Gray Area Conclusion

We've made it to the end of our Gray Area investigations.  Students have looked at acid rain, chlorine, sediments, phosphates, and oil as possible culprits in our mystery.  Today we had an emergency board meeting to go over all the evidence and draw conclusions about the most likely reasons for the dying fish.  Students justified their votes with evidence and found that the answer wasn't as cut and dry as they may have thought.  As in real life, with so many elements at play, there is often a lot of "gray area" when it comes to making the best choices for us and our environment.  We also looked at possible solutions to the problems we've discovered and pros and cons of those as well.  I was proud of all of the students work, ideas, ability to think through different layers of the issues, and the connections they made to our overarching systems theme.

 We also cleaned house and enjoyed some quality time together engaging in our most popular brain games from the year.

We finished by creating an ALERT Top 5 and using it to prepare for our year-in-review game. Students answered systems questions using Kahoot and their responses earned them positive or not-so-positive inputs to their forest and pond snack ecosystems.  A little acid rain with that dirt dessert?!? :)  What a wonderful year and what a wonderful group!

Phosphates and Algal Blooms

Our Gray Area investigators were hot on a new trail today as they conducted various tests to determine if phosphate from fertilizer or manure might be causing an algal bloom in James Pond. With their eyes on the cattle ranch, small town, and golf course, they discovered algal blooms result from excessive algae growth and as the overabundant algae rots away it causes bacteria to use up all the oxygen in the water and causes negative effects on fish populations.  Ask your student who we discovered our new leading suspect to be!

3rd Grade Jones Gap Field Study

We had a wonderful learning experience at Jones Gap!  Students explored the river and forest systems of the park.  They were able to use field guides for plant and animal identification, conduct several water quality tests, and understand the important interactions between the two habitats. Thanks to all our wonderfully behaved students and fantastic chaperons!

Introduction by Ranger Tim

Water quality tests.

Searching for macroinvertebrates

 

At the miroscopy lab

Gilled snail

Using an adaptation to listen for the Red-eyed Vireo

Forest hike

The whole crew!

Population Boom

Today we investigated an interesting connection between the sediment problem from last week and the mountain lion hunting occurring in the area.  Students played a game to simulate the fluctuation in the deer population with and without predators.  They found that mountain lion hunting reduces predators for deer and their population is able to experience booms and crashes. On these booms, they overgraze and reduce ground cover resulting in more erosion than usual.

2nd Grade Jones Gap Field Study

We had a wonderful learning experience at Jones Gap!  Students explored the river and forest systems of the park.  They were able to use field guides for plant and animal identification, conduct several water quality tests, and understand the important interactions between the two habitats. Thanks to all our wonderfully behaved students and fantastic chaperons!

Introduction by Ranger Tim.

Making our own adaptation for better hearing.

On the trail.

Searching for Macro-invertebrates.

Testing river temperature.

Testing river turbidity.

Testing river pH.

A waterpenny under the microscope in the lab.

A stonefly nymph.

Turbidity

Today students considered another factor that may be causing problems for fish in Gray Area.  With logging an active business in the area, some of the rivers were looking a little dirty.  Students used secchi disks to determine the clarity, or turbidity, of the water in the various lakes and rivers in the area.  They then examined the sediment files to understand the effects of erosion and high levels of sediments on the organisms living there.

Plant material reducing erosion.

We also did some work in our data unit for math and students examined and evaluated different graphs and tables for recording survey results.  They also created questions that could and could not be answered from these graphs.  As we continue with graphing, students will be discovering effective survey questions and techniques and create their own survey tool to collect, represent, and analyze their data.

Second graders share some of their graph questions and students decide if it is answerable or unanswerable.

Second graders also prepared for their field study next week by looking at goals, expectation, and vocabulary for the trip!  Continue to practice our terms at this link!

Acid Rain Continued...

We've used our research skills to uncover the solution to our curious acid rain test results!  Although the rain over the entire Gray Area is acidic, only some of the waterways are unhealthy for fish due to pH.  Students found that part of the Gray Area has large amounts of limestone that neutralize the acid and make the water livable for fish.  They also discovered that the Gray area acid rain problem is largely cause by cars and trucks, clearing the Toy Factory as a prime suspect.  We also spent time discovering possible solutions to the acid rain problem.

Creativity was also a focus.  Students used originality and design thinking to develop a perfect hat to help our friends the Ats who are plagued by pesky gnats!  Take a look at some of their clever ideas!