NOAA Lessons
As part of my Teacher at Sea experience I wrote two lessons for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Education Department. The first lesson deals directly with some of the devastation I witnessed regarding hypoxic waters. The second lesson was designed to introduce students to maritime careers with NOAA. Click on the Live Binders link in the lesson to view the web-quest I created.
Fertilizer Use and its Effects on the Gulf of MexicoActivity Title: Fertilizer use and its effects on the Gulf of Mexico.
Subject: This activity focuses on the effects of excess nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphate, entering into the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River basin. Grade Level: 7-12 grades Average Learning Time: Approximately one week but can be adapted for a shorter duration of time. Lesson Summary: Students will learn about the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles and how human impacts on these cycles are altering the ocean and its inhabitants. Overall Concept: Students will learn about the nitrogen and phosphate cycles, how humans are impacting these cycles and the effects on the ocean. * Students will learn about the importance of dissolved oxygen and how it’s affected by biotic and abiotic factors. * Students will be able to explain the hypoxic conditions in the Gulf of Mexico using their understanding of biogeochemical cycles and dissolved oxygen. * Students will design a plan of action or engineer a product that will help solve this environmental problem. Key Concepts: * Students will understand that humans are impacting the biogeochemical cycles on our planet. * Students will be able to explain the cause of hypoxia and its effects on ocean life. * Students will understand that it is up to us to think of solutions and design products that can help solve the problems we are unintentionally creating on our planet. Focus Questions:· * What are the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles? * What happens to excess nutrients that are placed on lawns and crops? * How can these excess nutrients cause a problem? * What is dissolved oxygen? * What are some biotic and abiotic factors that can affect DO (dissolved oxygen) levels in the ocean? * What are hypoxic conditions? * How does hypoxia affect the ocean ecosystem? * How can we help prevent hypoxia? Objectives/Learning Goals: * Students will be able to draw a diagram of both the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles. Reservoirs will be labeled and arrows will show how the elements travel. * Students should be able to label at least nine out of twelve reservoirs for the nitrogen cycle and all of the reservoirs of the phosphorus cycle. · * Students will be able to explain the importance of dissolved oxygen and will be able to name two biotic and two abiotic factors that affect the levels of DO. * Students will be able to synthesize an essay, video report, Glog, Prezi or Viocethread explaining the hypoxic conditions in the Gulf of Mexico using their understandingof biogeochemical cycles and dissolved oxygen. * Student teams will create an action plan or engineer a product that will help address the hypoxic conditions in the Gulf of Mexico. Action plans must be realistic so they could be sent in letter format to a Congressman if desired. The product designs and/or prototypes will be explained and demonstrated to the class for peer review. Background Information: Nitrogen and phosphorus are essential elements for every living thing on the planet. Without these nutrients living things would not be able to make proteins, DNA, RNA, energy, bones or other body tissues. The nitrogen cycle and phosphorous cycle are the paths these chemicals take when traveling between living things and their environments (biogeochemical cycles). Our atmosphere is approximately 78% nitrogen (N2), but plants and animals are unable to use nitrogen unless it has been turned into a compound such as ammonia (NH4) or nitrate (NO3). Taking nitrogen gas and changing it into a usable form is called nitrogen fixation. The few things on our planet that can fix nitrogen into a usable form are lightning, bacteria that live on the roots of legumes (peas, clover, alfalfa, etc.) and soil bacteria. These things fix nitrogen naturally where it will end up in the soil so it can be utilized by plants. Animals then eat the plants and the elements get passed through the food web. With advances in agriculture and more demand for food, humans have devised a way to fix nitrogen artificially for use in fertilizers. Here is a good activity to introduce your students to the nitrogen cycle http://www.windows2universe.org/teacher_resources/teach_nitrogen.html Unlike other biogeochemical cycles, phosphorous does not cycle through the atmosphere. Phosphorous originates