Water Ecology Group – Concept Map
Julia, Brittany, Jim, Becci, LaToya
Blurb about our station:
For the concept interviews, our group took on the challenge of assessing the students’ prior knowledge regarding water ecology. To do so in a fun and informative way, we created a game that involved the students working together to create a concept map with sticky notes. The students were tasked with coming up with as many responses as possible (one response per sticky note) to the following questions:
What we learned from the station:
At our station the children were very engaged and had no trouble participating. This shows us that the students will probably be outgoing at the beach and active participators. We also learned that many of the students know that Ontario beach closes often and that there is a pollution problem. Many of the students showed an understanding that there is bacteria in the water and algae resulting in beach closing. Our group learn that with a large group of teachers that out number students is important to prior to working to with the students discuss group dynamics and decided whose going to say what and when. In our group we were not clear on each teachers job role and because of that one person talked the majority of the time and other teachers weren’t able to have as much interaction with the children. This is something before camp our group needs to address to avoid anyone feeling left out or less important because camp is meant to be a learning experience for everyone.
From our station we learned that you have to be considerate of your audience. When dealing with older/ more mature students teachers and the activities need to adjusted so they are able to feel comfortable and get engaged in the activity. Younger/ less mature children seem to have more energy while older/ mature students tend to be more laid back and want to be treated like adults.
Student Responses to the Questions:
Student | Been to the beach? | Plants/Animals | Things to do | Tools/Technology | Beach closures | What else |
Terrence | Yes | seaweed | swim | microscope | stank | How can we clean it? |
catfish | sleep | dirty | ||||
people | sun tan | stuff in it | ||||
seal | eat | Ahhhh! | ||||
run | ||||||
Daren | Yes: Charlotte | sharks | tan | drainer | dead animals | Any dangerous animals? |
frogs | ride a boat | beaker | being cleaned out | |||
drawing of a squid | jog | thermometer | water dirty | |||
cook out | ||||||
Briyanna | Yes: Charlotte | seagulls | walk around | thermometer | algae | Why is the water so dirty |
people | volleyball | nets | cow poop | Why does animals (fish) keep dying | ||
fish | catch | boats | pollution | |||
algae | swim | graduated cylinder | spray farmers use to kill bugs | |||
sharks | playground | |||||
seashells | merry-go-round | |||||
Juan | Yes | fish | swim | thermometer | pollution | |
birds | play | graduated cylinder | lifeguards | |||
bacteria | get wet | |||||
wash off sand | ||||||
Josh | Yes: Charlotte | Plants | relax | thermometer | bacteria | |
animals | tan | animals | ||||
fish | eat | dirty | ||||
swim | dead fish | |||||
sand castle | ||||||
bathe | ||||||
talk | ||||||
Yeslyann | Yes | algae | walk | graduated cylinder | dangerous animals | Why is it so dirty? |
goose | exersice | microscope | disease | |||
fish | sports | thermometer | pollution | |||
ducks | swim | test tubes | bacteria | |||
Brian | Yes: Charlotte | algea | sports | sonar | bacteria | Whats the acidity of the lake? |
seagulls | swim | pH paper | polluted | |||
fish | tan | |||||
picnic | ||||||
Liam | Yes: Sodus | crabs | volleyball | beakers | no lifeguard | Any other salt water fish that can live in fresh water |
fish | collect shells | microscope | weather | |||
seaweed | feed birds | test tubes | trash | |||
algea | sand castle | polluted water | ||||
swim | other stuff | |||||
Jiren | Yes: Charlotte | crabs | swim | test tubes | dirty | Can gobis kill fish bigger then them? |
algea | walking | beakers | weather | |||
sharks | tennis | microscope | trash | |||
fish | basketball | thermometer | pollution | |||
plankton | volleyball | littering | ||||
clown fish | bird feeding | |||||
lobsters | ||||||
Hadaree | Yes: Ontario | algea | sand castle | test tubes | weather | How to clean water? |
seaweed | water gun | distillation | no lifeguard | |||
crabs | swim | to clean up | ||||
clam | picnic | |||||
fish | collect trash | |||||
starfish | ||||||
Hannah | Yes: Many | plankton | soccer | Out of time | Out of time | |
algea | chill | |||||
seaweed | tan | |||||
fish | volleyball | |||||
spongebob | swim | |||||
Aslan | Yes: Many | fish | boating | Out of time | Out of time | |
green things | stare at it | |||||
Jhade | Yes: Charlotte | rocks | swim | Out of time | Out of time | |
manatees | sports | |||||
sand | jetski | |||||
fish | sail | |||||
sting rays | relax | |||||
seahorse | tan | |||||
starfish | ||||||
sharks | ||||||
dolphins | ||||||
Demari | Yes: Many | crabs | tan | Out of time | Out of time | |
fish | soccer | |||||
seaweed | swim | |||||
plankton | fish | |||||
beavers | skip rocks | |||||
crane | run | |||||
ducks | football | |||||
starfish |
In this section is a list of the possible ways we can incorporate our data into camp:
Using the concept maps and data:
1. We can compile a group list for each of the groups (once we know which campers are in which group). These lists would include all of the campers’ answers for all of the questions, but the individual answers would be anonymous so students did not feel as though they could be picked on for not contributing many answers or for contributing too much. As a group the campers could then revisit the questions to provide additional answers they may not have thought of during the 1 minute time that we provided for them for the concept interviews. This could facilitate a group discussion.
2. Each camper could be presented with a list of their answers that would not be displayed to the entire group and then the group could have a discussion around the questions and provide their answers as well as additional answers during the discussion.
3. The concept maps themselves could be displayed with or without the names for all to visit and discuss.
The discussion could take on a variety of forms:
1. Discussion can just be about combining the answers of the campers in your group and adding additional answers they did not originally think of. Perhaps focusing more on Ontario/Charlotte beach. (This may be particularly important for the students who missed out on completing all four questions.
2. Discussion could be about introducing the idea of Water Ecology by have the campers think about the connections and interactions between the 4 questions and their answers. How do the things people do at the beach affect the plants and animals? How do the plants and animals affect why the beach might be closed? How do our reasons for closing the beach affect the tools used to study the beach? How do the things people do at the beach affect the tools we use at the beach? etc etc. There are possible connections between each of the four questions and the other 3.
3. Discussion could make it more clear whether the campers understand the difference between fresh and salt water ecosystems. Many of the campers used salt water organisms for answers, this was allowed because we let them tell us answers that had to do with any beach and any body of water, but it is important to decipher whether the students knew they were talking about salt water organisms or if they didn’t know there was a difference.
4. Our closing question regarding what the students were interested in exploring further regarding the beach may be taken into consideration when determining what to study for camp. A group discussion on what they want to study and whether it is feasible (the pros and cons of studying that topic) would be beneficial.
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