an area where wind deposits sediments and it is very sunny. Yay! We’re done talking about all of the different effects of weather on our streams!”
“What is that?”
“That is the antenna that sends the data into our database about every hour. The data will be stored in this box, here, and will report the different measurements taken by each sensor. This data will then be shown online. The antenna also enables two weather stations to “talk” to one another. Should we review? What does this device measure? And this one? What about this one? This one? YAY! Good job guys! You’re all so smart. Do you guys have any questions?”
(QUESTION AND ANSWER TIME)
“Okay it’s time for all of you to go upstairs and learn about the fishes and chemistry! Have fun up there!”
Reflection
This outreach project was a fun and eye-opening experience. I did not realize how tiring it was to teach a whole class! The Hokulani Collaboration Day was very exciting and a great opportunity for the kids to learn more about their environment. Getting ready to teach the children and gathering all the information to teach taught me a lot of things, such as organization and being well-prepared. Practicing the lessons without my information in front of me also helped me to really understand the concepts of weather and allowed me to develop my improvisational speaking skills. If we do decide to teach another lesson later on in the year, I think that our group will have to decide on a date to come in much earlier than usual. This is because I believe our group could have done an even better, cohesive job if we heard the information from our other group members. We did a great job linking together our presentations, but I feel like we could have provided even more points that linked our different topics together.
I really enjoyed being the first one to teach a group of kids. However, teaching them all at one time was a big challenge. A real shocker that made me quite nervous was the change in plans an hour before we had to teach. I expected to be having a smaller group every 15 minute shift. However, the teachers decided that the whole class come and learn about the weather at the same time. I felt like there were too many kids to hold all of their attention at the same time. Also, I felt I was blocking some people’s views of the weather station since they all had to circle around it to fit on the hilly grassy area. Another change was that I would have to build the whole weather station, take it apart, and then put it up together with the next group. I feel that by splitting the class up into smaller groups and only putting one instrument on with each group would have been better. Trying to assemble the whole weather station and teach was a great obstacle. The kids were too focused on the actual construction of the station, they didn’t gain as much from the speech as I hoped they would. Also, I think limiting one attachment to each group would have lessened the racket of fighting over who would put the device on.
Overall, I think the kids gained a lot from my speech. They could easily fill out their study sheet and were excited about learning when they found out they were going to build something. The weather station was a great incentive to make them interested in learning about the weather’s effects on the nearby stream. Having a hands-on experience with them also helped me to relate to them more and feel comfortable. I had a wonderful time at Hokulani Elementary School. I think it is a great learning experience in a way that we get to develop as scientists by learning about different topics, while also developing methods to convey our research and invest it into the younger generation.
Macrobiological Organisms
Lesson Plan
I. Introduction
a. Explain how I relate to the other stations
b. Invasive v. Native
c. Talk about definition macro vertebrates and macro invertebrates
II. Body
a. Talk about macro vertebrates and macro invertebrates that I brought from the Ala Wai
b. Compare some of the similar looking sea life
c. Simultaneously allow the children to touch some of the fish
III. Conclusion
a. Ask questions about the fish
b. Go over why invasive species are bad for the environment again
c. Tell them to have a nice day and move on to the next station
Written Presentation
First, I would like to go over why I relate to the other stations that are here today. I relate to the microbiological organisms because most of my macrobiological organisms eat the microbiological organisms. The chemical sampling station relates to my macro station because in order for some of my fish to thrive, they need to be at a certain pH level. Also, pH is vital to some of the fish’s reproduction, some fish only reproduce at certain pH. Lastly, I relate to the weather station because the weather station measures the amount of sunlight in the Ala Wai and the amount of rainfall in the Ala Wai. These two factors are very important because the fish can only withstand a certain temperature, so if there is too much sunlight they may die and if there is too little sunlight they may also die. The amount of rainfall is important as well because the more rainfall there is, the more polluted the water becomes due to the runoff from the upper part of the canal. Thus, more fish will die. Now, I would like to go over my station in depth.
Does anyone know the difference between indigenous and invasive species?
Indigenous: Originating in a certain region.
Invasive: Non-native species that inhabit a region that they do not originate from.
All the species I have brought with me today are invasive, and they are taking over the environment of the native aquatic life. Have any of you seen the fish I have here today? Most of these fish are found in the pet store. They ended up in the Ala Wai because some careless owners didn’t want their fish anymore, so the fish were discarded into the canal. People need to be more aware of what they dump into the Ala Wai. It is detrimental to the environment and to the native fish that inhabit its waterway. They are so bad because they take up space, they eat the food supply of the native fish, they eat some native fish, and they create waste. So, I have a variety of macro vertebrates and macro invertebrates to show you guys today. Does anyone know what macro vertebrates and macro invertebrates mean? Macro vertebrates is just a scientific way of saying fish that you can see that have a backbone and macro invertebrates is the scientific way of saying fish that a person can see that don’t have a backbone. They range from big sea creatures like the convicted cichlid and the crawfish to the small little grass shrimp. I’ll go over the animals very briefly and simultaneously, you guys will be able to touch some of the fish.
Let’s start off with creature that we can find on the bottom of the Ala Wai.
These are Trumpet (Malaysian) Snails: -scavengers; eat stuff off rocks like diatoms
-they multiply rapidly
-get to be around 2 cm
These are Apple Snails: -they are bottom feeders
-they are poisonous (their eggs are poisonous as well)
-identifiable by their apple shape and color
These are Asiatic Clams: -they are filter feeders
-they grow to about 5 cm long
-they have things called feet which they place down and it pulls itself down toward the feet until it is buried in mud or sand
Let’s compare Clams vs. Snails.
Similarities:-shells
-something living inside of them
-roundish
-feet
Differences:-snails have spiral
-clams are bivalves; snails are mollusks
-movement is different (snails=horizontally and clams=vertically)
These are Crayfish: -they are scavengers and they are not picky
-they are armored (shell)
-they like to venture out into the sun
-sign of polluted water because they cleanse the water
These are Prawns: -they are scavengers
-they are armored (shell)
Let’s compare Prawn vs. Crayfish.
Similarities:-look alike
-around the same size
-both have shells
-both have claws
-both have multiple legs
-both have tails
Differences:-crayfish shells are much harder then prawn shells
-crayfish pincher are much bigger than prawns
-prawns get to be much bigger than crayfish
-crayfish are red and prawns are translucent
After I explain, I allow them to touch the crayfish and prawn.
These are Grass Shrimp: -they are scavengers
-they eat stuff on the bottom
-like to stay in shady areas
-they grow to be around a millimeter long
These are Armored Catfish (Plescostomos): -can grow to be a foot long
-eat algae, diatoms, and insect larvae
These are Bushy nosed Catfish (Plecostomos): -can grow up to 5-6 inches long
-they use there spikes on their nose to ward off predators (when native predators eat them, they get stuck in the native predators belly due to the spikes on their nose and the native fish dies shortly after)
-eat algae, diatoms, insect larvae
Let’s compare the Armored Catfish and the Bushy nosed Catfish.
Similarities:-same color
-same look
Difference:-spikes on the bushy nosed catfish (spikes come from gills and mustache like spikes come from nose)