escamilla: guided inquiry in sustainability escamilla ta...escamilla: guided inquiry in...

ESCAMILLA: GUIDED INQUIRY IN SUSTAINABILITY

1

Guided Inquiry in Sustainability:

Enhancing student knowledge of desertification, biodiversity, and sustainability

Dr. Rebecca Escamilla

El Paso Community College, Northwest Campus

Author Note

Dr. Rebecca Escamilla, Assistant Professor in Biology, El Paso Community College,

Northwest Campus.

I would like to sincerely thank my students in my Biology 1107 class for all of their

willingness to participate. Their help was invaluable to my research project. I would also like to

thank my Faculty mentor, Dr. Jose Pacheco from Phase I and Phase II. His help and guidance

were invaluable to the final outcome of this project

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rebecca Escamilla Ph.D.,

Department of Biology, El Paso Community College, Northwest Campus,

P.O. Box 20500, El Paso, Texas 79998-0500. E-mail: [email protected]


2

Abstract

Our planet is currently facing environmental challenges that are projected to worsen in

the future. As citizens, we must be informed about these challenges and understand our role to

ensure the sustainability of our planet. Engaging community college students with ecological

concepts that enhance their understanding of local to global environmental challenges and the

concept of sustainability is challenging but critical to empowering and readying the next

generation of environmental scientists and problem solvers. In this paper, I present and evaluate

a new inquiry-based lab activity that aimed to develop holistic understanding of environmental

challenges, and the concept of sustainability. The activity is focused on desert ecosystems and

desertification, and experimental manipulations that explore this local environmental challenge,

and how ecosystem restoration can improve sustainability. Student performance was measured

using pre- and post-tests to conduct a knowledge and attitude assessment. I evaluated a)

ecological content knowledge acquisition, b) appreciation of ecology as a science, c)

appreciation for statistics used by ecologists, d) attitude associated with ecological self-efficacy

(confidence in their ability to take actions beneficial to the environment) and e) attitude

associated with statistical self-efficacy (confidence in their ability to apply statistics

competently). Significant increases and large effect sizes were observed in knowledge

acquisition, and environmental efficacy. I infer, therefore, that the lab activity effectively

enhanced student content knowledge, their confidence in understanding the importance of

desertification and sustainability, and improved their confidence in being able to apply this

knowledge to help find solutions.

Keywords: Environmental challenges, sustainability, inquiry-based learning, desertification


3

INTRODUCTION

Dramatic human and environmental change is altering the world we live in and the

sustainability of ecosystem goods and services (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). As

well as human induced climate change and sea level rise (IPCC 2007), among the most important

environmental changes is the desertification of arid and semi arid regions globally, which

commonly results in the replacement of relatively productive grasslands with unproductive

shrublands (Barger et al., 2011). This vegetation shift is associated with many ecosystem

properties and processes that appears to positively reinforce the altered ecosystem state (Peters

and Havstad, 2005), suggesting that critical tipping points have been passed and a reversal of

such trends will be difficult, if not impossible (Bestelmeyer et al., 2009). Similar scenarios have

now been documented for a range of other changes in the environment that are unusual

compared to the environmental change that has occurred on Earth over the past few million years

and some researchers suggest that the Earth System is entering a new state – the anthropocene

(Crutzen and Steffen 2003; Ehlers and Krafft 2006). Although uncertainty exists as to how this

state change will affect humans (IPCC, 2007), the current generation of students will be among

the first societal leaders and decision makers to witness and make critical environmental

decisions in this new state. For these reasons, higher education has been challenged to play a

critical role in catalyzing societal change towards environmental sustainability (Chapin et al.,

2011; Junyent and Geli, 2010). Thus, there is a need to both improve scientific understanding of

the future state of the Earth System and how humans will need to adapt, and simultaneuously

develop new education capacities that focus on environmental challenges and problem solving

geared toward sustainability (National Research Council, 2009). Uniting the teaching of ecology


