The Question:
How might humans protect organisms from the effects of UV radiation?
Background information:
This is a very open-ended investigation, which can be addressed to varying degrees and/or worked on in a continuous manner. The limitations are the imagination and materials that students and teacher choose to work with. Perhaps students will only write an essay. Or students may get so motivated they want to actually build some kind of model. Or students may want to test a model or idea out in the natural world. This is the kind of activity to enter into a competitive science project contest. Students (either groups or individuals) are being asked to take an idea and retrofit it to the natural ecosystem.
Before beginning this activity.
The teacher should always approve students' ideas before letting them embark on a model.
Procedure.
1. Brainstorm with the students on some of the identical questions and issues brought up in Activity I - Conduct a Pre-Concept Map. Ask them to draw from their conclusions of previous activities and brainstorm about the conflicts that living organisms are facing in the natural world. Ask students to imagine existing at the size of an amphibian, or plant, or yeast cell. What are the mini-ecosystems these organisms exist in? How might these organisms adjust to living in mini-ecosystems that avoid excess UV exposure? What kinds of conditions (natural and human-made) would prevent excess UV rays from reaching these organisms? Tell students to let their imaginations go wild and with no restrictions. Ask them "If they had any materials they wanted in the world, what designs could they imagine to prevent excess UV rays from reaching an organism's mini-ecosystem"?2. Either have students choose several ideas to develop further or stick with one, depending on the level of excitement.
3. Have students do an initial essay, which focuses on the description of specific mini-ecosystems that students are interested in altering. This will help students to narrow down their field of design and learn some background information.
4. Using the knowledge gained from the essay, students can design models and investigate their effectiveness in the natural world.
5. To insure safety, teacher should always approve the ideas and designs of the students.
Assessment 1.
Use the Lab Rubric below to score their design.
No problem stated None present No procedure tries things out
systematically None No reference to patterns and
data Problem is too general or not
clearly stated Present, but not aligned with
problem statement Outlines a general procedure, but
no details Attempts to transform data in a
table, chart or graph Refers to some but not all patterns
and data Problem is too focused and states
significance Aligns with problem Outlines a detailed procedure Tranforms data into tables, charts,
or graphs Clearly states reference to
patterns and data to support conclusions PLUS- PLUS- PLUS- PLUS- PLUS-
Clings to original idea despite contradictory
evidence
No relationship stated to human health or
community
Doesn't manipulate all variables clearly
Lacks labels and clarity
Relationship stated to either human health or
community
If hypothesis, no cause and effect
Clearly states the dependent or independent
variables
Labels clearly
Attempts to state results
Relationship stated to both human health or
community
If hypothesis, states cause and effect
Clearly states results
Shows replicates
Control is identified
Clearly states results
Abstract and other related artifacts displayed
Explains weaknesses in experiment
Able to make recommendations for further study