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| Isabella and Jackie identifying some of the plant species. |
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| Setting up the pollination experiment. |
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| Tour with Jepson prairie docent. |
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| Taking a closer look at tadpole shrimp. |
| Getting ready for the pollination experiment. |
Saturday, March 30, 2013
First field trip to Jepson Prairie
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Getting ready for the field trip
Two weeks ago I had the final official class of the trimester with the 3rd and 4th graders. I will be going back to their classroom to talk about the pollination study after we are done, and I am always stopping by to check on the vernal pools and tadpoles.
My goal was to make sure that the kids were ready for our first field trip. Since we had talked about pollination the week before, I asked the kids to go through their notes and summarize on a piece of paper the parts of a flower and the process of pollination. I was very pleased to see how much they knew! Everyone had the male and female structures of the flower on their drawing, and they were talking about sperm/pollen traveling from one flower to another. Most kids were also able to make the connection between pollination and seed production. After giving kids enough time to think about what they had learned the week before, we had a class discussion about the process of pollination, and the importance of pollinators.
After this discussion we were ready to talk about the pollination experiment that they will be conducting. During our first field trip each kid will choose 3 individuals of the same species (specie to be determined). One individual will be left alone and marked as "control", another individual will be artificially pollinated by the kids, and the third individual will be caged (cage will be built with chicken wire covered with bridal veil). I asked the kids to draw the experiment and predict results. Predictions included comparisons between the relative number of seeds and plant appearance.
In addition to conducting the experiment, we will have a guided tour of Jepson Prairie Reserve. This reserve protects one of the few remaining vernal pool habitats in California. Since this will be a unique opportunity for the kids, I talked to them about conservation and asked them to come up with a few questions that they might be interested in asking the docent during the field trip.
My goal was to make sure that the kids were ready for our first field trip. Since we had talked about pollination the week before, I asked the kids to go through their notes and summarize on a piece of paper the parts of a flower and the process of pollination. I was very pleased to see how much they knew! Everyone had the male and female structures of the flower on their drawing, and they were talking about sperm/pollen traveling from one flower to another. Most kids were also able to make the connection between pollination and seed production. After giving kids enough time to think about what they had learned the week before, we had a class discussion about the process of pollination, and the importance of pollinators.
After this discussion we were ready to talk about the pollination experiment that they will be conducting. During our first field trip each kid will choose 3 individuals of the same species (specie to be determined). One individual will be left alone and marked as "control", another individual will be artificially pollinated by the kids, and the third individual will be caged (cage will be built with chicken wire covered with bridal veil). I asked the kids to draw the experiment and predict results. Predictions included comparisons between the relative number of seeds and plant appearance.
In addition to conducting the experiment, we will have a guided tour of Jepson Prairie Reserve. This reserve protects one of the few remaining vernal pool habitats in California. Since this will be a unique opportunity for the kids, I talked to them about conservation and asked them to come up with a few questions that they might be interested in asking the docent during the field trip.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Taking a closer look at plants
At the end of this month, we will be having our first field trip to Jepson Prairie Reserve. During our visit, we will be conducting a pollination experiment. The goal of this experiment is to help kids fully understand the purpose of pollination, and the importance of pollinators. In order to prepare the kids for this experiment, I wanted to ensure that everyone was familiar with the structures (and functions) of a plant.
We started by dissecting a bean (pictures below) in order to take a close look at seed structure and function. The kids were able to see the seed coat, the embryo and its food storage. After this dissection, I showed them some bean seedlings that were growing in a container that allows them to see how seedlings emerge from the soil, and how roots grow into the soil (picture below). I showed them how the food storage (cotyledons) shrinks as seedlings grow, and each kid drew a diagram of a plant, labeling each structure.
