The “Atlantic Sea Scallop Design Challenge” unit plan
touches on a few points which hit close to home. Designed for ninth and tenth graders, this
week long lesson plan focuses on human pollution, its effect on the oceanic
environment, the importance of scallops as a part of American industry, and the
engineering process as a whole. In
practice, the lesson itself calls for two days of lecture, one day of model
demonstration, one day of student planning/construction, and a final day of
experimental assessment. Each session
will be shortened to forty-five minutes instead of the proposed fifty minutes. By the end of the week students should be
able to correctly carry out the steps involved in the engineering design
process, as well as test their designs.
This knowledge is accompanied by the understanding of how dredging
changes the environment and its resulting casual effects on the ecosystem as a
whole.
The
first standard addressed in this lesson plan involves the construction of
evidence-based models in order to pose theories and interpretation of
data. This section of the lesson will
revolve around lecture which will be supplemented with both videos discussing
dredging as a process as well as how pollution affects the ecosystem. In order to properly discuss these videos and
their implications classroom discussion will be used to construct a diagram of
key points witnessed in both the videos and lecture on a smartboard. By the end of this session, students should
be able to construct their own charts on pollution and the effects of dredging.
The
next standard tackled in the lesson plan focuses on data analysis and dissecting
cause and effect relationships. In order
to accomplish this, a lecture on the effects of pollution on the ecosystem as a
whole, and on scallops, will be held. Like
the standard above, these steps will be met through the use of videos,
diagrams/models, and graphic organizers created through group discussion on the
smartboard. It is important that
students understand the effects of pollution and dredging before the lesson
continues. Therefore, I chose these
methods of visual depictions for a shock value factor. Seeing the actual effects will hopefully aid
in student comprehension.
In
order to understand the third standard in this unit plan it is essential that
students have completed the components of the prior standard. In this instance, students must represent
ideas through literal interpretations. In order to approach the dredging challenge,
this session will focus on the sources of pollutants, the importance of
scallops in American economics, and the engineering process. A group discussion will be held on possible sources
of pollution which will be compiled into a graphic organizer. This will then be compared to the data
collected from internet based research groups for oceanic conservation. A supplementary demonstration of how
pollutants spread will be completed through the use of an oceanic model. In this instance, food coloring will be
introduced to a fish tank which represents an ocean ecosystem. Students will visually see how pollutants
permeate the ecosystem. Finally, the
importance of scallops in industry, as well as the process of developmental
engineering will be touched upon.
Students should understand the basics of designing tools with the
engineering process by the end of this lesson.
The
fourth standard involves peer interaction in order to understand topics. After a brief dredging demonstration using
the ecosystem model from the prior session, students will be divided into
groups to design their own dredges. By
using the engineering process students must work together in an effort to
create a less environmentally damaging method of dredging. By the end of the session students will have
a sketch of their design, as well as time to build their dredge with the
supplied materials listed within the lesson plan.
The
final standard addressed in this lesson plan includes proper tool use
demonstration and ethical handling of animal specimens. During this session students will complete construction
of their dredges so that their implementation can be assessed. Students will physically dredge the model
ecosystem for scallops. In this
experiment the scallops will not be living scallops, but should still be
treated as if they were as they are animal specimens. After the dredges are tested a group
discussion will focus on what aspects of the dredges worked, and which didn’t,
in order to create an ideal dredge.
The
majority of this lesson plan revolves around video depictions and tool usage in
order to understand the relationships between ecosystems and pollution. By the end of this unit students should be
able to appropriately design, construct, and test tools. Furthermore, students should understand how
their actions affect the environment around them, supporting an effort for more
eco-friendly processed to be developed.
Link to Spreadsheet
Link to Lesson Plan
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