in the lithosphere and is released through the weathering of rocks. Erosion carries the element away and it ultimately gets absorbed by plants. Like nitrogen, phosphorous is a limiting nutrient so humans have devised a way to put the element into fertilizers for better plant growth. Farmers, cities and homeowners apply these chemical fertilizers to their crops, lawns and gardens. Precipitation and irrigation can cause these chemicals to run-off into local streams or rivers which will eventually lead into the ocean. The Mississippi River Basin covers more than 40% of the United States including the areas of greatest agricultural productivity. As the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico it carries much of the excess nutrients with it. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus encourage the production of plants on land and in the water. These excess nutrients cause algae to grow out of control and disrupt the natural ecosystem (eutrophication). As these plants die, bacteria decompose the plant tissue while consuming the oxygen in the water. As the populations of bacteria grow, the amount of oxygen continues to decline. If dissolved oxygen levels get low enough (below 2ppm) the waters become hypoxic and can no longer sustain life. Common Misconceptions/Preconceptions: * Clarify that nitrogen and phosphorus are not living things, but rather essential elements that are needed for living things to survive. * Matter such as nitrogen and phosphorus are continually cycled on our planet and changed from one form to another. * Every action we make has an effect, positive or negative, on the environment. * Many people believe the ocean is too big for us to impact. Materials: Computers with internet access * Overhead projector * Nitrogen cycle game stations and passport logs found at http://www.windows2universe.org/teacher_resources/teach_nitrogen.html * Dice Technical Requirements: Computer lab for research and projects. Overhead projector for showing video clips and student projects. Video recorders for students that choose the video report. Teacher Preparation: Print off the nitrogen cycle game stations and passport logs from http://www.windows2universe.org/teacher_resources/teach_nitrogen.html Sign up for a Glogster account (http://www.glogster.com/) and/or Voicethread account (http://ed.voicethread.com/) and/or Prezi (www.prezi.com ) so students can showcase their understanding of hypoxia in the Gulf using a multimedia project. Create grading rubrics for student projects. Keywords: eutrophication, hypoxia, dissolved oxygen (DO), run off, biogeochemical cycles Pre-assessment Strategy/Anticipatory Set: Engage: Introduce nitrogen. Survey student knowledge. Where is nitrogen found on Earth? Does it move from place to place or stay still? Why is it important? Explain that nitrogen travels with the help of bacteria, water, lightning, plants and animals and that the class is going to discover how nitrogen travels. Ask students how we have been able to continue feeding the growing number of people on our planet. Many students will respond with advances in agriculture. Ask what kinds of consequences could come from these actions. Then play the following clip from NOAA News Happening Now: Dead Zone in the Gulf http://oceantoday.noaa.gov/happnowdeadzone/ Lesson Procedure: Explore: Introduce students to the nitrogen cycle by plaing the game at http://www.windows2universe.org/teacher_resources/teach_nitrogen.html Have students answer the following discussion questions: * How many stops can you make on your trip? * Will your journey ever end? * Was everyone's journey the same? Why not? * What would happen if a farmer used too much fertilizer? (In this game, that would mean that everyone started from the fertilizer station at the same time.) * What would happen if we burnt too many fossil fuels? * Livestock farming creates a large amount of animal waste. How would this affect the nitrogen cycle? Explain: As a class discuss the answers to the questions regarding the nitrogen cycle and address any misconceptions. * Introduce the phosphorus cycle and it's importance to living things in the biogeochemical cycle. * Educate students about dissolved oxygen and the factors which can affect its concentrations. Elaborate: Students will conduct a research project that will address how humans are impacting nutrient cycles. They will put together a digital presentation (or essay) about hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. Give students the following sites to assist them with their research. * NOAA’s Hypoxia Watch http://www.ncddc.noaa.gov/hypoxia/ * Gulf of Mexico Teacher at Sea Blog http://teacheratsea.wordpress.com/category/noaa-teacher-at-sea-2/heather-haberman/ * NOAA’s iGulf http://igulf.noaa.gov/ * NOAA Education Resources http://www.education.noaa.gov/ Students will present their projects to the class and will then work in teams to develop an action plan, or design a product, that could help us solve the problems we are facing with hypoxic waters. Students should send their action plans to a Congressman and/or create a prototype of their product for display. Assessment and Evaluation: Evaluation: 1. Students should be able to demonstrate their understanding of the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles by drawing a complete diagram of a cycle. Create a rubric for the diagrams. 