Problem-Based Learning in a
Professional Learning
Presenters:
Community
Iya Keturah Monroe, Executive Director of
O.U.R.S.E.P., Inc.
Joan Tucker, Assistant Director of
O.U.R.S.E.P., Inc.
Joan Tucker is the Assistant Director of O.U.R.S.E.P., a certified and celebrated K-8
teacher of the NJ public school system for ten years, and currently holds a Masters
degree in Curriculum Development from Walden University. She has been
instrumental in facilitating several cultural and educational enrichment events for
students in the Trenton community and she truly embodies the practice of
experiential learning in the classroom.
Agenda
Introductions
2009 NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards in Science: What is different?
Part I: Problem-Based Learning-Model lessons
Lesson A: The Science of Food Production
Overview: Teachers will compare Greenhouse farming methods to Hydroponic farming
methods. Cumulative progress indicators in Science practices (5.1), Physical Science (5.2),
Life Science (5.3), and Earth Systems Science (5.4), will be addressed.
Lesson B: Explore how land forms affect an ecosystem and its climate. ex.
Destruction of farms due to mountain top removal
Lunch Break
Part II: Engaging activities that build skills
Overview: Teachers will explore topic strands in each of the content standard
domains. Building on the 5E model of lesson planning, teachers will construct
lesson outlines based on these engagement activities
Common Science Investigation (CSI)
Overview: Teachers will investigate a Science mystery using O.U.R.S.E.P. CSI
model for science skill building practice
Overview
This is the NJCCC standard and strands that we will focus on today.
Content Area Science Standard 5.3 Life Science: All students will understand that life science principles
are powerful conceptual tools for making sense of the complexity, diversity, and interconnectedness of
life on Earth. Order in natural systems arises in accordance with rules that govern the physical world, and
the order of natural systems can be modeled and predicted through the use of mathematics.
Strand C. Interdependence : All animals and most plants depend on both other organisms and their
environment to meet their basic needs.
By the end of grade 12: Biological communities in ecosystems are based on stable interrelationships and
interdependence of organisms. 5.3.12.C.1 Analyze the interrelationships and interdependency among
different organisms, and explain how these relationships contribute to the stability of the
ecosystem.
Stability in an ecosystem can be disrupted by natural or human interactions. 5.3.12.C.2 Model how
natural and human-made changes in the environment will affect individual organisms and the dynamics
of populations.
Objectives
Objectives: To develop instructional resources
that support inquiry-based science teaching and
develop new strategies for keeping “your
standards” while following the NJCCCS.
By the end of the session, participants...
will generate a set of 5-E lesson plans around
similar themes that can be modified to meet
individual classroom needs;
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will develop at least one CSI scenario that will
facilitate daily practice of basic science skills
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5-E Alternative
Farming Methods Lab
Engagement: Farm Picture Prompt/ Food Inc.Video
Explore: 5-E Alternative Farming Methods Lab
Explain: Educational Applications of Aquaponics, Farming
Fertilizer and the Environment, and Troubleshooting Healthy
Hydroponics
Elaborate: Making a Decision-Consequences Chart
Evaluate: Going Further
The Present Situation
What's going on in the Food Industry?
Food Inc. (see video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eKYyD14d_0
Focus questions:
How have farms changed in the last 50 years?
How has “faster, fatter, bigger, cheaper” affected the quality of our food?
Is the FDA advocating for our health interests?
What's really in your local grocery store?
Alternative Farming
Methods Lab
.
Hydroponic Procedures:
1. Gather materials for group
2. Follow demonstration for hydroponic farm set-up
Greenhouse Procedures:
1. First cut the bottle with sharp scissors or a razor knife one third from the top.
2. Place soil in the lower third with soil. Your soil should be moist, but not wet.
Note: You should be able to see through your plastic bottle at all times. If your bottle clouds up to a point where
you can't see what's inside, you should remove the bottle and let the soil dry out a little before replacing it.
3. Choose and add your new seed for germination
Note: Seeds need constant moisture to germinate properly. It's best to open the top of the bottle for a short
time every day,so mold doesn't grow on the soil.
4. Once the seedling has one set of true leaves, you should transfer to larger container to give more room for growth.
Warning: Never place the soda bottle greenhouse in full sun as it might get too steamy and drown the seedling.
Lab Materials
Greenhouse Method:
Hyrdoponics Method:
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1 liter bottle
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1 liter bottle (transfer to 2 liter later)
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1 pair of scissors, razor
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1 16oz bottle
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Potting soil
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1 ft of plastic tubing
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Peat moss
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Duct Tape (Hinge for bottle)
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Gardening tools-gloves, shovel for soil
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Plastic planter
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Assorted seeds to choose from
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Dropper
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Newspaper for easy clean-up
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White cotton strips
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Paper cup to collect soil
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Lemon juice (for group)
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Ph Meter (for group)
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Pitcher of water (for group)
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Hot glue gun to secure tubing (for group)
Lab Questions and
Observations
Think About It: Put yourself in the Farmers shoes.
