ASE SC 04:
Environmental, Earth, and Space Science
Steve Schmidt
abspd.appstate.edu
Today’s Quote
“Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.”
- Carl Sagan
Please Write on this Packet!
You can find everything from this workshop at: abspd.appstate.edu Look under: Teaching Resources, Adult Secondary Resources, Science
Agenda
8:30 – 10:00 Thinking Like a Scientist
10:00 – 10:15 Break
10:15 – 11:45Science is a Verb
11:45 – 12:45 Lunch
12:45 – 2:00 Environmental Science
2:00 – 2:15 Break
2:15 – 4:00Space Science
Workshop Objectives
Participants will:
•Understand and use scientific practices in classroom teaching
•Understand concepts necessary to successfully teach Environmental, Earth and Space Sciencecourses
•Identify content requirements based on standards
•Understand how to deliver effective science instruction
•Locate supplemental resources
Teaching Science
What do you think about when you remember the science classes you took in school? What was the instruction like? How did you feel about science as a result? Talk at your table and then write a few notes:
Best Practices in Teaching Science
“Think of science as a verb. You have to do it.”
- Jeff Goodman, Appalachian State University
Since science is a verb we should:
Some other principles to consider:
•Be explicit about how activities and content relate to the nature and process of science
•Model scientific behaviors, strategies, language
•Integrate questions such as: How do I use science? How do others use science?
How do we know this?
•Use photos, videos, graphics to teach concepts
•Provide time for hands-on science activities and discussion
•Teach vocabulary: both pronunciation and meaning
•Contextualize – connect your instruction to real life, careers, and college
•Teach about college pathways requiring knowledge of science
What is offered at your community college?
•Teach about careers requiring science
What jobs are in the local area?
How to Think Scientifically
“Science, stripped down to its essentials, is just a method for figuring things out: you look at some situation, come up with a possible explanation, and try it to see if it works. If it does, great, if not, try something else. Repeat until you find an explanation that works.
“This does not demand a complicated skill set. It’s really not much more than you need to be a functioning adult in modern society. And most people have, at one time or another, used exactly this procedure.
“If you’ve ever cooked without a recipe, you have the mental skills needed to be a scientist. You come up with new dishes in essentially the same manner as you solve scientific problems: you make a guess that cooking two particular ingredients together in some way will be delicious, then you do it, and taste to see if you’re right. That’s the scientific method right there, and millions of people have done it at some point in their lives.
“If you have ever repaired anything– a car, a dripping faucet, a blown fuse– you have the mental skills needed to be a scientist. You fix problems in everyday life in the same way that you attack scientific problems: you make a guess as to the source of the problem, you try the appropriate solution for that sort of problem, and see if it worked. That’s how science works, and millions of people make their living doing this without ever realizing that they’re thinking scientifically.”
Source: Chad Orzell, Everybody Thinks Scientifically, Uncertain Principles Blog
Steps in the Scientific Method
Make Observations
Science begins with observation. Observation is getting information through sight, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching.
My coffee stayed warm for two hours in my Thermos® cup. My cold drink only stayed
cold for one hour in a plastic cup.
Ask Questions
Science begins with observation and continues with wonder. Humans are full of questions about what we discover from our senses. Why is the sky blue? Why do rotten eggs smell? We can ask questions using the five w’s and one h: who, what when, where, why, and how. The question has to be one that can be tested through an experiment.
What kind of cup is the best insulator?
Create a Hypothesis
Once we have done some research about our question, we can create a hypothesis, an educated guess based on observation and research. A good hypothesis is a possible explanation that can be tested with an experiment.
A Thermos® cup will keep hot water warm the longest.
Design an Experiment
Scientists design experiments where one variable is changed (experimental) and the others are kept the same (controlled). Certain experiments may have a control and experimental group. The variables stay the same in the control group while one variable is changed in the experimental group. The control group shows what happens if nothing changes so it can be compared with the experimental group.
In this experiment, the controlled variables are the water temperature, the amount of water poured in the cups, and the room temperature. The experimental variables are the different types of cups.
I heat water to 160 degrees and put an equal amount into three kinds of cups:
a Thermos® cup, a plastic cup, and a Styrofoam cup.
Collect and Analyze Data
While doing the experiment, we observe what happens and collect data. The data describe what happened in the experiment and is usually shown in charts, graphs, and tables.
