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Planetary Processes and Personal Choice:
th
10
Grade Biology Lessons on Atmosphere Formation, Carbon and Water Cycles,
Air Pollutants and Their Health Effects, and the Impact of Transportation Modes
Carol Clinton1, Anna Hutchinson2
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati OH; 2 Hughes Center, Cincinnati, OH
Abstract
Lessons comprise a module taught over 15 days, spread over a four-month period, to two
classes of 10th graders, roughly 40 students. The lessons incorporated a variety of
instructional techniques including direct and indirect instruction, questioning, and
collaborative learning. Specific learning activities included lectures, demonstrations, labs,
videos guided with a worksheet of data to gather from the video, field trips with a worksheet
of questions to answer, and more. Details about the STEP program, including lesson plans
for the activities is available after the end of the school year at http://www.eng.uc.edu/STEP.
For all lessons and field trips an attempt was made to integrate math and science, to weave
in real-world applications and examples, and to link the concepts to local Cincinnati
situations. Information about college educational requirements and careers in science and
engineering, plus examples from the Fellow’s experiences as an engineer were liberally
sprinkled through these lessons and other class interactions during the year.
150
100
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0
-50 0
5
10
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Total average improvement in
class scores for series was 90%.
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Student ID Number
Major components of this series included
•Earth History: Formation of the earth, its oceans, and atmosphere; plate tectonics; origin of major life
forms; ice ages esp. impact of glaciers in Ohio; climate variations; and predictions for future supercontinent
formation and climate. Students created a timeline of Earth history and took a quiz on lesson content.
•Living in a Greenhouse: evaporation, condensation, dispersion, thermal inversions, carbon and water
cycle review, GHG types and sources, IPCC predictions, climate models, potential effects in Cincinnati,
sustainability, actions we can take to minimize GHGs
•Skittles Statistics: colored candies represented “contaminant” level in environmental samples, statistical
properties and plots of data sets, acute and chronic toxicity, predicting health outcomes
•Health Effects of Air Pollutants: demonstration of CO2 formation through human respiration, lab where
students constructed a spirometer and measured their vital lung capacity, respiratory system functions, criteria
pollutants and sources, AQI, Cincinnati air quality data
•Carbon Footprint/Sustainable Transportation: measuring particulates around school, representing
data on maps and with plots, correlating particulates with sources, comparison of impacts of transportation
alternatives (bus, car, bicycle, walking) and sustainability implications of transportation choices.
Results included higher scores for the students and greater interest in
engineering. The lessons also gave them facts and broader scientific
perspectives on topics that have recently been highly publicized, equipping
them to be more discerning citizens. Most importantly, the series showed
the interrelatedness of natural and anthropogenic influences on climate and
discussed the impacts of personal choices.
Figures
Did This Program Make You More Confident in Your
Math or Science Abilities?
Rate Your Interest in Engineering
100
80
60
40
20
0
Definitely
Sort of
Total
increased
confidence
Not sure
No
80
60
40
20
0
Very
interested
Somewhat
interested
Total
interested
Not sure
No interest at
all
The lessons were effective in increasing their knowledge of the information, and (perhaps
most importantly) in increasing students’ confidence in their abilities to learn science and
math. Total positive reports for this metric were 70%.
The students were also interested in engineering following the lessons. A total of 84%
reported being “very” or “somewhat” interested. Roughly 45% reported that the lessons
had increased their interest in engineering (data not shown here).
References
Educational Goals and Objectives
Specific objectives relating to the Ohio mathematics and science standards and
benchmarks for 10th grade level were set for each lesson. Another constraint was
meshing with the classroom teachers’ course content maps for the academic year, which
included preparing the students to take a standardized state test.
Average improvement in class
scores for individual students
who took all pre and post tests
was 65%. Not all students took
both the pre and post test. A total
of 40 students participated in the
lessons.
Score Improvements
% of Students
Over the course of a school year, a series of lessons was created by an NSF
GK-12 Fellow and taught in a Cincinnati public school 10th grade biology
class. Topics covered included formation of the atmosphere
(biogeochemistry), global water and carbon cycles, climate change, air
pollution, health effects of criteria pollutants, and the impacts of
transportation options on the environment, equity and the economy
(sustainability). The Fellow taught a related unit in their math class,
applying basic statistics to the prediction of health effects and control of
pollutants. Effectiveness measures included pre and post tests, surveys,
graded class work, homework, and other assignments.
Conclusions
% improvement
As part of a National Science Foundation program (NSF GK-12),
engineering graduate students (Fellows) work with inner city high school
science and math students to bring current issues into the classrooms.
Fellows are initially trained in lesson planning and other pedagogical
techniques then are teamed with volunteer teachers from schools that were
selected to participate in the program. Fellows develop and deliver content
that links with classroom-required curriculum, in a way that authentically
teaches science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills. This
interaction between the Fellows, high school students and secondary
school teachers enriches all three perspectives and helps prepare Fellows
for possible faculty positions.
Activities
% of Students
1
Ancient Bacteria helped form
Earth’s atmosphere
Small particles can
have a big impact on
the (complex and
interrelated)
respiratory system
This was an original series of lessons. Individual lessons incorporated information from a
variety of sources, including:
• “How the Earth Was Made” (History Channel, A&E Television Network, New York, NY, 2007)
•“The Greenhouse Effect” (Films Media Group, Cambridge Educational, Princeton, NJ)
• USEPA (numerous portions of website www.epa.gov and several publications)
• Teays River Fact Sheet, Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Additional personal objectives of the Fellow were to help create scientifically literate
citizens, and to dispel fear about the potential impacts of global warming.
Humans create anthropogenic intersections of the carbon and water cycles.
State Standards
• Air Quality Data Report 2006, and “Burning Issues” activity; Hamilton County Department
of Environmental Services, Cincinnati, OH
• Vital lung capacity activity; Teacher’s Guide Grades 9-12 for Bodies the Exhibition, 2007
Over the course of these lessons, more than 17 Ohio science benchmarks from all 6
science standards, and 13 Ohio math benchmarks from 4 of the 6 math standards were
addressed. Several of the standards were covered repeatedly and from different
perspectives and in different applications. Standards addressed included:
• Acid-base Indicators: A Breath-activated Chemical Reaction; Explore & Experiment,
Lyondell Chemicals, 2004
Science Standards
•Earth and Space Sciences
•Life Sciences
•Physical Science
•Science and Technology
•Scientific Inquiry
•Scientific Ways of Knowing
Mathematics Standards
•Number, Number Sense and Operations Standard
•Measurement Standard
•Data Analysis and Probability Standard
•Mathematical Processes Standard
•Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working
Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson, Eds.,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 173-210.
Acknowledgments
Project STEP is funded through NSF Grant # DGE058532
Students
enjoyed the
labs and
lessons
Appreciation is particularly given to the following for their
assistance in development and implementation of these lessons:
Ms. Anna Hutchinson – Hughes High School
Dr.s Dan Oerther, Paul Bishop and Anant Kukreti – University of Cincinnati
Ms. Andrea Burrows – University of Cincinnati
Ms. Anna Kelley – Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services