1. Think about the things that all plants need to grow.
What are some of the considerations you have to make for choosing a
location of your farm?
2. Could people have aquaponic farms in the city? Why/why not?
3. Think about farm management.
Would you have to hire people to manage your farm? What are the factors
determining your decision?
4. Could this be a new source of income? How long would it take to make a
profit from your hydroponic farm ?
Take Home Assignment:
5. Make schedule to pump oxygen bubbles, check the pH of the water,
supply nutrients to water and use chart below to compare growth in each
farm.
6. Collect and record data over next 6 weeks from both Alternative
Farming Methods. Which farm is yielded the greatest results?
Comparison Growth Chart
Educational Applications of Food
Production
Aquaponics and hydroponics are both excellent means of demonstrating many
principles of science, agriculture, math and business in all grade levels. A unit in
hydroponics or aquaponics enforces practical uses of chemistry, mathematics,
physics, economics and engineering. The monitoring and care of a hydroponic or
aquaponic system by students helps instill a sense of stability, inspires creativity and
creates excitement in the learning environment.
A small hydroponic garden can sit on a counter top and be used to demonstrate
botany, horticulture,hydroponics (soil less plant culture), plant science, nutrition,
physiology and care, nutrient and pH testing, pH relationships, plant usage of
nutrients, seed germination, photosynthesis and light and plant development. An
aquaponic system combines hydroponics with aquaculture in a recirculating system.
A unit in hydroponics or aquaponics can be started at the beginning of a semester and run
through the entire semester, allowing the educator to present the individual concepts and
lessons as the plants and fish develop and grow. A small hydroponic or aquaponic system can
sit on a spare counter top. Larger systems can be placed on the floor of a classroom, in a
windowsill or a greenhouse.
Aquaponic success in
the classroom
Aquaponic farms are a healthy alternative.
Aquaponic class tour video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WgJy-oQ2cI&feature=more_related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acmysuOkG0Q
Research Articles
Research the following articles in your packet for a
current environmental or animal problem
related to food production. Choose one issue you
find interesting.
Then as an informed consumer, use your research
to Make a Decision about how your going to address
the issue going forward. Challenge yourself to make
a difference in your life and the lives of others.
Fertilizer Runoff Overwhelms Streams and Rivers--Creating Vast "Dead Zones"
The nation's waterways are brimming with excess nitrogen from fertilizer--and plans to boost biofuel production threaten to aggravate an already serious situation
By David Biello March 14, 2008 13
FERTILE RUNOFF: Nitrates from fertilizer as well as animal and human waste are carried by streams like
this one in Wyoming to the sea where they cause vast dead zones. Image: ©LAURA JOHNSON
The ··water in brooks, streams and creeks from Michigan to Puerto Rico carries a heavy load of pollutants,
particularly nitrates from fertilizers. These ··nitrogen and oxygen molecules that crops need to grow
eventually make their way into rivers, lakes and oceans, fertilizing blooms of algae that deplete oxygen and
leave vast "··dead zones" in their wake. There, no fish or typical sea life can survive. And scientists warn
that a federal mandate to produce more biofuel may make the situation even worse.
Researchers led by aquatic ecologist Patrick Mulholland of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in
Tennessee report in Nature that streams and other waterways are losing their ability to filter excess
nitrates from fertilizers and ··sewage. They discovered this by releasing a concentrated nitrate solution
carrying an unusual isotope of nitrogen into 72 different streams—ranging from heavily altered urban
waterways to pristine rivulets—and then tracked the isotope to find out how much made it downstream.
The amount at the end indicated each stream's ability to naturally remove the pollutant—a measure of its
health.
"We found that they continue to take up nitrate, but they remove a smaller fraction of the overall nitrate as
you overload them," Mulholland says. "This is probably the reason we're seeing hypoxia [low oxygen
levels] and other problems in coastal waters."
Typically, bacteria remove excess fertilizer from water through a chemical process known as
··denitrification, which enables them to convert nitrate to nitrogen that is then released into the atmosphere
as a gas. The team found, however, that bacteria in the streams they studied only eliminated an average
of 16 percent of the nitrogen pollution; bacteria in the most undisturbed streams performed best removing
as much as 43 percent.
"Denitrification is the only process that we know for sure removes nitrogen from water," Mulholland says. "The
other 84 percent [of the pollution] was just taken up by algae, microbes and other organisms in the stream
bottom. A portion of that is probably also denitrified, and it could be a large portion. But we don't know that fate of
that material."