Cup type / Thermos® / Plastic / StyrofoamInitial Temp / 160 / 160 / 160
Water temp after 30 minutes / 105 / 88 / 95
Water temp after 60 minutes / 92 / 74 / 84
Water temp after 120 minutes / 84 / 70 / 75
Draw Conclusions
Using our analyzed data, we now see if our hypothesis is right. The conclusion is our written statement that says what we think about our hypothesis. Scientists repeat their experiments many times to make sure their conclusions are right.
My hypothesis is correct: The temperature in the Thermos® cup was the highest after
120 minutes, therefore a thermos cup is the best insulator.
Communicate the Results
Finally, we describe the research we have done, the hypothesis, the experiment, the data, and our analysis so we can share it with others. This is done through reports, oral presentations, and journal articles. This can give other scientists a chance to repeat the experiment and see if their results match.
Science Experimental Design Practice
11 Questions you can turn into simple, low-cost experiments to teach experimental design:
1. Does adding aspirin to water keep flowers fresh longer?
2. How does the height from which a ping-pong ball is dropped affect the bounce height?
3. Which type of cup is a better insulator (Styrofoam, Thermos®, plastic, etc.)? Compare temperatures of hot water over time.
4. How does activity (lying, sitting, walking, running) affect pulse rate?
5. Which color of M&M’s will people choose from a bowl or will they care? (This requires you to have an even number of each color of M&M evenly mixed in the bowl and not to tell the test subjects what you’re testing.)
6. Compare how moldy a slice of bread will get over time under different storage conditions (in a plastic bag, left out, in a paper bag, etc.).
7. Compare how long it will take water to evaporate out of different shaped containers.
8. Roll a marble or a car down a ramp. How does the height of the ramp affect how far it goes? (This
can also be set up to test how the rolling surface affects distance rolled if height remains the same
and rolling surface is changed.)
9. How does the temperature of water affect how quickly it will dissolve an Alka Seltzer?
10. Does the size of a coin affect how long you can spin it on its edge before it falls? (Compare
dime, penny, nickel, quarter, dollar coin). (This is a great activity to discuss the challenges in
doing controlled experiments. How can we make sure the spin is the same each time?)
11. Which shape of paper falls fastest: An unfolded sheet of paper, a paper folded in fourths, or a
sheet of crumpled paper? Or can you create a different shape with paper that falls even faster?
Source: 1 – 10 Jeff Goodman, Appalachian State University, 11 Goonen and Pittman
Experimental Design Graphic Organizer
What do you notice about what you are studying?What is your question?
What is your hypothesis?
How will you set up your experiment?
What are your controlled (things that stay the same) and experimental (one change) variables?
How will you collect your data?
How do you know if your hypothesis is right? If . . . then . . .
How will you show your results?
Human Wonder Research
Is the light traveling down the cord and out the plug of the mouse causing the packet to sink?
Is rubbing my hand on my hair causing the packets to sink?
Is mind control moving the packet?
What do you observe every time the packet moves?
What is your hypothesis as to why the packet moves?
Why does the packet move?
To find this site with more human wonder research topics, Google: human wonder research app
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Page 1| Environmental, Earth, and Space Science
The Fracking Files
DirectionsThis lesson may take two class periods to complete. Do steps 1 and 2 in the first class, and then steps 3 and 4 in the second class.
1. To help students get a background on fracking, show the two videos and have students summarize what they see after watching. Model how to do a summary. (If there is no computer access, use the pictures in the handout packet to explain fracking and discuss the major pros and cons.) Have students do the Talk, then Write activity. Have a class discussion based on their responses.
2. The fracking files contain four case studies, some from people who support fracking and some from people who do not. Have the students read the four case files and then complete the graphic organizer. Model how to complete the first graphic organizer. An alternative to having students read the case files would be to have different students play the role of each one of the case file participants and have them talk about their situation.
3. Use the “Fracking File – My View” handout. Students must take a side and choose their three best reasons why they support or are against fracking.
4. Students will then use their answers to the “Fracking File – My View” handout as the basis for writing a letter to the editor in which they either support or are against fracking in their community.
Introduction to Fracking
Summarize what you have learned after watching each video:
Video # 1
Google: Fracking Explained: Opportunity or Danger?