4

with discussions of real world environmental issues engages students (Pallant, 1996; Gill and

Burke, 1999; Battles et al., 2003), which along with preparing them to think holistically and

work interdisciplinarily, is key to empowering students to deal with the ecological and

environmental challenges of the 21st century (Chapin et al., 2011; Tilbury, 1995). In addition,

education based on the environment and environmental issues is well suited for student-centered

and activity-based learning (Tilbury, 1995), which aligns well with the National Research

Council’s (NRC, 2000; 1996) endorsement of a science curriculum that promotes active learning,

inquiry, and other instructional methods that engage students.

Problem

There is a need to develop new education experiences that focus on improving student

understanding of future environmental challenges, and problem solving for sustainability of the

Earth. One of the classes I currently teach is the Major’s Introductory Biology II course (BIOL

1307/1107) which provides the ideal opportunity to provide these experiences. Currently, there is

no lesson or activity in this course that introduces these topics, and few attempts have been made

to provide them despite its importance.

Solution

In this paper I describe the analysis of an inquiry-based lab activity that was developed

with the aim of improving holistic understanding of environmental problems, and the concept of

sustainability. I chose to use desert ecosystems and desertification as focal themes because this

study was performed at El Paso Community College (EPCC) situated in the northern

Chihuahuan Desert on the US-Mexico border where desertification and land use change has

altered ecosystems (Barger et al., 2011) and affected sustainability (Verstraete et al., 2009). The

lab activity acquainted community college biology students with local desert ecosystems and


5

desertification, and experimental manipulations that explore how ecosystem restoration might

improve sustainability. It also allowed the students to experience the utility of the scientific

methodology to solve problems in science.

METHODS

Experimental design

I designed an inquiry-based lab activity that focused on a) Chihuahuan Desert

ecosystems, and b) restoration ecology and sustainable living practices. The lab activity was

presented during scheduled class time on the EPCC Northwest campus with the aid of Power

Point presentations, documentary movies, and experimental testing. Students were introduced to

global and local environmental challenges currently faced, such as climate change and

desertification. Next, students were presented with the effects that desertification has on plant

biodiversity and sustainability. Essentially, most nutrient rich soil is localized under shrub

canopies, with bare space (most of the ground cover) is void of vital plant nutrients (see Photo

1). To test this concept, students were asked to generate a research question and hypothesis based

on the information presented, formulate a method protocol to test the hypothesis, implement the

protocol and collect data, analyze data, formulate a valid conclusion based on the data collected,

and communicate their findings.

During the Spring 2015 semester, I introduced the inquiry-based lesson into a Biology

1107 Lab at EPCC Northwest campus (experimental group). The data collected from this group

was compared to a Biology 1107 lab at EPCC Northwest campus that did not receive the lesson

(control group). Participants included male and female adults, 18 years of age and over, and

enrolled in Biology 1107 courses at EPCC Northwest Campus. Recruitment from the class pool


6

was conducted through oral invitation by the author of this study who also acted as the lead

instructor for the courses. To minimize coercion, extra credit was awarded to students for

participation in the study. If students chose not to participate, they were allowed to earn extra

credit through alternative means. Active written consent was obtained from all participants. Due

to IRB restrictions, we were unable to collect demographic data, however the classes was typical

for EPCC, where 84.7% of the student body is Hispanic.

A pre-test was given to both groups prior to the lab activity to assess students’ baseline

knowledge and attitudes. Following the lab activity for the experimental group, an identical post-

test was given to both groups to allow for the relative impact of the lab activity to be assessed.

There were two parts to the pre- and post-test. The first was a knowledge assessment that

included multiple choice content knowledge questions based on the topics and that assessed

changes in student knowledge. The second part was an attitude assessment that included a 5-

point Likert scale questionnaire that assessed the change in student attitudes. Students ranked

themselves on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 representing strongly agreeing and 1 strongly disagreeing) in

response to various statements associated with the topics discussed in the lab activity.

