A Habitat for All: Engaged Ecosystem Learning
Abstract
An Animal Studies WebQuest helped fourth grade students address systems, inquiry, and
application science standards by constructing quantitative habitat maps of a local
ecosystem.
A Habitat for All
“When do the animals get here?” Not that they don’t like the Motion and Design
and Electric Circuits unit, but my fourth grade students already want to know when
they’re going to get to study animals later in the year, and the school year just started. In
my fourth grade class, the arrival of spring means two things: Washington Assessment of
Student Learning (WASL) testing, and the beginning of the Animal Studies science unit.
Our school district, which resides in the Columbia Basin of central Washington State,
uses Science and Technology for Children (STC) science kits. The Animal Studies STC
unit is my personal favorite, mostly because the students enjoy it so much, and because it
helps them to learn inquiry, to develop their life science, writing, and communication
skills, and to apply those skills to the real world. The STC kits emphasize systems-based,
hands-on activities that are used to help students apply the scientific method and
ultimately improve their learning.
Last year’s lower than anticipated science WASL scores have laid heavily on my
mind. Because spatial decision-making skills are linked to elements assessed on the
science WASL, I contemplated strategies to positively improve these skills. As I stared
out my classroom window, I thought about what I could do to help improve our science
WASL scores. The view is of our school’s bird and butterfly habitat, an area that had
become overgrown and underutilized. Then it dawned on me. Why not create a
supplemental activity for the students’ favorite science unit, and in the process
incorporate technology to assess the spatial decision-making skills that relate to systems,
inquiry, and application standards? The Animal Studies science unit, combined with our
habitat, provided the ideal environment for learning. Students could redesign the habitat
to include the dwarf African frog, fiddler crab, and land snail that are part of the STC
Animal Studies unit. Students could design their own habitat and then consider their
individual and collaborative ideas for revising a final habitat design. Students also would
have to analyze, evaluate, compare and contrast each other’s work by making and
justifying alternative choices. The design process would require students to integrate
science, writing, and communication content areas together, and potentially improve
science WASL scores (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, 2006)
Preparing the Inquiry Activity
I chose to use a WebQuest as the Animal Studies supplemental activity because it
is an inquiry-oriented process that would allow my students to conduct guided research
using technology (Dodge, 1997; Marzano, 1992). This WebQuest was placed on my
classroom web page (authors’s website) for the purpose of helping students to develop
systems, inquiry, and application skills as well as embedded technology skills. A districtwide website filter and close supervision helped to assure student online safety.
Two specific questions emerged from this initial work: Would the WebQuest
affect student habitat designs and spatial decision-making? Would students enjoy this
kind of activity? The STC Animal Studies unit allowed students to construct a miniature
‘desktop’ habitat, but I wanted the students to be able to transfer their knowledge from
the model to a real habitat. By quantifying their habitat design process, I hoped to gain
insights into their thinking and performance. Thus began my investigation of how a
fourth grade supplemental Animal Studies science WebQuest affected spatial decisionmaking skills.
I began by designing a paper habitat template map that included trees, shrubs,
plants, and a compost box (see Figure 1). Using an overlaid grid, the habitat template was
divided into square centimeters to provide students with visual orientation and structure.
This also allowed me to assess changes in students’ habitat spatial decision-making
before, during, and after experiencing the WebQuest inquiry activity. Specific aspects of
the WebQuest activity are described below.
Assessment of Spatial Decision-Making prior to Animal Studies Unit
The WebQuest was first introduced to students in the computer lab to give them
an overall glimpse of the inquiry activity. Then my students and I began step one of the
8-week Animal Studies science unit by taking a walking tour of the habitat. They made a
free drawing of the habitat as I explained what trees, plants, and other objects were
present. Afterwards, they compared their free drawings to the detailed habitat template to
check for accuracy and completeness. I then introduced the students to the specific
animals we would study for our science unit. I asked, “What if those animals were to live
in our school’s habitat? How would you redesign our habitat so these new animals could
live here?” Using only their background knowledge of frogs, crabs, and snails, students
used their best judgment to create the first set of individual habitat maps. Some general
guidelines were provided via access to the Animal Studies WebQuest. For example,
students had to draw a boundary around each animal’s habitat and calculate the surface
area contained within that space. All map elements had to be labeled. Students also
created a map key that used different colors for each animal (e.g. green for frog, orange
for crab, brown for snail). Generally, if a map square was over 50% full, it was counted
as a whole map unit. This first set of individual habitat maps was collected and used as a
baseline for future mapping assignments.
Assessment of Spatial Decision-Making after Animal Studies Unit
The second step of the WebQuest used hands-on classroom investigations
supplemented with small group work (teams of three students) that took place in a
computer lab for 30-45 minutes twice a week. During the Animal Studies unit, students
were required to build small working models, or ‘desktop’, habitats for each animal they
studied. Working in groups, students observed, recorded, and discussed each live
animal’s unique habitat, anatomy, behaviors, life cycles, adaptations, and survival needs.
Students also conducted online research on generic frog, crab, and land snail habitats. A
second set of individual habitat maps was created once students completed the Animal
Studies unit (but not the WebQuest). Students were then asked to apply their newly
constructed knowledge and make completely new maps without referencing their first
habitat maps. Three questions were used to frame their thinking, “Can our school’s
habitat be changed? Is it possible for all three animals to survive in our habitat? What
changes are necessary for their survival?” The same rules used for the first mapping
assignment were applied to the second; students had to label all structures, calculate
surface area for each animal’s habitat, and include a color-coded map key. Students were
allowed to refer to their research notes and experiences with the desktop habitats. Once
the second set of individual habitat maps was complete, they was collected and compared
to the first set to see how student spatial decision-making changed over time. Some
examples of student comments provided some insight into their thinking:
“I can’t put the frog there anymore because it is too close to the crab’s salt water.”