The next step was to take a closer look at flower structure and function. Each child had a flower (Lilium) to dissect (pictures below). I asked them to take the petals out, and we discussed the function of petals. They already knew that pollinators were attracted to the color or smell of petals but they weren't sure why. The kids noticed that the next set of structures were full of pollen, but they didn't know why plants produced pollen. Most kids thought that pollen was produced for insect consumption only. I told them that the remaining structures on their flowers were for reproduction, and told them that plants also use sperm and egg for sexual reproduction. I then asked them to take a closer look at the structures (stamen and pistil) and speculate which structure was responsible for producing each of the gametes. We then talked about how a seed is produced - the pollen is transferred to another flower, after pollination the pollen grain produces a tube that travels down the female structure of the flower (style) until it reaches the ovary, where the ovules are located. At this point, the nucleus of the pollen tube produces a sperm cell that fertilizes the ovule leading to the production of a seed.
Our last activity was centered around the botanical definitions of fruits and vegetables. After showing them how seeds are produced, I told them that the definition of a fruit is a mature ovary. This means that all fruits have seeds inside (unless they are genetically altered not to produce seeds). So what is a vegetable? Well, a vegetable is any other part of a plant that is not an ovary. A vegetable can be a root, a stem, leaves, or an inflorescence. We then played a game to help everyone see the difference between fruits and vegetables. I brought a few fruits and vegetables to the classroom, and showed them to the kids one at time asking them whether it was a fruit or a vegetable. If they guessed fruit, we had to find the seeds, and if they guessed vegetable, we had to identify what part of the plant that vegetable was.
We started by dissecting a bean (pictures below) in order to take a close look at seed structure and function. The kids were able to see the seed coat, the embryo and its food storage. After this dissection, I showed them some bean seedlings that were growing in a container that allows them to see how seedlings emerge from the soil, and how roots grow into the soil (picture below). I showed them how the food storage (cotyledons) shrinks as seedlings grow, and each kid drew a diagram of a plant, labeling each structure.
The next step was to take a closer look at flower structure and function. Each child had a flower (Lilium) to dissect (pictures below). I asked them to take the petals out, and we discussed the function of petals. They already knew that pollinators were attracted to the color or smell of petals but they weren't sure why. The kids noticed that the next set of structures were full of pollen, but they didn't know why plants produced pollen. Most kids thought that pollen was produced for insect consumption only. I told them that the remaining structures on their flowers were for reproduction, and told them that plants also use sperm and egg for sexual reproduction. I then asked them to take a closer look at the structures (stamen and pistil) and speculate which structure was responsible for producing each of the gametes. We then talked about how a seed is produced - the pollen is transferred to another flower, after pollination the pollen grain produces a tube that travels down the female structure of the flower (style) until it reaches the ovary, where the ovules are located. At this point, the nucleus of the pollen tube produces a sperm cell that fertilizes the ovule leading to the production of a seed.
Our last activity was centered around the botanical definitions of fruits and vegetables. After showing them how seeds are produced, I told them that the definition of a fruit is a mature ovary. This means that all fruits have seeds inside (unless they are genetically altered not to produce seeds). So what is a vegetable? Well, a vegetable is any other part of a plant that is not an ovary. A vegetable can be a root, a stem, leaves, or an inflorescence. We then played a game to help everyone see the difference between fruits and vegetables. I brought a few fruits and vegetables to the classroom, and showed them to the kids one at time asking them whether it was a fruit or a vegetable. If they guessed fruit, we had to find the seeds, and if they guessed vegetable, we had to identify what part of the plant that vegetable was.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Vernal pool food web and microscopy
One of my goals for this trimester is to make sure that students know that organisms need energy to live and grow, and that there are different trophic levels in an ecosystem. Since our project is about vernal pools (VP), I had kids create vernal pool food webs. I started by asking them how energy enters this ecosystem. After agreeing that algae and plants are the primary producers in vernal pools, I showed the kids pictures and short videos of other organisms that inhabit these temporary pools. This was necessary since this ecosystem is new to them, and they were not familiar with the species commonly found in vernal pools.
Once we were done looking at VP's organisms, we classified them as herbivores, carnivores, or decomposers. We spent some time discussing how energy moves through a system with all these trophic levels, and then created (as a group) a vernal pool food web. Working as a group in this activity wasn't a good idea. Some kids got really distracted and there were a few conflicts. After the break, we had a writer's workshop with Lorie. Sammy shared his idea for our vernal pool book, and everybody had a chance to make suggestions.