Data analysis

For the knowledge assessment, content knowledge was scored by marking answers

correct/incorrect. The percentage of correct answers in the pre- and post-tests were then

calculated for both the control and experimental groups.

For the attitude assessment, the Likert survey questions were broken into 5 subcategories:

a) ecological content knowledge, b) appreciation of ecology, c) ecological efficacy, d)

appreciation of statistics, and e) statistical efficacy. The mean score and standard deviation was

calculated for each category and for all categories combined to get the overall attitude


7

assessment. Scores from the content knowledge and attitudinal tests were then combined to

generate an omnibus score for each student’s pre- and post-test (see Equation 1 below). Overall

mean scores and standard deviation were calculated for both the control and experimental

groups. Using independent 2-sample t-tests and the statistical software Minitab (V17), both pre-

and post-tests for the control and experimental groups were analyzed and compared to determine

if participants’ content knowledge and attitude changed significantly.

Equation 1: Total score = (((a / b) + (c / d))/2)*100, where a = total correct, b = total

questions, c = total attitude score, and d = total points of the attitude portion of the test.

Effect sizes were calculated to assess the effectiveness of the lab activity. Effect sizes

describe ‘how well the lesson worked’, not just ‘how the mean scores differed’ (Coe, 2000). For

this analysis, we used Equation 2 (see below) to calculate Cohen’s effect size (d) and categorized

results using Cohen’s (1992) classification: small (d >= 0.20), medium (d >= 0.50), or large (d

>= 0.80).

Equation 2: D = (x - y) / z, where x = mean of the post-test, y = mean of the pre-test, and z =

pooled standard deviation.

RESULTS

Significant increases in mean scores were observed between pre- and post-tests, and

between control and experimental groups in content knowledge acquisition, overall attitude, and

environmental efficacy. These results suggest the lab activity had a significant impact on student

learning.


8

Knowledge Assessment: Content knowledge and ecological content knowledge

Students’ content knowledge increased significantly (Fig. 1A). For the experimental

group, mean scores for the pre- and post-tests were 57.1 and 74.4 respectively (t-value = -3.58;

p-value < 0.001). The mean scores for the control group pre-and post-tests were 40.6 and 40.7.

The pre-test mean scores for the control and experimental groups were compared, and there was

a significant difference between them (t-value = -2.89; p-value = 0.007). With this information,

we can infer that there was a significant difference between the post-tests for the control and

experimental group. The effect size was large for this category (d = 1.31) (Table 1).

The results indicate a significant increase in ecological knowledge (Fig. 1B). For the

experimental group, mean Likert scores for the pre- and post-tests were 1.9 and 2.7 respectively

(t-value = -2.28; p-value < 0.05). The mean Likert scores for the control group pre-and post-tests

were 1.9 and 1.7. With this information, we can infer that there was a significant difference

between the post-tests for the control and experimental group. The effect size was also large for

this category (d = 0.81) (Table 1).

Attitude Assessment: Efficacy, appreciation, and attitude

Ecological efficacy increased significantly for this lab activity (Fig. 1C). The mean scores

for the experimental group pre- and post-tests were 1.8 and 3.2 (t-value = -4.03; p-value <

0.001). The mean scores for the control group pre- and post-tests was 1.9 for both. With this

information, we can infer that there was a significant difference between the post-tests for the

control and experimental group. The effect size was also large for this category (d = 1.31) (Table

1).

