Friday, June 15th
YEA! it is Friday. I feel much better today. Crawled into bed at 7:00 and slept till 4:30 the next morning. I got up early and got ready because the pest control was spraying my house at 7:00 am. I needed them to come early so I could make it to work on time.
Today is lesson plan day. I talked to Dr. Thompson earlier in the week and she had several items she wanted me to discuss. We will be using the 5E plan so I handed out copies of the aquatics format from last summer.
Important points to remember are:
It needs to apply to the class they are teaching
Activity that can be used at TechFest
Use blog to follow lesson plan development
Remember the learning process is messy
Unlike a finished lesson plan, research requires experimentation, data collection and evaluation. Plan A doesn't always work, so you have to be prepared to go to Plan B,C, or D. It is a process and the outcome is not always what you originally predicted.
Students need to see that science is a process and NOT like the usual labs they have done where the outcome is predictable.
As a teacher, I have found that students have been trained to get the "right" answer. In the marine part of aquatic science we start them off with a boat design project. They are given a size and depth limit and must include a sail, rudder, keel and carry 20 passengers or cargo (marbles). Using a long stream table, they must sail 100 cm without touching the sides. Students then calculate speed using D = speed X time and average 3 trials. The fastest boat sets the 100 grade for all aquatic classes (they have to complete with each other).
Students must bring in their own supplies initially. Once they are started I will provide a box of left over supplies from the year before so that can tweak their design. At first they struggle with the development of the design. They are frustrated that their first boat doesn't work as well as they thought. Then they start watching other students try out their designs. Students start talking to other groups about what they are doing, soon they can't wait to get to class and start on the project. What is great is they are collaborating without any teacher direction.
When we started our next project - designing a plankton that can sink the slowest - I found that this time they went into the discovery and design process with less frustration. They were eager to get to work and immediately started trying out different designs.
Discovery engages students and encourages them to THINK!
My student intern was also learning today. We gave her a electrical snap kit that covered green energy. I gave her the kit a book and asked her to work her way through the projects. At first she tried a couple of projects but then found she need batteries but they didn't work. So she read the manual and found out she had to build a solar battery charger. She built it and set it up in the window to charge. New projects next week.
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| GREEN Snap Kits |
Next we measured the water samples we brought back from the field station. We set the bottles in the window but it was a cloudy day so we were not sure what kind of results we would get. Once the data was collected, we left the bottles in the window over the weekend
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| Spark probes measure Temperature, pH, Conductivity and DO |
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| Student Summer Internship learns how probes are used to measure water quality. |
Thursday, June 14th
Today we visited the Stream Ecology Field station. It was out in the country and we got a little lost before we made it. Taking the scenic route was ok because our Ride/Share team is using data loggers to monitor our driving. We got a lot of data on our way to the field station.
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| Steam Ecology Modeling |
Since I teach aquatic science, I was very interested in the stream experiment. In freshwater ecology we talk about lentic and lotic systems. I can't wait to see how the aquatics teams develops their lesson plan on this modeling system. I can see great potential as a lab for my classes. I am hoping we will get to help them collect fish for their project. I would love to get some native fish for my classroom. I could do a fish identification unit.
The stream ecology models both riffles and pools found in local streams. The goal of this project is to study fish behavior, predator/prey relationships under drought conditions. Again common during our long, hot Texas summers.
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| Tubs and riffles make a great mock up of a lotic system |
My student internship is going to use the water from the stream ecology tubs to start an algae productivity study. I was hoping for more algae colonization in the tanks. Our graduate students had drained some of the water to decrease the algae growth. First we used my Spark probes to take a base level reading of temperature, pH, conductivity and dissolved oxygen. She filled five jars with water making sure not to introduce any air bubbles. We then placed the samples in the car.
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| Water collection from riffle |
Our Aquatics team was very happy, they found some plastic tubs they thought they could use to model the stream ecology experiment. Can't wait to see how this lesson plan turns out.
After we finished looking at the steam ecology set up, we hiked down to the creek that runs along the edge of the property. Right now there is not much water in this section. We did see a black snake but not enough to identify it. It was hot, humid, and sticky. I don't think my allergy medicine was working. Still it was fun. I had been here once before when I took an animal ecology class at UNT.
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| Hickory Creek (No fish collection here) |
We were really glad to get back in the car and air conditioning! On our way back we picked up food for a working lunch. I love being outside but I was exhausted scratchy eyes, runny nose, and generally miserable. Even the Benydril didn't help.
The rest of the afternoon I worked on some emails and tried to stay awake. This has been a really bad year for allergies. Not sure why.
Wednesday, June 13th
Teachers continue to work on research. My student is working on her water cleaning experiment. When she is reading I will video her presentation on my FLIP camera and take some pictures she can use for power point presentation.
After lunch today, we went to the Engineering Research Lab. I think this very interesting. Last year they told us it was available but didn't really explain to us how to use it. Since research is a very important part of the scientific process, I think this a valuable experience. If teachers can get a UNT password we can even use the online resources from home.