Last week some of the vernal pool cysts hatched - It was so exciting to see fairy shrimp, copepods, seed shrimp and tadpole shrimp swimming in the pools! On Friday, I brought a small microscope that connects to the projector so that we could take a closer look at these crustaceans. After having some fun with this simple microscope, I had a microscope station (with a compound microscope) for the kids to take a closer look at some of the microorganisms that are living in their pools. While one of the kids was with me at the microscope station, the other kids were working on two assignments with Brittany: 1) making their own vernal pool food web - it was important to give them the chance to do this activity on their own since not everybody had a chance to think about each relationship on the previous week; 2) start their field guide flashcards for some of the plants that we might see during our field trips to Jepson prairie.
The kids were really excited to use a compound microscope. I had each kid get a sample of water from one of their experimental pools, and prepare a slide for observation. Before letting them look at their slides, I talked to them about how a microscope works. We were able to see a lot of algae, and some rotifers.
Once we were done looking at VP's organisms, we classified them as herbivores, carnivores, or decomposers. We spent some time discussing how energy moves through a system with all these trophic levels, and then created (as a group) a vernal pool food web. Working as a group in this activity wasn't a good idea. Some kids got really distracted and there were a few conflicts. After the break, we had a writer's workshop with Lorie. Sammy shared his idea for our vernal pool book, and everybody had a chance to make suggestions.
Last week some of the vernal pool cysts hatched - It was so exciting to see fairy shrimp, copepods, seed shrimp and tadpole shrimp swimming in the pools! On Friday, I brought a small microscope that connects to the projector so that we could take a closer look at these crustaceans. After having some fun with this simple microscope, I had a microscope station (with a compound microscope) for the kids to take a closer look at some of the microorganisms that are living in their pools. While one of the kids was with me at the microscope station, the other kids were working on two assignments with Brittany: 1) making their own vernal pool food web - it was important to give them the chance to do this activity on their own since not everybody had a chance to think about each relationship on the previous week; 2) start their field guide flashcards for some of the plants that we might see during our field trips to Jepson prairie.
The kids were really excited to use a compound microscope. I had each kid get a sample of water from one of their experimental pools, and prepare a slide for observation. Before letting them look at their slides, I talked to them about how a microscope works. We were able to see a lot of algae, and some rotifers.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Getting started!
Two weeks ago we started the in-class vernal pool experiment. We had enough vernal pool soil (thanks to Jamie Kneitel) to simulate 6 mini vernal pools. My goal was to let the kids choose two treatment groups so we could have 3 replicates of each treatment. Before letting the kids choose the treatments for their experiment, I talked to them about the importance of replication in scientific studies. I started by describing a simplified version of my husband's experiment - he is studying the effects of tadpoles (Pseudacris regilla) on vernal pool communities, and I asked them to think about a few possible reasons why a scientist would want/need to compare pools with tadpoles with pools without tadpoles. The reasons for having controls in scientific experiments seemed to be pretty clear to most kids. I then proceeded by asking them why we would want/need more than one pool with each treatment. The reasons for having replication in a scientific study weren't that obvious to the kids, so we spent some time talking about the importance of replication.
After this discussion, I told the kids that our only independent variable in this experiment would be the amount of water, and I let them choose two treatments. Group 1 chose to simulate a heavy rain event, and filled up their 3 containers; while group two decided to simulate lighter, more frequent rain events - they have been adding a cup of water three times a weeks. Below are some pictures of the kids setting up their microcosms.
After this discussion, I told the kids that our only independent variable in this experiment would be the amount of water, and I let them choose two treatments. Group 1 chose to simulate a heavy rain event, and filled up their 3 containers; while group two decided to simulate lighter, more frequent rain events - they have been adding a cup of water three times a weeks. Below are some pictures of the kids setting up their microcosms.