There was no significant change in ecological appreciation between the experimental pre-

and post-tests (mean scores are 4.1 and 4.2 respectively), and between the control pre- and post-


9

tests (mean scores are 3.6 and 3.5 respectively). However, there is a significant different

between the experimental and control (t-value = -2.67; p-value < 0.05), and there was no effect

size (d = 0.11) (Fig. 1D; Table 1). Changes in statistical appreciation (Fig. 2A) within

experimental and control groups was not significant with mean scores in pre- and post-tests

being 4.2 and 4.4, and 3.6 and 3.5, respectively. However, there is a significant different between

the experimental and control groups (t-value = -2.14; p-value < 0.05). Changes in statistical

efficacy (Fig. 2B) was not significant in any of the comparisons (experimental and control pre-

and post-test mean scores are 3.0 and 2.9, and 3.1 and 3.0, respectively).

Mean scores for assessing overall changes in student attitudes in pre- and post-tests for

the experimental group were 3.2 and 3.6, and 3.0 and 2.90 for the control group with no

significant differences between the groups pre- and post-tests. However, there is a significant

change between the experimental and control groups post-test (t-value = -3.11; p-value < 0.05).

In addition, there was a medium effect size (d = 0.69) (Fig. 2C, Table 1).

Overall assessment

For the overall assessment, we combined the knowledge and attitude assessment. The test

scores increased significantly between the experimental pre- and post-tests, and between the

control and experimental groups (Fig. 2D). Mean scores for the experimental group pre- and

post-tests were 60.8 and 72.9 which showed a significant difference (t-value = -3.44; p-value =

0.002), and 50.2 and 49.1 for the control group with no significant difference. There was a

significant difference between the experimental and control groups post-test (t-value = -5.91; p-

value < 0.001), and had a large effect size (d = 1.26 (Table 1).


10

DISCUSSION

In this study I aimed to assess how an inquiry-based lab activity that was developed to

improve holistic understanding of environmental problems, and the concept of sustainability

impacted student learning. I measured student performance in knowledge and attitude through a

series of pre- and post-tests that specifically tested for a) ecological content knowledge

acquisition, b) appreciation of ecology as a science, c) appreciation for statistics used by

ecologists, d) attitude associated with ecological self-efficacy (confidence in their ability to take

actions beneficial to the environment) and e) attitude associated with statistical self-efficacy

(confidence in their ability to apply statistics competently).

Both content knowledge and ecological content knowledge increased significantly

between the pre- and post-tests for the experimental group and between the control and

experimental groups’ post-tests, suggesting students gained knowledge of the ecological

concepts related to desert ecosystems, desertification, and sustainability. They also had large

effect sizes. For changes in attitude, evaluation shows a statistically significant increase between

control and experimental post-tests, and a medium effect size. This suggests students’

appreciation and confidence in their knowledge about desert ecosystems and desertification, and

their ability to apply ecological and technological concepts improved some overall. Attitudinal

changes that had the largest effect sizes included students’ confidence in their ecological content

knowledge, and ecological self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is one's belief in their ability to succeed in

specific situations and plays a major role in how goals, tasks, and challenges are approached

(Bandura, 1997). Ecological appreciation had no effect size, but students initially scored high on

the pre-test, suggesting students already had a high appreciation for environment prior to this lab

activity. Based on the results from this study, I infer that the lab activity was effective in


11

improving content knowledge, and changing the attitude of the students in terms of their holistic

understanding of environmental challenges, and the concept of sustainability.

The lab activity presented in this study includes inquiry-based learning approaches that

have been shown to be particularly effective in learning activities tailored to underrepresented

and underserved populations (Haury, 1993; Rosebery et al, 1990; Rodriguez and Bethel, 1983).

Since the class I tested exemplified a typical EPCC classroom dominated by Hispanics, the

results of this study are not surprising and further exemplify the utility of inquiry based learning

for underrepresented populations. However, I did not use another teaching method so we cannot

quantify the potential outcome of inquiry versus non-inquiry based methods.