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| College of Engineering Research Library |
Since I am not doing active research I was researching the cost of an underwater camera for my class aquarium. In searching the Internet, I came across a kit that can be used to teach fish tricks. It is called R2 Fish School. It was hilarious. My students always have trouble make good observations. Maybe this will give them something to observe.
Tomorrow we are going to take a field trip to the Stream Ecology Field Station. We have placed a list of things to bring and do on the board. Important things needed, bug spray, sunscreen, closed toed shoes, water and a hat. It is suppose to be hot and humid.
Tuesday, June 12th
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| RET LAB |
Today is a lab day. Teachers will research articles on their area of interest. I picked up some Spark probes from school so that that my student could use them in several water quality activities I have planned for her We also sat down with Dr. Acevedo (Electrical Engineering/ UNT) and Dr. Thompson (Environmental Science) to discuss the implementation of the these blogs. As a science teacher, I have had my students keep written journal as part of their aquarium project. My problem has been making sure that students keep up with the journal. Many creative journal entries at added several days BEFORE the journal is turned in for grade. So I was interested in a better way to journal.
Since students love to text and post pictures on Facebook, I thought maybe blogging would be a way to keep them engaged in the classroom. They might be more willing to journal if they could text it to a blog and use their phone to post pictures. So, I am learning the art of blogging. I have never done this before but if it will help keep my students engaged them I am certainly willing to try. Once I feel a little more comfortable blogging, I think I will do one for for my Aquatic Science classes.
Teachers are working and I brought in a Science Place water quality kit in Dallas. It had a demonstration on how to clean water. I thought I might use it as demonstration during our water quality unit. Once I showed it to my students, I could challenge them to design and build their own. I could give them several different water samples to clean and see who can come up with the best design. It could also be a good introduction into how a water treatment plants work. I would really like to take my students on field trip the water treatment plant in Denton. They are really good with students.
I am going to let my RET student internship could try out the experiments for me so I know how they work. Today she is going to give me a supply list for the experiments so she can start on Wednesday. The kit is "Clean Water Kit" by Green Science. It is a lot cheaper online than it was at the science place. I also bought a coke can robot for my grandson at the science place and would like to see how it works - might be good for TechFest in the fall.
Monday, June 11th
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| UNT Discover Park, Denton, Texas |
RET (Research Experiences for Teachers) is a program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The goal at the UNT RET site is to provide an opportunity for twelve high school teachers to participate in active research using state-of-the art university research facilities. Teachers will also develop lesson plans based on their individual research and help develop a community based TechFest activity.
The objectives of this program include:
Engage local high school STEM teachers in Electrical Engineering research, in which science and mathematics background are crucial
Demonstrate the necessary integration of science and mathematics disciplines when conducting engineering research
Provide teachers with real-life examples in which science and mathematics aid in problem solving
Enhance teaching efficacy in science and mathematics courses
The program this year will include 4 research teams; Aquatics, Share/Ride, Robotic Vision, and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). Each team is sponsored by UNT faculty and student assistants.
This is my third year with the RET program. I was involved in the initial pilot program where I worked on wireless sensors used to monitor environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. After UNT received funding from NSF, I was invited to participate in the RET program in 2011. I was on the Aquatics team last year and we worked on developing an aquatic sensor that could be used to measure temperature and pH.
As an aquatic science teacher, I was interested in developing an aquaponic system that could be used in the classroom. The idea was the result of a suggestion from a previous aquatic science student of mine. Aquaponics combines the raising of fish (aquaculture) with raising plants in water (hydroponics). My students have to maintain a fish aquarium, for seven to eight weeks, during our freshwater ecology term. Though Lewisville ISD sits between two lakes (Lewisville Lake and Grapevine Lake) conservation if water is necessary due to the long hot Texas summers. Along with conserving water, the project was an excellent way to teach students about the nitrogen and oxygen cycles. Students enjoyed designing and building grow beds for their aquariums and the fact that they didn't have to do as many water changes was a plus. They also were able to explain how nitrogen moves through the aquatic ecosystem. Working with UNT engineers, I realised how important it is that our students are exposed to engineering careers.
This spring I was invited to attend a NSF conference in Arlington, Virgina on engineering and education. The RET program at UNT had been selected to present their program at the national conference and I attended as a teacher representative. The importance of encouraging our high school students pursue engineering careers was stressed. Our nation needs good engineering students in order to compete globally. Programs such as RET help train teachers so that they in turn can train students. Because of my participation in the program, I have increased the number of design and engineering projects in my classroom. Hopefully, this will increase the number of students interested in engineering careers.
This year with RET I will be doing something a little different. This year I will be Master Teacher and work with all the teams. Along with mentoring teachers, I will gain experience on the administration side of the project. I find it very interesting to learn the ins and outs of running a major program such as RET from UNT's perspective.
The first day of the program includes meeting the new RET teachers, faculty and graduate assistants. We learn a little about the College of Engineering and UNT. It is a long day for most of us because we do a lot of sitting and listening (umm, sort of like our students feel)
Speaking of students, today I learned that I will be mentoring a high school student internship. She is very bright and interested in engineering as a career. She was interested in aquatics so I will have to come up with some ideas on projects that she can work on.