“Wow, the snail can live just about anywhere in the habitat!”
“Can we make the water place have half salt water and half fresh water?”
“This drawing is way different than my first one.”
“I thought this was gonna be hard, but its kinda fun.”
Assessment of Spatial Decision-Making after Animal Studies WebQuest
The third step of the Animal Studies unit and WebQuest began by student teams
returning to the computer lab for more targeted research. Students were provided with
additional links on the WebQuest Resource page so that they could collect more detailed
data on the dwarf African frog, fiddler crab, and land snail. Each team member was
individually responsible for researching one of the three animals, recording new data, and
reporting their results to other team members. Next, teams investigated additional
resources for habitats, ecosystems, biomes, and biospheres. At the completion of their
research, each team gathered together to record their newest data and start to design a
final collaborative habitat map (see Figure 2). Student enthusiasm was very high at this
stage of the WebQuest activity. Some student comments included:
“Can we turn [the habitat] into a biosphere? We’ll have to make a side-view
drawing so people will know what it is. What about people living in it? Can we do
that?”
In order to design a final collaborative habitat map, each team member had to
consult their research notes and web pages, review previous maps, and discuss their
previous results. Working toward consensus, each team compromised on particular
aspects of their design until they created a final collaborative habitat map.
A collaboration rubric was used for the fourth and final step of the Animal Studies
unit and WebQuest (author’s collaboration rubric). Students verbally self-assessed their
level of individual responsibility and contributions to the team. A teacher-generated
science WebQuest questionnaire containing 6 questions was also used to collect student
feedback. At the end, each student team presented their final habitat map to the class.
Outcomes and Indications
Recording the total surface area for each animal before, during, and after the
WebQuest activity helped to assess students’ spatial decision-making skills. A
comparison of the first and second sets of individual habitat maps showed changes in
student decision-making indicated by increased or decreased surface area. Specifically, a
comparison of the first map set to the second map set showed that students increased frog
habitat area by 9%, crab area by 14%, and snail area by 16%. These percentages
indicated that, as students gained and applied more knowledge about frogs, crabs, and
snails, they changed their habitat decision-making in response.
Interestingly, when students’ collaborative habitat maps were compared to their
individual habitat maps, less change in habitat surface area was evident. Specifically,
collaborative habitat maps showed an 11% area change each for the frog and crab, and a
12% area change for the snail. It is presumed that students’ new knowledge led to
compromising, redesigning, and applying new design elements and surface areas to their
final habitat maps, therefore resulting in lower percent changes (see Figure 3).
During the Animal Studies unit, students learned about different life systems,
about how to engage in inquiry processes, and to apply that knowledge to solving a real
world problem. In addition to address all three Washington Essential Academic Learning
standards for Science, this investigation provided some insight into how much students
changed their decision-making for animal habitats. Classroom observation and surface
area changes on individual habitat maps generally showed that students learned about
what different life forms require in order to live. Students also learned about how the
interaction between different life forms requires tradeoffs. By using a group learning
process in addition to individual effort, we were also able to address state standards for
communication. In a practical sense, this integrated approach helped students to meet
more state standards than would have been the case with a more traditional approach.
An analysis of questionnaire results showed that 96% of the students enjoyed the
WebQuest activity. Generally, student comments indicated that they felt they learned
more from the WebQuest and from working together in small groups than they would
have otherwise. Using the Internet to conduct research was not a problem for most
students. Working collaboratively was sometimes a challenge, but students learned to
compromise on important decisions. The habitat template was easy to read for most, but a
few struggled with the new vocabulary. Most students found the WebQuest activity to be
appropriately challenging. Nearly all students wanted to do more lessons like this one.
It has been my experience over the past 12 years of teaching that when students
are actively involved in their learning, constructing new knowledge becomes a part of
everyday life. This action research project provided me with new information about how
students gain and process knowledge and how they apply it to real-life situations. Future
student success depends on their ability to develop these skills, whether that is engaging
in inquiry, solving problems individually or collaboratively, or using technology to
improve their learning. This project helped my students to improve their habitat decision-
making skills, to conduct research using technology tools, and to work together to design
and revise animal habitats. “Do we get to research the animals in the computer lab
today?” was a question I heard quite often during this activity. The Animal Studies
WebQuest has positively influenced my fourth grade students’ ability to make spatial
decisions, which in turn has led me to investigate other possibilities for other science
units like the STC Motion and Design and Electric Circuits science units as well. Of
course, this study has raised more questions than it has answered, but it has shown me the
value of engaging students in meaningful, contextual learning.
References
Dodge, B. (1997). Some Thoughts About WebQuests. Retrieved April 20, 2005, from
http://webquest.sdsu.edu/about_webquests.html
Marzano, R. J. (1992). A Different Kind of Classroom: Teaching with Dimensions of
Learning. Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. (2006). Essential Academic Learning
Requirements in Science, Writing, and Communication. Retrieved June 19, 2006,
from http://www.k12.wa.us/curriculumInstruct/science/ealrs.aspx
Science and Technology for Children. (2006). Retrieved July 30, 2006 from
http://www.carolina.com/STC/overview_learning.asp
Washington Assessment of Student Learning. (2006). Retrieved July 30, 2006 from
http://www.k12.wa.us/assessment/WASL/overview.aspx
Figure 1
Habitat Template
Figure 2
Example of Student Collaborative Habitat Map
Figure 3
Percent Change in Habitat Design and Spatial Decision-Making
Percent Change in Habitat Design and Spatial Decision-Making
Frog
Crab
Snail
18
16
14
Percent Change
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Individual
Collaborative
Habitat Design Group