2. Student multimedia projects (or essays) should demonstrate a clear understanding of how excess nutrients lead to hypoxia, how DO is affected by these conditions, the effects of hypoxia on an ecosystem and what should be done about the problem. If creating a rubric, be sure to leave enough room for student creativity and logical thinking. 3. Student action plans and/or products should be logical, professional and well thought out. Standards: National Science Education Standards Addresses: * Science as Inquiry * Structure and properties of matter * Geochemical cycles * Abilities of technological design * Understanding about science and technology * Personal and community health * Population growth * Environmental quality * Natural and human-induced hazards * Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges * Nature of scientific knowledge * Science as a human endeavor Ocean Literacy Principles Addressed: * The ocean is connected to major lakes, watersheds and waterways because all major watersheds on Earth drain to the ocean. Rivers and streams transport nutrients, salts, sediments and pollutants from watersheds to estuaries and to the ocean. * Erosion—the wearing away of rock, soil and other biotic and abiotic earth materials—occurs in coastal areas as wind, waves, and currents in rivers and the ocean move sediments. * Ocean habitats are defined by environmental factors. * Due to interactions of abiotic factors such as salinity, temperature, oxygen, pH, light, nutrients, pressure, substrate and circulation, ocean life is not evenly distributed temporally or spatially, i.e., it is “patchy”. Some regions of the ocean support more diverse and abundant life than anywhere on Earth, while much of the ocean is considered a desert. * Humans affect the ocean in a variety of ways. Laws, regulations and resource management affect what is taken out and put into the ocean. * Human development and activity leads to pollution (point source, non-point source, and noise pollution) and physical modifications (changes to beaches, shores and rivers). In addition, humans have removed most of the large vertebrates from the ocean. * Everyone is responsible for caring for the ocean. The ocean sustains life on Earth and humans must live in ways that sustain the ocean. Individual and collective actions are needed to effectively manage ocean resources for all. Author: Heather Haberman, Scottsbluff High School Creation date: September 2011 NOAA Maritime CareersActivity Title: NOAA Maritime Career’s Web-Quest
Subject: Maritime career’s with NOAA Grade Level: 6th-12th Average Learning Time: Up to 90 minutes depending upon the amount of material you wish to include. Lesson Summary: Students will use an internet web-quest to explore career opportunities with NOAA’s deck department, engineering department, survey crew, steward department, law enforcement and the NOAA Corps. Students will learn how to search for NOAA jobs at www.USAjobs.gov Overall Concept (Big Idea/Essential Question): What types of career opportunities are available with NOAA? What do these jobs entail? How do you look for a government job? Key Concepts: NOAA’s maritime employees are working together as a team to accomplish what goal(s)? Where would you go to look for a job with NOAA? What would make you eligible for the position you’re most interested in with NOAA? Objectives/Learning Goals: Students will be able to answer web-quest questions with 90% accuracy. Students will be able to describe at least three maritime positions within NOAA. Students will know the job title, job description and eligibility requirements for the position they are most interested in with NOAA. Students can demonstrate successful navigation of www.USAjobs.gov to find one maritime career with NOAA. Background Information: This web-quest was created in order to raise student awareness about maritime careers with NOAA. This web-quest can be done as a whole class activity on an overhead projector, or as a student inquiry if computers are available. Students will start the web-quest by watching a series of videos that explain NOAA’s maritime job opportunities. The web-quest contains tabs from basic video watching to in-depth articles. This content scaffolding will allow teachers to differentiate the material