I looked at the EOC Biology I Item
Sampler for the category “Interdependence” because I think NetLogo has some
great programs in its library that demonstrate a lot of concepts for this. Food chain/web dynamics (Q2, Q3), carrying
capacity (Q7, Q8, Q29), and fluctuations in populations (Q26, Q27, Q28, Q30, Q31) can
be modeled with the programs Rabbits Grass Weeds, Simple Birth Rates, and Wolf
Sheep Predation. I think these programs
can allow for students to see how numbers in a population and available food
resources and their affects can be represented graphically, an important
mathematical connection to make. Biodiversity
(Q12, Q13, Q14, Q15, Q16, Q35, Q36, Q37, Q38) can be modeled partly through
Mimicry, Fish Tank Genetic Drift, and Bug Hunters. These programs show students how constricting factors
in an environment affect a population in terms of appearance. I think these models can be related to
questions about extinction on the assessment as well, although it is not as
explicit because the model simply shows a population dying off and not necessarily
the whole species.
I do not
think NetLogo has a good model for students to learn biological succession and
interactions among trophic levels.
However, a lot of related topics can be modeled so one can still use
these programs to scaffold learning or even use them as a prior knowledge
review for an introduction to these topics. I think the
complexity of interdependence would be difficult for students to grasp if they
only read about the concept. Modeling
would make learning authentic for students because the concept becomes
something they can manipulate and actually watch the effects of in a
pseudo-real time.
Question:
How can we model how human activities can affect the
environment? (I think most of the
consequences from human activity are not usually considered or predictable until
those adverse results actually happen.)
I agree that most of the consequences from human activity are not usually considered or predictable until the adverse results actually happen. I think modeling how human activities can affect the environment is possible, but I feel like one would have to be very knowledgeable about the subject to make it more predictive. For example, if you could model the average amount of CO2 a car emits per year you could potentially set up a cool model that involves this data. I am not sure how familiar everyone is with Ocean Acidification, but an estimated 30-40 percent of CO2 emissions are dissolved in the ocean, which causes a decrease in the oceans pH making the ocean more acidic. This has many negative effects on marine life, especially mollusks and other organisms that use calcium carbonate to make their shells. This acidification makes it much more likely these shells will be dissolved (meaning less defense against predators). Perhaps if you knew how much CO2 would cause how much of a pH change, you could model CO2 levels and the resulting calcium carbonate shell dissolution rates. Students could mess with switches that connect to CO2 emissions, and then explore the chemical and physical effects as they relate to ocean acidification and marine life.
ReplyDeleteI think there is a lot of power in modeling humans' impact on the environment as good models can and should be predictive. To your point about not knowing until the adverse results happen, I would like to think that we have reached a point in science where we are considering how any and all of our actions could effect the environment. If you were doing a unit on humans and the environment, you could look at historical models (overfishing, co2/temperature, ocean acidification, trophic cascades, deforestation, etc) so students get an idea for cause and effect relationships and then have them analyze one of their daily activities and model the potential effects.
ReplyDeleteJoey - Carbon footprinting is a great tool! I did not think of it in terms of modeling before, but I can definitely see myself utilizing that calculator in my future classroom. I know using it made me realize all the things me/my family use that emit CO2 that I hadn't really considered. I also think it is a perfect tool for inducing thoughtfulness in my students since there are so many factors one has to consider while calculating it.
ReplyDeleteLaura - I was definitely thinking that historical models could work well to demonstrate this! And now that I consider it, we could probably also use predictive models. I took a course called "climate change assessment" where we manipulated data in predictive models in order to analyze various outcomes and weigh the effects of all the inputs. That could also be a great way to inform students about the different uses for models (in terms of historic v. predictive).