After we were done setting up the experiment, Lorie came into the classroom to talk to the kids about writing a book. As I have mentioned in my first post, we will be working on a children's book about vernal pools during the 3 months that I am working with the third and fourth graders. Lorie had a discussion with the kids about possible roles that they could have during this process. Although the kids will be working together on this project, we have some kids focusing on different roles: story telling, illustration, fun facts, scientific facts, and editing.
Last Friday, the kids started working on their field guides to Jeposon prairie vernal pools. My goal is to have each kid create their own field guide before we have our field trip to Jepson prairie so that they can use their own work to identify some of the species during their visits to the vernal pools. The kids worked on crustaceans (
clam shrimp, copepods, fairy shrimp,
seed shrimp, tadpole shrimp, and water flea), and amphibians (
Pacific chorus frog, and California tiger
salamander) last week. They did an excellent job drawing the species and summarizing fun facts about them.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Vernal pools - 3rd and 4th graders
During the next three months, I will be working with the 3rd and 4th graders. Students will be learning about vernal pools, conducting an experiment, and writing a children's book.
During the first three weeks, we have talked about some basic concepts - including a description of the three vernal pool phases, and a brief introduction to organisms that are found in these temporary wetlands. Each kid has a science folder with all the material that we have been using in science class. Please feel free to take a look at your kid's work if you are interested in learning more about what we have been doing in class.
Next week we will start our experiment, so today we spent some time talking about "what scientists do". We started with a brief discussion summarizing what the kids already knew about how scientists approach questions, and then we conducted a simple experiment to help the kids visualize the steps of the scientific method.
We started by making observations of raisins and sprite (any clear carbonated drink would work for that). The question we were interested in answering was what would happen to the raisins once they were dropped into a cup of sprite. Each kid had to develop their own hypothesis, write or draw how they were going to conduct their experiment, conduct the experiment, interpret and present their results.
During the first three weeks, we have talked about some basic concepts - including a description of the three vernal pool phases, and a brief introduction to organisms that are found in these temporary wetlands. Each kid has a science folder with all the material that we have been using in science class. Please feel free to take a look at your kid's work if you are interested in learning more about what we have been doing in class.
Next week we will start our experiment, so today we spent some time talking about "what scientists do". We started with a brief discussion summarizing what the kids already knew about how scientists approach questions, and then we conducted a simple experiment to help the kids visualize the steps of the scientific method.
We started by making observations of raisins and sprite (any clear carbonated drink would work for that). The question we were interested in answering was what would happen to the raisins once they were dropped into a cup of sprite. Each kid had to develop their own hypothesis, write or draw how they were going to conduct their experiment, conduct the experiment, interpret and present their results.
Friday, December 7, 2012
Yeast Monohybrid Cross
During the last two weeks, the upper graders worked on their monohybrid yeast cross project. They started by preparing petri dishes with agar, then they cultured the yeast strains, and performed a cross between two heterozygotous (Rr x Rr - R being the dominant allele coding for white yeast, and r the recessive allele coding for red yeast).
Each student has a handout describing the experiment, and they had to answer some genetics questions throughout the project. If you want to see your kid's work, take a look at his/hers science folder. I also gave them a quiz about the basics of genetics on Wednesday so that I can see if there are any misunderstandings that I should address in the next two weeks (my last weeks with them). I am honestly amazed with how smart these kids are! They learn extremely fast, and ask very smart questions. It is a pleasure to work with this group!
Students will be writing a lab report - with introduction, methods, results and discussion sections - next week. We have talked about the structure and purpose of scientific papers, and I will be helping them with their reports next Monday. Below are some pictures of the kids working on this project.
Each student has a handout describing the experiment, and they had to answer some genetics questions throughout the project. If you want to see your kid's work, take a look at his/hers science folder. I also gave them a quiz about the basics of genetics on Wednesday so that I can see if there are any misunderstandings that I should address in the next two weeks (my last weeks with them). I am honestly amazed with how smart these kids are! They learn extremely fast, and ask very smart questions. It is a pleasure to work with this group!
Students will be writing a lab report - with introduction, methods, results and discussion sections - next week. We have talked about the structure and purpose of scientific papers, and I will be helping them with their reports next Monday. Below are some pictures of the kids working on this project.
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