Pond Storyline Overview
Unit 2 AP Environmental Science CED- Living World- Biodiversity
Goals
This storyline is designed to introduce the major concepts and themes of biodiversity and nutrient pollution and engage students in a scientific investigation. It walks them through the major skills of field work and serves as a way to reinforce unit 1 topics of biogeochemical cycling and system changes.
Why use storylines?
Storylines are essentially a thematic study of a phenomenon students can question and observe. The storyline covers many unit topics, essentially working through your content and skill standards within a unit but wraps them around sense making of the phenomenon. The value in this form of teaching is that it:
Walks students through a research pattern used in scientific study
Engages students in scientific practices that align with AP environment’s CED and NGSS national science standards
Encourages students to be curious and wonder about their environment; engaging them in science like they did in early education (something often lost in traditional methods!)
Builds stronger understanding of how content connects and applies to each other; improving strength in understanding of systems of change
Provides opportunity to introduce topics that will be covered in depth in future units, building background knowledge and optimizing the practice of a spiral curriculum to reinforce concepts year-long.
Elements of experimental design that are addressed:
Describe patterns or trends in data.
I can interpret the data in relation to the hypothesis or question.
I can discuss any uncertainty in the data including outliers, sources of error, anomalies and variability of data or lack of patterns and predict how they impacted the data in my experiment.
Describe relationships among variables in the data represented.
Explain patterns and trends in data to draw conclusions.
Apply quantitative (mathematics) to analyze mathematical relationships. (e.g., ratio, rate, percent, basic operations, algebra, and functions)
Explains whether the answer “makes sense”.
Lab Options based on your local environment
Engagement in this storyline will always be higher if you get the students outside doing the work. That said, you may be limited by your school’s environment and resources. My school has a retention pond on campus with two portions- one has a large storm drain that, at its outlet, has a deep pond great for macroinvertebrate collection. There are two small “streams” that drain off that pond into a shallower section. That is the two areas I have students compare since the shallow segment has less water effluent and emergent plants are visible.
If you do not have a water source on campus, you can still bring the pond to the students. Collecting water sources and modifying this activity with plankton studies is highly engaging. You can have them chart the diversity of their pond samples when viewing them under a microscope. When I first started teaching, I did this and called it “pond in a jar”. Students added items from the environment such as sticks, rocks and debris, soils and then pond water and sealed them. With a light source you will see organisms moving in there within a couple of days.
In the teacher guide below, I included some virtual or simulated options as well. These will give students experience with data and qualitative evidence but are not as rich as the lab experiences.
CED standards:
The following standards are covered in this storyline:
I can differentiate between habitats and niches.
I can predict how biotic and abiotic factors affect the growth patterns and niches of organisms.
I understand the impact humans have on natural systems within ecosystems, especially related to biogeochemical cycles.
I can describe how competition drives the process of succession and how that will change the range of an organisms’ habitat.
Storyline Planning Guide:
My school runs on a hybrid blocked/standard schedule with a weekly zero hour component. This unit lasts approximately 11-12 class periods.
Access the lab notebook here.
*Looking for detailed teacher plans? Visit TPT (Moonier Science) for the full unit plan with detailed lesson plans including materials, notes, teaching guides and links to resources used to implement each section and promote student engagement.
*This storyline is conducted in conjunction with the ecocolumn weekly monitoring.. The following standards are not fully addressed in this storyline. In addition to assigning flipped notes over these topics, I’ve included how I cover them below:
1.3 Aquatic biomes- I assign this as a flipped note as well and actually quiz them on it in unit 2. This is an independent assignment that I quiz them on; concepts are reinforced through the unit of study as we look at these water ecosystems.
2.3 Island biogeography- By the end of this unit, students have a great grasp of biodiversity and pick this up quickly. I introduce the concept using this virtual simulation. I have them explore the simulator and come up with a claim. Then we work as a class to analyze a couple of diagrams of island biogeography while practicing FRQ task verbs. I cover it with mastery in about 30-45 minutes. I do this the day before the test to practice explaining the concepts in new situations.
2.5 Natural disruptions to Ecosystems: I address this briefly with the anthropogenic effects but really dig into this standard in Unit 4 using proxy Earth science data sets.
Assessment:
I often give students a couple of days to reflect and polish the lab notebooks before turning them in. It gives them time to think and process the information or to catch up on sections they may have gotten behind on. I allow them to edit their posters after the science fair if they find significant errors. For grading purposes, I grade lab notebooks based on completion. I’ll usually pick some portions to spot check for content accuracy but typically, I’m more interested in their final product for close grading. I usually spend more time reading their individual data analysis using the scoring guide provided.
I give a unit test that I build in AP classroom. I assign the multiple choice progress check for unit 1 one week prior to the assessment. Students must take the progress check before the morning of the test as a qualification for test corrections. By completing the progress check and test corrections, I offer them a test curve of 10%. A 10% curve encourages them to study because the curve is limited but is a large enough incentive for them to complete the self assessments which in turn improve their test taking skills and practice working with multiple choice. I save the FRQ progress checks for classroom practice.
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