Inquiry Unit (u11044.xml)

What are the effects of salt concentration on grass growth?

Kathleen Gabric (kgabric@hinsdale86.org) (ready to use)

Coauthors

Tina Hovance, Steve Moore

ASK Partner Projects

Biology Student Workbench

Subject Areas

Science

Grade Levels

9, 10, 11, 12

Unit Keywords

biology, diffusion, osmosis, plants, scientific method, GK-12

Rationale of the Unit

This is the introductory unit in our biology class. This project is designed to introduce students to the scientific method and to give them experience making measurements in the metric system.


	INVESTIGATE	Go to Top

Background and Resources

brief overview, or URL for the overview article.

READINGS -- texts, slides, audio/video

WEB SITES -- sites for exploration and interaction.
http://extension.usu.edu/publica/agpubs/salini.htm
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/webwise/spinneret/life/osmdia.htm

RESOURCES AND SUPPLEMENT MATERIALS

Village of Hinsdale Letter....letter from the local village government requesting student assistance with a problem concerning use of salt for de-icing and its effect on grass in the parkway. See below under uploaded files.

Memorandum I...explanation from teacher to students on expectations. See below under uploaded files.

Memorandum II...further info from teacher to students. See below under uploaded files.


	CREATE	Go to Top

Activities and Open-ended problems

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES -- activities and discussions within synchronous classes
Students are presented with the Village document stating the problem they will investigate. The memorandums guide students in setting up their first experiment. The first run through lasts 2 weeks, but only requires about 10 minutes a day.

LAB ACTIVITIES -- work to do in labs or other special settings
The following computer labs were done by students as they waited for their grass to grow. These labs acquaint the students with the metric system.
Introduction to metric
http://www.biology.com/learning/sizeandscale/introduction.html
A review of the metric system
http://www.biology.com/learning/sizeandscale/metric1.html
Estimating sizes: http://www.biology.com/learning/sizeandscale/activity1.html
Comparing objects of different sizes:
http://www.biology.com/learning/sizeandscale/activity2.html

To see the students in action
http://www.district86.k12.il.us/central/faculty/k-gabric/grasslab.htm

ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE OF CLASS / INDEPENDENT WORK
Collection of background information.
Analysis of data and final write-up.

OPEN-ENDED PROBLEMS -- creative extensions
After the first run through, students are asked to consider errors in the design and possible offshoots of the experiment that may address the overall problem. Students then decide as a class how they will revise the experiment. The experiment is run again applying the students' revisions.


	DISCUSS	Go to Top

Dialogues, Discussions, and Presentations

FACE-TO-FACE DIALOGUES

GROUP DIALOGUES
For this lab, each student is a part of 2 groups. The first group is a group of 8. Each student is in charge of one of the salt solutions. As a group they have 0 to 20% salt solutions. This group meets at the beginning of the project to set it up and at the end to analyze the whole array of data. The second group is the three students in the class that have the same solution. This group meets daily to share data and calculate their averages.

ON-LINE DIALOGUES email was used to share data within the group.

IN-CLASS DISCUSSIONS

PRESENTATIONS Students presented their final analysis to the class.
To see an example of a final report:
http://www.district86.k12.il.us/central/faculty/k-gabric/grass.student.htm


	REFLECT	Go to Top

Assessment, Related Questions, and Story of the Unit

ASSESSMENT

RELATED QUESTIONS

STORY OF THE UNIT -- How did it go?
It went really well. It was a great way to start a class with a new group of students. They were immediately thrown in with a group of students that they didn't know, so they met other classmates on the first day. It also was a good activity to get all of my freshmen on the same page with the use of metric and the scientific method. Finally, when we got to the topic of diffusion and osmosis they were able to reflect back on their research. What I did learn, was that once is not enough. After the first trial, students wanted to redesign their experiments and run it again. Next year, I will definitely work that in to our project.

RESPONSES FROM OTHERS (teachers)

Uploaded Files:
VillageofHinsdaleLetter.doc
MEMORANDUM1.doc
MEMORANDUM2.doc

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