Video # 2
Google: Animation of Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking)
Talk, then Write
Which one do you find to be more accurate? Why? Which video was sponsored by an oil company? How would this sponsorship affect the way fracking is shown?The Fracking File – Case 1
Name: Susan Connell
Age: 39
Place of Residence: Watford City, North Dakota
Occupation: 18 Wheel Truck Driver
Susan Connell is one of the few women big rig truck drivers in the Bakken Oil Fields in North Dakota. She works 12 hour days hauling the water used in fracking oil wells. While the work is exhausting and the hours long, Susan earns $2,000 a week for her work.
In order to earn this salary, Susan had to move from her home in Montana to North Dakota. She now lives seven hours away from her husband and two young daughters. Back in 2009, both Susan and her husband lost their construction jobs during the Great Recession. The family fell three months behind on their mortgage payments and began receiving threatening letters from their bank. Susan then heard that big rig truck drivers were desperately needed in the booming North Dakota oil fields.
Some years before, Susan drove a commercial bus between Philadelphia and Atlantic City. How much harder could it be to drive an 18 wheeler? In order to upgrade her license to drive the big rigs, Susan had to take a $4,000 driver training course. At a time when her family struggled to buy groceries, they took the gamble and financed the course on a credit card.
At first, no one believed Susan Connell could do the difficult trucking jobs required in the oil fields. She applied at more than a dozen trucking companies, all of which turned her down. Some managers said that women did not belong in the oil field. Others scolded her for not being home taking care of her kids. She lived in her car and focused on finding a job. After proving herself hauling grain during the many blizzards of a North Dakota winter, she finally won a coveted job as an oil field trucker.
When asked about her work in the oil fields, Susan said, “There’s good and bad in everything. I just accept it. I’ve been trying to leave since the work is so exhausting, unreliable, and lonely. It gets harder and harder to leave my family. Each time I leave home after a visit, my daughters beg me not to go. It’s not very safe for a woman here too. I’m out here alone in the middle of nowhere. I carry a steel rod with me for protection wherever I go.”
“But, good paying jobs are hard to come by. The economy is still tough back home. Our family needs the money I bring in to survive. I’ve proved I can do the job, and I can do it better than most of the guys here. I’ve made a place for myself here. There’s other draws too. At night, when I’m on a well picking up water, I can see thousands of stars blazing in the sky and hear the coyotes howl off in the distance. The salt water smell coming up from the wells makes it seem like I’m at the ocean.”
Adapted from America Strikes Oil: The Promise and Risk of Fracking, National Geographic, March 2013
The Fracking File – Case 2
Name: Brenda and Richard Jorgenson
Age: Both 58
Place of Residence: Mountrail County, North Dakota
Occupation: Housewife and Farmer
Brenda and Richard Jorgenson love the quiet, wide open spaces of North Dakota. He’s been farming land in Mountrail County for more than 30 years. Specifically, Richard farms the White Earth Valley, a wide, grassy basin that seems to stretch as far as the eye can see. Brenda and Richard have lived in a home they built themselves over 30 years ago. “It was instant love,” says Brenda about the first time she laid eyes on the land where they would build their home.
Alliance Pipeline plans to soon locate a 12 inch high pressure gas conduit across their land. The Jorgensons are dead set against this plan. “I don’t want a bomb in my backyard,” Richard says about the gas line. The Jorgensons and their neighbors all oppose the project, but Alliance has gone to court and have threatened to use eminent domain, the process by which private property can be taken in the name of the public good. The public good in this case is providing the energy the United States needs.
While the Jorgensons continue to fight the pipeline project, oil drilling is going on almost literally in their backyard. Only 800 feet from their home, another company named Petro-Hunt runs an oil well just 800 feet from their house. When the fracking boom started, the Jorgensons discovered a nasty surprise. North Dakota law allows for separate mineral and surface land rights. So while the Jorgensons own the land their house sits on, over 110 different strangers own the mineral rights to the 40 acres of land nearest their house! When his father bought the 1000 acres their farm sits on, he didn’t know that the previous owner had sold off the mineral rights, in five acre parcels, to people all over the country when he needed money to buy some equipment.
“It’s just constant noise with that pump going all the time. But my biggest worry is about our water safety. I hear that some people living in Pennsylvania near fracked wells can light their water on fire with all the methane that’s leaked into their water supply. The companies say it’s safe, but I know the Environmental Protection Agency can only do so much to make sure drillers are following the rules. I am so concerned for the future. I want to pass this land along to my kids and grandkids. While getting this energy may be great for the country, this land won’t be worth two cents to my family if it’s polluted. All those dangerous fracking chemicals could cause cancer and who knows what else. These oil companies just need to back off so we can be sure fracking is really safe.”