Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

Earthworks
Earth System Science for Secondary Teachers

Lowell Bailey (Earthworks 2003)
baileyl@nlcs.k12.in.us

Comparative Stream Quality of Water in Leatherwood Creek above and below the BNLHS wastewater treatment facility. (2003)

Grade level: 9 -12

Content Areas: Earth Science, Biology

Time: 1 week (flexible and may be extended to a longitudinal study)

Background knowledge/skills: Minimal; Ability to measure various factors using common lab equipment, familiarity with lab equipment, and materials from biology class.

Objectives: Critical thinking skills, lab skills and procedures, computer skills, group skills (communication).

Materials: Notebooks, protective goggles, disposable latex gloves, green water monitoring kit, computer lab, Lawrence Co. Soil and Water district personnel.

Procedures: LCSWD will "hire" students to do testing on Leatherwood Creek on the premise that they want to monitor any possible effluent from the treatment plant. Students will, during the school day, collect water samples and test for various factors. Students will then enter data into a database using the computer lab, and prepare a PowerPoint presentation for LCSWD.

Assessment: Performance assessments, a culminating activity and oral presentation. Any assessment should be interdisciplinary in nature.

Enrichment/Reflection: Include GIS in project, cooperative classes with Biology to extend the study to include biota, compare stream results with the pond in our outdoor lab, compare results to other streams, test in other areas of Leatherwood Creek, Cooperative extension with math dept., possible presentation to school board.

Resources: Have the kits, contacts with LCSWD, Leatherwood Creek, Administrative support

Barriers: Student interest, weather, software availability. Hopefully there are no unanticipated barriers.

Responses: Utilization of LCSWD to pique student interest and involvement. Alternative work for students whose parents won't sign permission slips, work with local news media

Standards:

Earth Science

• ES.1.19 Identify and discuss the effects of gravity on the waters of Earth. Include both the flow of streams and the movement of tides.
• ES.1.20 Describe the relationship among ground water, surface water, and glacial systems.
• ES.1.21 Identify the various processes that are involved in the water cycle.
• ES.1.25 Investigate and discuss the various landforms, such as mountains and rivers, and how they affect and are affected by human activities.
• ES.1.26 Differentiate among the processes of weathering, erosion, transportation of materials, deposition, and soil formation.

Ecology

• B.1.37 Explain that the amount of life any environment can support is limited by the available energy, water, oxygen, and minerals, and by the ability of ecosystems to recycle the residue of dead organic materials. Recognize, therefore, that human activities and technology can change the flow and reduce the fertility of the land.
• B.1.45 Recognize that and describe how the physical or chemical environment may influence the rate, extent, and nature of the way organisms develop within ecosystems.

Environmental Science

Env.1.30 Describe how agricultural technology requires trade-offs between increased production and environmental harm and between efficient production and social values.

Env.1.35 Compare and contrast the beneficial and harmful effects of an environmental stressor, such as herbicides and pesticides, on plants and animals. Give examples of secondary effects on other environmental components.

IndianaMathematics Standards Probability and Statistics

Indiana English/Language Arts: Grade 9 : Standard 4
WRITING: Process Standards

English/Language Arts: Grade 9 : Standard 5
WRITING: Applications (Different Types of Writing and Their Characteristics)

English/Language Arts: Grade 10 : Standard 4
WRITING: Process

English/Language Arts: Grade 10 : Standard 5
WRITING: Applications (Different Types of Writing and Their Characteristics)

English/Language Arts: Grade 11 : Standard 4
WRITING: Process

English/Language Arts: Grade 12 : Standard 4
WRITING: Process

English/Language Arts: Grade 12 : Standard 5
WRITING: Applications (Different Types of Writing and Their Characteristics)

National Science Standards

Science Content Standards: 9-12

Science as Inquiry

Cited from the National Science Teachers Association website http://books.nap.edu/html/nses/6a.html

Cited from the National Science Teachers Association website http://books.nap.edu/html/nses/6e.html#es

CONTENT STANDARD D:

DEVELOPING STUDENT UNDERSTANDING

"In grades 9-12, students review the water cycle as a carrier of material, and deepen their understanding of this key cycle to see that it is also an important agent for energy transfer."

"...students can examine environmental changes occurring today and make predictions about future temperature fluctuations in the earth system."

GEOCHEMICAL CYCLES

• Movement of matter between reservoirs is driven by the earth's internal and external sources of energy. These movements are often accompanied by a change in the physical and chemical properties of the matter. Carbon, for example, occurs in carbonate rocks such as limestone, in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas, in water as dissolved carbon dioxide, and in all organisms as complex molecules that control the chemistry of life.

UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Scientists in different disciplines ask different questions, use different methods of investigation, and accept different types of evidence to support their explanations. Many scientific investigations require the contributions of individuals from different disciplines, including engineering. New disciplines of science, such as geophysics and biochemistry often emerge at the interface of two older disciplines.

NATURAL RESOURCES

• Human populations use resources in the environment in order to maintain and improve their existence. Natural resources have been and will continue to be used to maintain human populations.
• The earth does not have infinite resources; increasing human consumption places severe stress on the natural processes that renew some resources, and it depletes those resources that cannot be renewed.
• Humans use many natural systems as resources. Natural systems have the capacity to reuse waste, but that capacity is limited. Natural systems can change to an extent that exceeds the limits of organisms to adapt naturally or humans to adapt technologically.

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

• Natural ecosystems provide an array of basic processes that affect humans. Those processes include maintenance of the quality of the atmosphere, generation of soils, control of the hydrologic cycle, disposal of wastes, and recycling of nutrients. Humans are changing many of these basic processes, and the changes may be detrimental to humans.
• Materials from human societies affect both physical and chemical cycles of the earth.
• Many factors influence environmental quality. Factors that students might investigate include population growth, resource use, population distribution, overconsumption, the capacity of technology to solve problems, poverty, the role of economic, political, and religious views, and different ways humans view the earth.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN LOCAL, NATIONAL, AND GLOBAL CHALLENGES

• Humans have a major effect on other species. For example, the influence of humans on other organisms occurs through land use--which decreases space available to other species--and pollution--which changes the chemical composition of air, soil, and water.

NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE

• Science distinguishes itself from other ways of knowing and from other bodies of knowledge through the use of empirical standards, logical arguments, and skepticism, as scientists strive for the best possible explanations about the natural world.
• Scientific explanations must meet certain criteria. First and foremost, they must be consistent with experimental and observational evidence about nature, and must make accurate predictions, when appropriate, about systems being studied. They should also be logical, respect the rules of evidence, be open to criticism, report methods and procedures, and make knowledge public. Explanations on how the natural world changes based on myths, personal beliefs, religious values, mystical inspiration, superstition, or authority may be personally useful and socially relevant, but they are not scientific.
• Because all scientific ideas depend on experimental and observational confirmation, all scientific knowledge is, in principle, subject to change as new evidence becomes available. The core ideas of science such as the conservation of energy or the laws of motion have been subjected to a wide variety of confirmations and are therefore unlikely to change in the areas in which they have been tested. In areas where data or understanding are incomplete, such as the details of human evolution or questions surrounding global warming, new data may well lead to changes in current ideas or resolve current conflicts. In situations where information is still fragmentary, it is normal for scientific ideas to be incomplete, but this is also where the opportunity for making advances may be greatest.