ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Needs Assessment/Rational

When our staff met on January 17 we had a meeting titled “Where are we going? Goal Setting.” We began by reviewing our Mission Statements: District- “Empower all learners to succeed in a changing world.” Roosevelt-“To promote excellence in academic and character education in our school, homes, and community. As a staff we knew we wanted to get back to a school goal that encompassed a curriculum rich goal. One that would specifically focus on content. We then broke down into groups and started reviewing the scores from the North Dakota State Assessment Supplement Terra Nova Multiple Assessment. We compared years 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04. We looked at both Language Arts and Math. I am going to take you through Math as that is the team I am on and where I wish to impact partly with my TWT project. Being an instructor in the Gifted Program I focused on the Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability area. In 2001-02 the Grade 4 students were at the 44% overall, this places them as Non-Proficient. (0%-44% Non-Proficient ) In 2002-03 they were at 48% overall, this places them 3% points above Non-Proficient in the Partial Proficiency Level (45-69% Partial Proficiency) In 2003-04 the were at 50% overall, this placed them also in Partial Proficiency. I am not going to list the other area levels as I want to concentrate on this area - Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability. When we looked at these test scores we asked, What do we want our students to do better in this target area of Math, How can we get them to do it?, How will we know if we have been successful? After lengthy discussion we came up with a goal in this Target Area of Math Roosevelt students will be able to comprehend and apply mathematical concepts to solve problems.” I will be focusing my activities on giving the students an on-line learning environment in which they will collect, organize, and display data. 4.3.1 of Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability

They will also be given an experience base in Formulating and solving a problem that involves data. 4.3.2 of of Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability

Students will also Use technology and materials as tools to display data
4.3.4 of Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability.

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding: I want them to understand that as a scientist or a consumer that explanations about what happens in the world come partly from what they observe, partly what they think. Sometimes scientists have different explanations for the same set of observations. That usually leads to their making more observations to resolve the differences. Goal(s): Students will collect, organize, and display data from information obtained from an on line learning environment. Students will collect, organize, and display data from information obtained from an on line learning environment. Students will be given an experience that will allow them to solve a problem that involves analyzing data. Students will use technology and materials as tools to display data.

Questions Answered

Essential questions: In what ways do people cause harm to their enviroment? What effects does this harm have on our enviroment? Have students list sets of situations and circumstances that will arise. How can you connect your own understanding to the science instruction you are receiving? How does electronic instruction help make students thinking visible? How can science instruction be made to develop collaborative work? Objectives: Students will learn how to manipulate an on line learning environment located at the following web site http://wise.berkeley.edu/welcome.php. They will complete every activity included in the Creek Detectives Project. Students will learn about Pine Creek and its environment while using the WISE On-line community. Students will be introduced to the idea of what and how watersheds form. Students will be introduced to the idea of what and how watersheds form. Students will research three factors that are indicators of the health of a creek, and thus, the health of the watershed. It is important that the causes of fluctuations of these factors are emphasized so that the big picture of the causal #4 continued…relationships between the creek, the factor, where the creek runs to, and where it came from are all realized.

Assessment

What quiz and test items e.g. simple content-focused questions that require a single, best answer) will provide evidence of understanding? Students will be given an Investigative checklist the first time we go on line and read the problem page of creek detectives. Investigative Checklist Follow the scientific method to solve the Creek Detectives Project. Step 1: What is the Question/problem you are trying to answer? Step 2: Form a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a possible answer to your question. Remember this is just a guess! Step 3: Begin your Creek Detective Project- explore the watershed, take notes, read the clues, observe and compare differences and similarities of the creek bed, research the organisms that live in the creek bed. Remember to record all of your thoughts in your on-line notes and to enter all of your observations in the graphs and tables accurately. Use this space to brainstorm some types of investigations you plan to do.     Creek Detectives Assessment Items 1. In the summer, fish often prefer to be in the cool depths of a lake rather than closer to the surface in the warmer water. Why do you think this might be? Fish prefer cooler waters because… 2. What do you think would be different at Pine Creek during different times (seasons) of the year? Check all that apply:   A: Diversity of plants and animals living in or near the creek   B: Amount of water   C: Direction of water flow   D: Temperature of water Explain why each of your choices above is correct. Explain why you DID NOT choose any of the options above. 3. The Easy Riders Horse Club of Walnut Creek wants to build a new equestrian center and new horse trails along Pine Creek. Mr. Lee, a local neighbor, says that having horses nearby the creek will cause the health of the creek to get worse. Do you agree or disagree? Check one:   A: Agree   B: Disagree Please explain your answer. What academic prompts e.g. open-ended questions or problems that require students to think critically and then to prepare a response / product / performance) will provide evidence of understanding? Activity 1: The teacher can introduce this activity by raising the topic of what determines whether or not a creek/body of water is healthy. Also, the watershed concept can be easily primed with the question, “Where does all the water in a lake come from?” or something to this extent. As mentioned below, there is minimal relation between the variable and the watershed concept in this activity. Thus, it is left to the teacher’s discretion to explain the causal relationships which can be done in a class discussion afterwards or via another factor example (such as heavy metals from factories) prior to beginning. What performance tasks and projects (e.g. complex challenges that are authentic, mirror the real world and require a performance or product) will you include that will provide evidence of student understanding? Activity 2: This can be introduced by analogy such as soaking up a stain with a wet rag or leaving the stain out to dry on its own. The students might also benefit from a discussion on what can evidence be and the contextual nature of evidence. To make sure the students are actually comparing and contrasting the pictures as opposed to independent observations they will be asked to draw their findings on a comparison contrast chart. What other evidence e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment) of understanding will you collect? Activity 1: The students will take notes on each activity. The first note on activity 1 is a basic reminder for the students to make sure to read all the links on the first page. This is where the vocabulary will be introduced that will be used throughout the project. Again students take notes at every stage and they are saved for them in a specific area on their on line project. They will be printed and used while the students are formulating graphs on GRAPH MASTER. These graphs will mirror their understanding allow them to deal with data to observe a problem and finding problem solving solutions. ACTIVITY 3: Before beginning this activity, it is important to notice that the note steps are very directly related to the relationship between creek health and the variable itself. Thus, the factors origins and relevance to watersheds is indirectly explained. Prior to students reviewing all of the data collected (last activity) to determine if they think the Creek bed is healthy or unhealthy, they will generate a checklist in the form of a “Yes/No” graph formed with opinions by the classmates.

Instructional Strategies

The students will be engaged in Problem-based Learning. While they investigate the health of the Pine Creek Watershed. They will be challenged to see solutions to this real-world problem of pollution and the loss of diversity of our natural resources. The Activities in Creek Detectives are designed to arouse the student’s curiosity and send them on a journey to analyze data, and information and through critical thought and allow them to formulate independent solutions to this problem.