What is clear is that a significant portion of such fertilizer is still making its way through the soil and water to the
sea. As a result, ··algae and other microorganisms take up the nitrogen, bloom and, after they die, suck the
oxygen out of coastal waters. Such "··dead zones" have appeared seasonally near most major river mouths,
including those emptying into Maryland's Chesapeake Bay as well as the Gulf of Mexico, where lifeless waters
now cover more than 7,700 square miles (20,000 square kilometers) during the summer months.
The bulk of this nitrate comes from fertilizer running off agricultural fields. Scientists warn that a boom in crops
such as ··corn for biofuel will only make matters worse. Last year, U.S. farmers planted more than 90 million
acres (35 million hectares) of corn for the first time since the 1940s as a result of growing demand for that crop
for both fuel and food.
Based on this trend, geographer Simon Donner of the University of British Columbia and atmospheric scientist
Christopher Kucharik of the University of Wisconsin–Madison predict that nitrogen pollution from the Mississippi
River Basin—the nation's largest watershed—will increase as much as 34 percent by 2022 if corn kernels
continue to be the source of a growing proportion of ··ethanol fuel that U.S. energy legislation mandates.
That would also make it almost impossible, they say, to reduce the New Jersey-size ··dead zone at the
Mississippi's outlet into the Gulf of Mexico to less than 2,000 square miles (5,000 square kilometers), as
recommended by a 2001 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency task force.
In fact, the scientists wrote this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the only way to
increase ethanol production from corn and reduce nitrogen runoff would be for Americans to ··stop eating meat,
thereby freeing up corn used as livestock feed for other uses.
Procedure:
1.Identify an environmental issue.
Making a Decision
2.Gather Information. Read about your issue in several publications.
3. Consider Values. Values are the things that you consider important. Examine the
diagram below. Several values are given. Which values do you think apply most of
the environmental issue you are considering? Are there other values that you believe
will help you make a decision about the issue?Consider at least four values in
making your decision.
4.Explore Consequences. Consequences are the things that result from a certain
course of action. Use your table to organize your thoughts about consequences
related to your environmental issue. List your values at the top. Fill in each space
with the consequences of an action related to each of your values
5.Make a Decision. Thoroughly consider all of the consequences you have recorded
in your table. Evaluate how important each consequence is. Make a decision about
what course of action you would choose on the issue.
Gain or loss
of money or jobs
Protection of
natural resources
A question
of right or wrong
Preservation
of what is beautiful
or pleasing
Environmenta
l
Decisions
Effect on
people's health
Materials Needed:
Newspapers, magazines,
and other publications containing
information about environmental issues
Creation of
enjoyable activities
Knowledge gained
by research
Upholding
cultural traditions
Consequences
Analysis
6.
In your evaluation, did you consider short-term consequences or long-term
consequences to be more important? Why?
7.
Which value or values had the greatest influence on your final decision? Explain
your reasoning.
Going Further
Compare your table with your classmates' tables. Did you all make the same decision about a
similar issue? If not, form teams and organize a formal classroom debate on a specific
environmental issue.
O.U.R.S.E.P. CSI Demonstration
We have developed a series of common science
investigations (CSI) that support skill building and
allow teachers and students to engage in daily
practice while having fun! Develop your own
scenario around today's topic and get your students
excited about science practices and problem solving.
CSI: The Aquaponics Class Caper
A crime has been committed! Our biggest female Tilapia
Tammy, has been stolen from the Aquaponic class fish tank.
She is to be sold for breeding to an organic fish farm raiser
next week and he's willing to pay the school top dollar. We
need the money for the Biotechnology program so that we
can teach more students how to develop their own
Aquaponic farm. Some of the kids have grown attached to
Tammy and were very upset when they heard the news
about her leaving, but selling her is for a good cause.
Can you find out which students are
responsible for Tammy's disappearance?
The students are the only people with motive and access
to Tammy, so they are the only people being considered
for the crime. No charges will be filed against the
students responsible. We just want Tammy back. Use
your Common Science Investigation skills to process the
evidence, compare and contrast witness testimony and
find the perpetrators. Please help us CSI!
O.U.R.S.E.P.-CSI Procedures:
Make observations of model crime scene
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Question witnesses (Keturah and Joan)
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Develop possible scenario (form hypothesis)
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Collect physical evidence (data)
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Classify all evidence and mark: Exhibit A, B, C etc.
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Measure height and weight and waist size of each suspect (in cm/kg).
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Measure height of fish tank and how much water is inside (in cm/ml)
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Use SI measurements of fish tank and suspects to develop physical profile of perpetrator. Convert units where
applicable.
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Make Venn Diagram of witness testimonies. Check for inconsistencies.
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Identify possible perpetrator and his/her accomplice.
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Discuss analysis with members of your CSI Team
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Draw conclusions/Discuss motive (connect to environmental issue)
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Make Evaluations/Assessments
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Note: Student has to be at least __cm to get into tank without help.
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