integrated inquiry-based investigations on the mad river, greene county: chemistry, earth science,...
TRANSCRIPT
Integrated inquiry-based investigations on the Mad River, Greene County:
Chemistry, Earth Science, and a new Evaluation tool for Pre-Service Teachers
Suzanne Lunsford, Chemistry Department, WSU
Kumar Nedunuri, Water Resources Management, CSU
Michael Sandy, Geology Department, UD
Huffman DamHuffman Dam
Length of Dam - 3,340 feet Height of Dam - 65 feetWidth of Dam at Base - 385 feetVolume of Earth in Embankment - 1,655,000 cubic yards
• Opportunity to carry out interdisciplinary fieldwork - reflecting the nature of scientific inquiry and the workplace/industry
• Opportunity to understand aspects of local environment
• Opportunity to study geology - collect fossils• Opportunity to sample water• These relate to specific Ohio Science Education
Standards
Study of Water Quality• The following parameters were measured/estimated:
– Flow (qualitative)
– Temperature
– pH
– Nitrite/Nitrate
– Phosphorus
– Dissolved oxygen
– Carbon dioxide
Applying Equilibrium Chemistry to explain dissolution of minerals from the bedrock and
water quality in a nearby stream
Mad river by the Huffman DamGeologic outcrop near the dam
Details of the Field trip
• Students visited both the outcrop by the railroad and the river.
• Studied the geology of the site by observing the rocks.
• Water samples were collected from the Mad river and the Outcrop.
Interpretation of observed data using chemical equilibrium
• Equilibrium Reaction– aA + bB cC + dD
– Law of Mass action says if we know the equilibrium constant, and concentrations of A, B, and C, we can predict the concentration of D in equilibrium.
– It is difficult to teach the chemistry this way since A, B, C and D are not real chemicals!
– CaCO3 (s) + H+ Ca2+ + HCO3- Ksp = 4.8X10-9
– We can predict Ca2+ if we know pH and bicarbonate.– Event though these chemicals are real, one would like to associate them with real life
experiences.
– Measuring them from water samples in the river and groundwater from the bed rock would help associate chemistry with the minerals found in the rock formation and their weathering and dissolution in water.
• The development of the landscape of Huffman Prairie was broken down into 5 phases of development:
• 1) 450 MILLION YEARS AGO (fossil collecting)
• 2) APPROX. 320 MILLION TO 1.6 MILLION YEARS AGO
• 3) 1.6 MILLION TO 20,000 YEARS AGO
• 4) 20,000 - 17,000 YEARS AGO
• 5) 17,000 TO PRESENT DAY
Specimen of the trilobite Isotelus
from Huffman Dam construction - 41 cm long
Huffman Dam RR cut
Brassfield Formation
Silurian
Ordovician
Drakes Formation
Whitewater Formation
Air strippers
Assessment
• Pre-test, Post-test, and Inquiry module were prepared.
• The questions were designed to familiarize students with different problem solving steps.
• Different learning tools were used.
• The levels of difficulty in questions corresponded to different levels of Blooms’ taxonomy of higher order thinking.
• Post-test scores were 42 points out of 100 points. The normalized gain for the pre-post-test results was 0.72 for these 14 students in Chemistry 346. According to R.R. Hake these are typical results of a more inquiry-based course compared to the traditional.
Future developments• Kumar and Sandy will combine their classes for a
joint fieldtrip in the Spring of 06
• Integrate live-data from United States Geological Survey monitoring
• Relate local enviroment to global issues– Flooding– Carbon cycle; global warming
