Environmental Mapping and Testing

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Active Learning | Transformation Level

Subject: Science

Video Transcription

[Teacher voiceover]

Today we’ve taken a field trip out to an environmental education center, and we have groups from sixth grade all the way through 11th grade with us today. The educational center that we are at is located on a quarry mining site, actually a crush limestone stone site, and the owners of the company were asked to remediate or mitigate part of their property back to how it was before they began mining.

The plan was to come out to the remediation site or the mitigation area and take GPS units and map a boundary around the outside of the mitigation area. Depending on the area they were at, students determined if they needed to take a picture in a waypoint, or were they going to take a temperature water temperature or test the pH. There was actually an area around the mitigation site that looked like maybe it was a hog pit, and it had some debris in it. So it was interesting to test the pH of that water area versus the water of the mitigation area.

A lot of times you think that technology is a very sedentary application. Either you’re behind the computer and you’re manipulating data, or getting content from the internet. Today we wanted to show kids that you can actually take technology out in the field.

[Student 1 speaking]

If you could actually go out into a field and do that work yourself, it’s so more involved, and I mean, I can see everything that they do and actually do it myself.

[Teacher voiceover]

That active learning that the kids were doing out here today would absolutely not be possible if they were just sitting in the classroom, to be able to see the connections made between the classroom and the real world today using the technology. Using the probe and seeing how that how the technology will actually pay off in the end is something that could never be obtained just by being in the classroom.

Video Transcription
[Teacher voiceover]

Today we’ve taken a field trip out to an environmental education center, and we have groups from sixth grade all the way through 11th grade with us today. The educational center that we are at is located on a quarry mining site, actually a crush limestone stone site, and the owners of the company were asked to remediate or mitigate part of their property back to how it was before they began mining.

The plan was to come out to the remediation site or the mitigation area and take GPS units and map a boundary around the outside of the mitigation area. Depending on the area they were at, students determined if they needed to take a picture in a waypoint, or were they going to take a temperature water temperature or test the pH. There was actually an area around the mitigation site that looked like maybe it was a hog pit, and it had some debris in it. So it was interesting to test the pH of that water area versus the water of the mitigation area.

A lot of times you think that technology is a very sedentary application. Either you’re behind the computer and you’re manipulating data, or getting content from the internet. Today we wanted to show kids that you can actually take technology out in the field.

[Student 1 speaking]

If you could actually go out into a field and do that work yourself, it’s so more involved, and I mean, I can see everything that they do and actually do it myself.

[Teacher voiceover]

That active learning that the kids were doing out here today would absolutely not be possible if they were just sitting in the classroom, to be able to see the connections made between the classroom and the real world today using the technology. Using the probe and seeing how that how the technology will actually pay off in the end is something that could never be obtained just by being in the classroom.

Objectives

  • Students will use GPS units to map a boundary around the mitigation area.
  • Students will take pictures of way points.
  • Students will take temperatures of water.
  • Students will test the pH of water.
  • Students will test the soil.
  • Students will use magnification tool to observe collected samples.

Procedure

  • Students will take a field trip to property with a mitigation area.
  • Students will use GPS units to map a boundary around the mitigation area.
  • Students will photograph of the property.
  • Students will test the temperature and pH level of the water.
  • Students will test the soil.
  • Students will magnify collected samples.

Technology Present

  • GPS
  • Graphing calculator
  • Probes

Grade Level: 6-12

Note: The TIM is about teaching, not technology. The placement of a lesson on the TIM is based entirely on the teaching practices demonstrated in the lesson and not on the specific technology employed. Effective pedagogy is our concern, not whether the tech involved is the latest, greatest, or most expensive. In fact, most of the sample videos were recorded some time ago as part of the original development of the Technology Integration Matrix. As you view these videos, focus on the teaching practices. When using the TIM-O to observe a lesson, remember that you can display the detailed indicators by clicking the tab on the right if you are completing a Matrix-based observation or are reviewing the TIM profile of a question-based lesson. The TIM Tools Admin Guide contains additional suggestions for observing a lesson and developing a TIM profile.

Video Reference Number: 1059

Active Learning
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Collaborative Learning
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Constructive Learning
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Authentic Learning
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Goal-Directed Learning
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