to meet the individual needs of lower level and advanced students. All questions are numbered so they can be excluded as deemed necessary, ex. Joe/Sally I only want you to concentrate on questions 1 to 10, 15 and 20. Common Misconceptions/Preconceptions: Many students may think of these maritime jobs as being “man jobs” which couldn’t be further from the truth. Girls should be encouraged to consider these job opportunities. A special tab on “Women in Oceanography” has been included in the web-quest to help encourage young ladies interested in this field of study. Materials: For a classroom presentation the teacher will need a computer, speakers and an overhead projector. As an inquiry investigation students will need computer access, headphones, paper and a pencil. The web-quest site address is http://www.livebinders.com/play/present?id=152330 Technical Requirements: A computer with an internet connection will be needed to conduct the web-quest. Teacher Preparation: Teachers should complete the web-quest before having their students work on the assignment. Teachers should use their discretion when selecting the videos and questions their students will answer. Pre-assessment Strategy/Anticipatory Set: Engage: Play a segment from Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch” that will capture the student’s attention. http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/deadliest-catch/ Ask the class: Why are they catching the crabs? To sell for food. Are fishermen able to take as many crabs as they want or do you think there are limits to what they can catch? There are limits in order to protect the population of crabs from being overharvested. Do you think other fishermen and shrimpers have to follow rules about the amount they can catch? Yes, all commercial fishermen need to abide by laws and regulations that help protect our seafood supply and marine ecosystems. Who decides what the limits are? This is a complicated task that requires collecting data on the populations of marine life before a harvest season begins. NOAA’s maritime employees are all part of a team that collects oceanic data in an effort to protect our marine resources. What type of workers do you think NOAA needs to employ in order to collect data at sea? (pre-assessment question) Lesson Procedure: Explore: Go to http://livebinders.com/edit?id=152330 to launch the NOAA maritime career web-quest (pages with videos will take a minute to load). In the left hand column you may find instructions and/or questions for students to answer. Students will follow the instructions and click on all of the tabs and sub tabs assigned by their teacher. Explain: Students will answer the questions that are assigned by their teacher. Elaborate: During the web-quest students will be given the opportunity to look at the USA jobs web-site and explore current positions within NOAA. This will allow students to become familiar with one of the leading job search sites in the US. Students will be asked to look deeper into the details of a NOAA job including qualifications and salary. There are tab sections available that will allow for more elaboration should teachers decide to use them. Assessment and Evaluation: Evaluate: The web-quest questions can be used as a formative assessment to make sure students are learning the necessary information. Provide feedback to students as they are answering the questions so they can make necessary adjustments. When students are done with their web-quest questions they should be able to do the following without the use of their notes. Describe at least three maritime positions within NOAA. (1 answered correctly = beginning, 2 answered correctly = progressing, 3 answered correctly = proficient) What is the job title, job description and eligibility requirements for the position you are most interested in with NOAA. (1 element answered correctly = beginning, 2 elements answered correctly = progressing, 3 elements answered correctly = proficient) Go to www.USAjobs.gov and find one maritime career with NOAA. (cannot perform the task = beginning, can perform the task = proficient) Teachers may choose to add additional assessment items as they see fit. Standards: National Science Education Standard(s) Addressed: Science as Inquiry (an appreciation of how we know what we know in science) History and Nature of Science (science as a human endeavor) Ocean Literacy Principles Addressed: The oceans and humans are inextricably interconnected. The ocean is largely unexplored. National Economics Standard(s) Addressed: Role of Government National Language Arts Standard(s) Addressed: Developing Research Skills Applying Language Skills National Technology Standard(s) Addressed: Social, Ethical and Human Issues Creation date: August, 2011 By: Heather Haberman Scottsbluff High School Scottsbluff, NE |