The lab activity developed and evaluated in this study further support the notion that

inquiry based learning improves student learning through improved content knowledge, and

attitudinal changes in efficacy. Such learning outcomes are needed to take on the many

challenges facing the next generation of environmental scientists and decision makers, so this

study therefore serves as a model for further curriculum development that focuses on advancing

scientific understanding combined with ecological efficacy, and the development of student

attitudes and appreciation towards the environment, making the students better able to face the

environmental challenges of the 21st century. Lastly, the lab activity in this study also supports

the National Research Council’s (2009) Vision and Change initiative to improve undergraduate

biology education for all students by incorporating the following criteria: 1) developing curricula

that integrates global environmental problems and relates these as real-world examples to

abstract biological concepts, 2) utilizing innovative pedagogy and create active learning

environments for students, and 3) integrating assessment and applying assessment data to

improve and enhance the learning environment.


12

Future Directions

The original intent for the creation of this laboratory activity was to develop students’

holistic understanding of environmental challenges, and the concept of sustainability. As

citizens, they must be informed about these challenges and understand their role to ensure the

sustainability of our planet. Engaging students with ecological concepts that enhance their

understanding of local to global environmental challenges and the concept of sustainability is

critical to empowering and readying the next generation of environmental scientists and problem

solvers. One of the next steps for this lab activity is to improve the statistics portion of the lesson

to better acquaint the students with the importance of statistics in biology, and science. In

addition, I would like to add a skills assessment to the protocol, which would evaluate the

students’ ability to apply their knowledge in real world scenarios that force them to provide

solutions to some of these environmental challenges.

Additional Outcomes

As a result of the effectiveness of this laboratory exercise, it was included in the creation

of the new Biology 1107 Laboratory Manual custom edition for El Paso Community College

(EPCC), currently utilized at the Mission del Paso, Northwest, Rio Grande, and Valle Verde

campuses (see Appendix A).

References

BANDURA, A (1997). Self-efficacy: the exercise of control. W.H. Freeman and Company, New

York. 604 p.

BARGER, N.N., ARCHER, S.R., CAMPBELL, J.L., HUANG, C., MORTON, J.A., AND A.K.

KNAPP (2011). Woody plant proliferation in North American drylands: a synthesis of

impacts on ecosystem carbon balance. Journal of Geophysical Research 116: 1-17.


13

BATTLES, D.A., FRANKS, M.E., MORRISON-SHETLAR, A.I., ORVIS, J.N., RICH, F.J.,

AND T.J. DEAL. 2003. Environmental literacy for all students: Evaluation of

environmental science courses developed for a new core curriculum. Journal of College

Science Teaching 32: 458-465.

BESTELMEYER, B.T., TUGEL, A.J., PEACOCK, G.L., ROBINETT, D.G., SHAVER, P.L.,

BROWN, J.R., HERRICK, J.E., SANCHEZ, H., AND K.M. HAVSTAD. 2009. State-

and-transition models for heterogenous landscapes: a strategy for development and

application. Rangeland Ecology and Management 62: 1-15.

CHAPIN, III, F.S., POWER, M.E., PICKETT, S.T.A., FREITAG, A., REYNOLDS, J.A., ET

AL. 2011. Earth Stewardship: science for action to sustain the human-earth system.

Ecosphere 2(8): 1-20.

COE, R. 2000. What is an effect size? A guide for users. Draft version available at

http://www.ncddr.org/pd/workshops/07_12.../9.1_Coe_2000_120507.doc.

COHEN, J. 1992. A power primer. Psychological Bulletin 112(1): 155-159.

CRUTZEN, P.J., AND W. STEFFEN. 2003. How long have we been in the Anthropocene Era?

Climate Change 61: 251-257.

EHLERS, E., AND T. KRAFFT. 2006. Managing global change: earth system science in the

Anthropocene. In Ehlers E., and T. Krafft (eds.), 2006. Earth System Science in the

Anthropocene: Emerging Issues and Problems. New York, Springer Heidelberg. 267 p.

GILL, R.A., AND I.C. BURKE. 1999. Using an environmental science course to promote

scientific literacy: Expanding critical thinking skills beyond the environmental sciences.

