This summer, I spent a lot of time learning what “real science” looks like. I hope that through the module I created, I can bridge the disciplines of science and math in my classroom and engage my students in both “real science” and “real math.”
The module I developed this summer for eMammal is centered around investigations students can do using the data that is collected. Of course, the use of camera traps is very important to the data collection; because of this, the module that was created last summer by the first cohort is extremely important. This is where I will begin with my students. I already have one camera collecting data and once I get the surveys and pretest completed, I am going to lead my students into finding good locations for the remaining cameras. I had originally planned to set up the cameras beforehand, but I do not want to influence my students’ placement decisions. I feel that choosing a camera trap location is an important part of the scientific process so I have left the decision up to them. In addition to the lesson on setting up camera traps, I have some other lesson ideas I am developing that incorporate art. This will be a supporting lesson that I hope will further blur the lines between content areas.
As for the module I created, MAD about Data, I have set up a scenario where three students use data that was collected from camera traps to explore both measures of central tendency and measures of variation. My students will complete this module after they have set up their camera traps, but before we have any data collected. The module will help students discover through problem-based learning how the data can be useful for scientists. Through trial and error, they will discover that come measures, such as the mode is not really useful with camera trap data, but other measures, such as the MAD is useful. My goal is for students to discover that the MAD closely resembles species diversity. Both are found in different ways, but the relationships they have with the data are similar.
After the module MAD about Data is completed, my goal is for students to have identified the most useful measures of center and variation for the camera trap data in order to guide them in using the data we collect. We can then move forward and use data that is collected by the other Kenan Fellows’ students or even from Mamatha in India. Using data from other places would allow my students to make comparative statements about the different sets of data, which is an important seventh grade standard. This is when the learning that takes place is “real” and authentic to students. My hope is that it becomes so authentic, that students are not aware where the math ends and the science begins, because it real life, there really isn’t a division between the two.