CLEARING Master Teacher:
thing to observe that you want students
to know about, say measuring dissolved
oxygen as one of the water quality pa-
rameters that they will be probing for on-
Works in
site. So, that’s the first thing to do: Know
what students will be studying, and pick
Progress
one piece that you think is important.
Set up some sort of aquarium. I often
used clear gallon jars until I discovered
Sneak up on them, and
sun tea cannisters. They’re perfect. Add
water and algae for the first phase. Now,
they’ll learn. On their you have a system: container, water, and
own.
algae. Systems always do something, so
you can be sure yours will do something
By Jim Martin
you can measure.
The next step is to set up the ob-
servations. We’re observing dissolved
H
ow do you take care of all the
background capacity build-
oxygen, so do one of two things, depend-
ing students need to make the
ing on the kind of equipment you have
most of environmental education field
at your disposal. If you have a computer
trips that they take during the school
with an analog-to-digital interface and
year? With tight school budgets and
a dissolved oxygen meter, then set it up
time that has to be reprogrammed to
and program it to make readings at any
meet the demands of No Child Left
interval that you want, as long as you let
Behind testing, place-based learning
it run continuously for at least 24 hours.
has become difficult for teachers to do.
Organize it so that the computer screen
Here is a simple idea that saves valu-
shows a graph of the dissolved oxygen
able class time, engages students, and
readings with the actual time increments
prepares them to understand the work
on the x-axis. If you don’t have a com-
they will do on field trips.
puter interface, take dissolved oxygen
I learned how to do this through
readings whenever you can and add
a combination of desperation while
them to a continuously growing graph.
confronting my class schedule, and an
Try to make at least one observation a
inherent trust in the nature of learning
day after the lights are out, and it’s dark
as students express it. Basically, you just
in the classroom. It’s these readings that
set up an experiment where students
are important to have.
can see it when they come into the
classroom, then rely on their native
So, that’s how to set it up. Then,
curiosity for the rest. You don’t have to
make some signs to put up around the
do anything after the initial setup, and
experiment. They contain questions like:
you can tell students they won’t have to
What are the parts of this experiment?
know the material for tests. That hooks
Explain how this experimental setup
them, and they
works. What
learn. Know what students will be
information is
contained in
studying, and pick one piece that
Here’s how
the data? What
it works. Let’s say
you think is important. will another
that your students
24 hours’ data
will be studying a stream nearby, and
look like?
you want them to know about water
What might be a next step? What does
quality parameters as well as some
the information in the graph tell you is
basic aquatic plant biology, like photo-
happening in the aquarium? What kind
synthesis and respiration. Start with one
of modifications can we make to this
Page 32 http://www.clearingmagazine.org Clearing - 2009 Compendium Edition
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54