Journal of College Science Teaching 29: 105-111.


14

HAURY, D.L. 1993. Teaching science through inquiry. ERIC Clearinghouse for Science

Mathematics and Environmental Education Digest. Columbus, OH.

IPCC. 2007. Climate change 2007: the physical science basis. In, Contribution of Working

Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change (eds. Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, Chen Z, Marquis M, Averyt KB, Tignor

M, Miller HL), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New

York, NY, USA.

JUNYENT, M. AND A.M. GELI DE CIURANA. 2008. Education for sustainability in

university studies: a model for reorienting the curriculum. British Educational Research

Journal 34(6): 763-782.

MILLENNIUM ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENT. 2005. Ecosystems and human well-being:

desertification synthesis. World Resources Institute, Washington, D.C., USA.

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL. 2009. Vision and change in undergraduate biology

education: a call to action. National Academy Press, Washington D.C. 100 p.

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL. 2000. Inquiry and the national science education

standards. National Academy Press, Washington, DC. 188 p.

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL. 1996. National science education standards. National

Academy Press, Washington, DC. 246 p.

PALLANT, E. 1996. Assessment and evaluation of environmental problems: Teaching students

to think for themselves. Journal of College Science Teaching 26: 167-172.

PETERS, D.P.C, AND K. HAVSTAD. 2005. Nonlinear dynamics in Chihuahuan Desert

ecosystems: Interactions among drivers and processes across scales. Journal of Arid

Environments 65: 196-206.


15

RODRIGUEZ, I. AND L.J. BETHEL. 1983. An inquiry approach to science and language

teaching. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 20(4): 291-296.

SMITH, G.R. 2010. A module-based environmental science course for teaching ecology to non-

majors. Bioscene 42(36): 43-52.

TILBURY, D. 1995. Environmental education for sustainability: Defining the new focus of

environmental education in the 1990’s. Environmental Education Research 1(2): 195-

212.

VERSTRAETE, M.M., SCHOLES, R.J., AND M. STAFFORD SMITH. 2009. Climate and

desertification: looking at an old problem through new lenses. Frontiers in Ecology and

the Environment 7(8): 421-428.


16

Photo 1. Chihuahuan Desert shrubland highlighting areas of interspace, believed to be void of

nutrient rich soils, and canopy believed to be nutrient rich.


17


18


19

Table 1. Cohen effect size scores and category for each assessment component of the surveys.


20

Appendix A

IImmppaaccttss oonn oouurr EEnnvviirroonnmmeenntt:: LLaanndd UUssee aanndd LLaanndd CCoovveerr

CChhaannggee iinn tthhee SSoouutthhwweesstt DDeesseerrttss

Objectives:

Know what land cover change is and be able to list examples of LCC

Understand the causes of land cover change

Know that desertification and shrub encroachment are the types of land cover change in

the southwest deserts

Be able to categorize the causes of land cover change as natural events or human impacts

Be aware of the potential consequences associated with human activities on

ecosystems/land cover

Know that deserts are valuable and have ecological goods and produce ecological

services

Know that human activities and natural events can change the natural world

Materials Required:

potting soil, soil from shrub interspaces, fertile soil from shrub canopies, seeds of fast

growing plants (sunflower, pea, wheat grass, etc.), water, beaker, 7 clear plastic cups,

trays, trowels or shovels, plastic Ziploc bags, ruler, marker, paper, pencils

Introduction Question: What is land cover change? How does it impact our environment, namely plant biodiversity? For many years, natural events such as changes in the earth’s climate, and human activities such as farming and cattle grazing, have changed the way the surface of the earth looks. Most changes have affected the vegetation on the ground, also called land cover, and transformed a once existing community of plants into an entirely new community. This is known as land cover change. The two types of land cover change are deforestation, or clearing of forests, and desertification. Desertification is the degradation of land in arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting in a loss of biodiversity and the land’s productive capability, and is the common type of land cover change occurring in the Chihuahuan Desert.


