Research Experience for Teachers (2016-2017)
How Does Your Garden Grow?
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Pre/Post Test: Pre-Test  Post-Test |
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Keywords:
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The Big Idea (including global relevance) Water transportation / distribution
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Essential Questions How do we efficiently and sustainably transport water to where it is needed for agricultural purposes? |
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The Hook For the Hook, the students will undergo a Mini-challenge. Students will have a race in teams to get as much water from one end of the parking lot to the other in as short a time as possible. Each team will have two buckets (one filled with water and one empty) and different supplies to use (small cups, spoons, forks, etc.). Each group will also have the name of a country on the bottom of the bucket (both first world and third world), and the water transportation “tools” will relate to the level of water distribution efficiency of that country. Also, the “quality” of the water will relate to the country’s water quality. A reflective sheet after the race will help to hash out the “Big Idea,” essential questions, challenge, etc.). The class will compare and discuss the time it took and the amount of water lost in the process, aka, efficiency. |
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The Challenge Design and possibly build a way to transport enough water to water the new community garden to ensure plant growth. |
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Guiding Questions
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ACS (Real world applications; career connections; societal impact)
This Challenge has a solid real-world connection. The students will be designing a water transportation system for the garden behind their school, modifying the design, and presenting their proposals to the PTA and / or the school board. The students could also potentially share their ideas with other school districts considering implementing school community gardens.
On a small scale, this challenge relates to the local community because the designs and models built could actually be implemented to provide water for the school’s community garden and increase the growth of produce. This produce would then serve as an additional resource of healthy food. School-based community gardens are a growing topic and the students could also present their proposed solutions to surrounding schools with community gardens. On a larger scale, water is not easily available in all locations for both consumption and for agriculture, so water transportation is a very important topic.
A guest speaker will be visiting from Groundworks Cincinnati (http://groundworkcincinnati.org/) prior to beginning this unit to discuss the local watershed with the students and assist them with water testing in the local stream. The guest speaker will also discuss his job, dealing with water, to the students. The guest speaker will return for a second water testing with the students in the spring following the unit implementation. The students will have an open discussion with him about water-related jobs, such as a water resource project engineer, a civil engineer designer for water resources, and a wastewater engineer, having then completed the challenge.
Misconceptions
- Water comes from the tap (no concept or understanding of what goes into getting water to the tap).
- Water is free.
- The world is running out of water.
- If water looks clean, it must be clean.
- If water has access to a pipe, then it will flow, even if it is uphill (no understanding of water pressure and its role in water transportation).
Unit Lessons and Activities
- Lesson 1: To Grow or Not to Grow….That is the Question (5 Days)
In Lesson 1, students begin to explore water transportation and focus on the importance of transporting water for agricultural purposes. Activity 1 will lead to the generation of the essential questions, guiding questions, and ultimately the creation of the Challenge, the design and creation of a water transportation system to water the school community garden. In Activity 2, students will explore different plant / agricultural needs, including but not limited to, soil saturation, water needs, and rainfall. Students will use this knowledge to assist in the design and building of their systems.- Activity 1: Water Transportation: Mini-Hook / Relay Race – 2 Days
- Activity 2: Plant / Agricultural Needs (soil saturation, water needs, rainfall, build rainfall collector, rain gages) – 3 Days
- Lesson 2: Manager of the Water (7 Days)
In Lesson 2, students will begin to investigate existing models / practices for watering currently being used in other school and community gardens. Students will gather their data, analyze, and draw conclusions to assist in their designs. In Activity 4, using their gathered data from the previous activities in this unit, students will design, possibly build a model, and create a proposal for a water transportation system they would like to see implemented, complete with justification. If the teacher selects to not have students build the model, due to time or ability constraints, then students will use the available supplies to test out their ideas and kinesthetically explore different components of their proposals.- Activity 3: Research other school community gardens and their systems – 2 Days
- Activity 4: Water Transportation Design – 5 Days
- Evidence of CBL: CBL begins in the unit in Lesson 1, Activity 1, because the students begin to flesh out the challenge through the mini-hook water race, discussions (using the reflection sheets), and formulation of the Challenge. The actual challenge is carried out in Lesson 2, Activity 4, through the design, creation, and proposal of the water transportation system.
- Evidence of EDP: EDP appears in the unit in Lesson 2, Activity 4. Students will design and test portions of their water transportation systems. They will evaluate the effectiveness of their design, make adjustments, redesign, and retest. When they have a “final” design, they will create a Power Point presentation of their proposal. There will be a checkpoint where students will share their progress thus far with another group (they will use this as a “dress rehearsal” for their final presentation) for feedback. I will also observe these presentations and use it as a formative assessment. The groups will then use the feedback they receive to make modifications to improve their design and / or the clarity of their presentation. This is the iterative portion of the EDP.
Additional Resources