21

Some of the consequences associated with desertification include loss of habitat, extinction of species, disruption of the water and nutrient cycles, and increased erosion with loss of valuable topsoil. One of the negative effects of land cover change is erosion. Plant roots provide stability to the soil on the ground. When the vegetation becomes less dense, the roots are no longer there to keep the soil in place. Water from heavy rains and wind can easily wash or blow the topsoil away. Topsoil is the top few centimeters of soil where a majority of the plant nutrients necessary for plant growth are found, and essentially lost through the process of erosion. In the Chihuahuan Desert, some of this eroded soil becomes trapped and accumulates underneath shrubs. This additional nutrient rich topsoil, along with decaying plant material, create islands of fertility. These islands found directly underneath shrub canopies are hypothesized to be richer in nutrients as compared to the soil in bare areas between shrubs (called interspace). In this lab you will be investigating the effects of erosion caused by desertification by testing the effects of both canopy soil (nutrient rich) and interspace soil (nutrient poor) on plant growth. You will attempt to grow a variety of seeds, including sunflower seeds, in these soil types.

Experimental Design Describe how you would like to test Interspace Soil versus Canopy Soil on plant growth: ______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


22

Guidelines:

1. If your campus allows, go outside with Ziploc bags and trowels to collect canopy soil and interspace soil. Be sure to document the type of shrub you have collected the soil from. If you are unsure, please ask your instructor for assistance.

2. Gather the materials listed above. 3. Punch a few small holes at the bottom of 7 plastic container cups. 4. Fill the 7 clear plastic cups with soil, three with Interspace soil, three with

Canopy soil, and the last one with potting soil (control). Be sure to use the trowels provided to scoop up soil.

5. Be sure to label your cups appropriately. Be sure to include date and group name/number as well.

6. Place 3 sunflower seeds evenly spaced in each cup of soil. 7. Water the soil and place on the trays provided. 8. Make observations on what you will see each day including the day of seed

sprouting and plant height. Record you data in the table provided. Don’t forget to keep your plants watered to ensure proper growth conditions.

9. You will graph your data at the end of the experiment. You will be presenting this experiment as a written or oral presentation.


23

Table 1. Seed and plant observations

Day Plants in Canopy Soil Plants in Interspace Soil Plants in Control Soil

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

Questions What is land cover change? List some examples of land cover change? 1. 4. 2. 5. 3. What do you think can cause land cover change to occur? Generate a list and put the causes into two categories: one for human activities and the other for natural events. HUMAN ACTIVITIES NATURAL EVENTS


24

What is erosion and how might it affect plant growth? Hint: What are the important soil nutrients for plants and what would erosion do to these nutrients? Additional Resources:

Analyzing land use change in urban environments http://landcover.usgs.gov/urban/info/factsht.pdf

Quantifying changes in the land over time http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/resources/Landsat_QuantifyChanges.pdf

Earth as Home Lesson “An Island Home” http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/pdf/globalchange/island.pdf

http://www.geography4kids.com/files/land_erosion.html

http://teacher.scholastic.com/dirtrep/erosion/index.htm

http://teacher.scholastic.com/dirt/erosion/whateros.htm

http://www.brainpop.com/science/theearthsystem/erosion/preview.weml

http://landcover.usgs.gov/urban/info/factsht.pdf

http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/resources/Landsat_QuantifyChanges.pdf

http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/resources/Landsat_QuantifyChanges.pdf

http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/pdf/globalchange/island.pdf

http://www.geography4kids.com/files/land_erosion.html

http://teacher.scholastic.com/dirtrep/erosion/index.htm

http://teacher.scholastic.com/dirt/erosion/whateros.htm

http://www.brainpop.com/science/theearthsystem/erosion/preview.weml

escamilla: guided inquiry in sustainability escamilla ta...escamilla: guided inquiry in...

Documents