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Urban Ecology Classroom Resources
What we are working on in class...
Over the past month, we have been learning about plants and water sources in NYC for our STEM Urban Ecology Unit. We kicked off this unit by making connections with different images to draw conclusions about what urban ecology is. Next, we studied different environments in NYC and made observations about these environments by recording quantitative data that showed how many/what kind of plants there are in different areas of our city to broaden our understanding about the relationship between plants and different water sources.. Then, we did background research about how one water source affects plants. We studied how high amounts of salinity caused by road salt affect plant growth. We used this case study to help us conduct our first experiment about how plants are affected by different water sources by observing daisies in different water sources (high/low salt water sources, high detergent/low detergent water sources, high mineral/low mineral water sources, high/low fertilizer water sources, and our control was tap water). We used our observations from this experiment to come up with questions that we have about plants and water sources in NYC. Using our questions, we broke off into four groups. One group is studying how seeds vs. adult plants adapt to polluted water, the next group is studying what can plants do without (how little sunlight/water/soil), another group is studying how to use plants to tell if water is polluted with lead and other pollutants, and the fourth group is studying how lead gets in and how to remove it from water). We are currently doing background research about each question to help us come up with a hypothesis. Next week, we will begin to write our hypothesis so that we can set up our experiments!
Photographs of how we worked in teams to acquire background information about plants and water sources in NYC and started to come up with hypothesis for our experiments.
Scientific results from our plant and water sources experiment:
Our Hypothesis about Water Sources and Plants in NYC
Problems and hypothesis generated by 229 and 228's students
Group A:
Problem: What can plants do without? How little sun, water, nutrients?
Why study this: This is a very important idea to everyone in the world, especially if the world gets too full and we think about moving some people on to the planet Mars :) . We will need to know the minimum amount of resources needed to sustain plants and us because that would make everything more energy efficient.
Hypothesis: We think that water and sunlight are more important than nutrient rich soil because plants needs sunlight to make their food and plants would die without water.
Group B:
Problem: How to use plants to tell if water is polluted?
Why study this: We might be able to discover new early signs of pollution by observing plants!
Hypothesis: We think that the leaves of a plant will show us that water is polluted with sewage (high amounts of food fertilizer), salt, and cooking oil because we noticed before that the leaves of a plant are affected when a plant interacts with detergent.
Group C:
Problem: How much pollution can seeds or adult plants survive in?
Why study this: Thinking about the future of plant survival. Can we still plant seeds in water even though it is polluted? Are there types of seeds that are more resistant to pollution than others?
Hypothesis: We think that detergent will damage a seed more than a plant because a seed is more fragile and sensitive than a regular plant. The seed is more defenseless.
Group D:
Problem: How does lead get in and how to remove it from water? Can observing plants alert you about lead levels and can plants live with lead?
Why study this: We were inspired to investigate this problem because of how it is affecting our countries schools and neighborhoods.
Hypothesis: We think that it is possible to use certain plants to clean out lead from soil and then using the same plants to clean out lead from water because according to studies, plants absorb lead as it is like a nutrient and they can resist it as they absorb anything in their water.
Group A:
Problem: What can plants do without? How little sun, water, nutrients?
Why study this: This is a very important idea to everyone in the world, especially if the world gets too full and we think about moving some people on to the planet Mars :) . We will need to know the minimum amount of resources needed to sustain plants and us because that would make everything more energy efficient.
Hypothesis: We think that water and sunlight are more important than nutrient rich soil because plants needs sunlight to make their food and plants would die without water.
Group B:
Problem: How to use plants to tell if water is polluted?
Why study this: We might be able to discover new early signs of pollution by observing plants!
Hypothesis: We think that the leaves of a plant will show us that water is polluted with sewage (high amounts of food fertilizer), salt, and cooking oil because we noticed before that the leaves of a plant are affected when a plant interacts with detergent.
Group C:
Problem: How much pollution can seeds or adult plants survive in?
Why study this: Thinking about the future of plant survival. Can we still plant seeds in water even though it is polluted? Are there types of seeds that are more resistant to pollution than others?
Hypothesis: We think that detergent will damage a seed more than a plant because a seed is more fragile and sensitive than a regular plant. The seed is more defenseless.
Group D:
Problem: How does lead get in and how to remove it from water? Can observing plants alert you about lead levels and can plants live with lead?
Why study this: We were inspired to investigate this problem because of how it is affecting our countries schools and neighborhoods.
Hypothesis: We think that it is possible to use certain plants to clean out lead from soil and then using the same plants to clean out lead from water because according to studies, plants absorb lead as it is like a nutrient and they can resist it as they absorb anything in their water.
Our pilot experiments!
We are getting ready to launch our experiments! Before doing so, we practiced how we should set up our experiments. We did this by reviewing our steps and materials, assigning roles, and reflecting on what we need to do as emerging scientists to collect and measure our data.
5-228 visits Brooklyn Bridge Park to learn about
NYC's Awesome Oysters
Reflections about our trip from 5-228
The field trip taught me that human trash can affect something so small as an oyster.
-Melanie Hernandez
What made the trip memorable was how we learned how pollution is affecting the oysters. The trip was also memorable because when my classmates and I grow up, we would like to be the woman that was teaching us about how we can help the environment and tell others, so that they can help the world be better, too!
-Samantha Hernandez
What made the trip memorable was that we were outside and we were able to study animals we never even knew about and we worked together to experience a lot. I learned that there are little things you can do in life that make a big difference.
-Tenzin Tselhe
The field trip taught me about urban ecology by showing us how oysters started becoming endangered by all the pollution because people damaged the habitats where oysters live. What I’ll remember about the trip is learning new things with my friends. I feel like it’s really good to have your friends near you when you learn.
-Christopher Acosta
The field trip taught me that human trash can affect something so small as an oyster.
-Melanie Hernandez
What made the trip memorable was how we learned how pollution is affecting the oysters. The trip was also memorable because when my classmates and I grow up, we would like to be the woman that was teaching us about how we can help the environment and tell others, so that they can help the world be better, too!
-Samantha Hernandez
What made the trip memorable was that we were outside and we were able to study animals we never even knew about and we worked together to experience a lot. I learned that there are little things you can do in life that make a big difference.
-Tenzin Tselhe
The field trip taught me about urban ecology by showing us how oysters started becoming endangered by all the pollution because people damaged the habitats where oysters live. What I’ll remember about the trip is learning new things with my friends. I feel like it’s really good to have your friends near you when you learn.
-Christopher Acosta
Results from our Pilot Experiments:
Below, you can see photographs from some of our pilot experiments. These experiments helped us to draw some preliminary conclusions about the problems that we are investigating. After spring break, we will launch our final experiments!
Launching our Final Experiments!
On May 2nd, 2016, 5-229 worked in teams of 4 to set up their materials for their experiments and assigned roles to one another. Each group has: observers, note takers, data collectors, sample handlers, and a free agent/substitute. Without much guidance, 5-229 successfully set up their materials using a checklist to ensure that all materials were accounted for. They also reviewed their protocol for their experiment. By doing all of the following, not only is 5-229 ready to launch their experiments, but they are also thinking more like scientists. Students understand better how a scientist thinks, how a science creates an experiment and brings it to life. Students were also able to connect their understanding of how a scientist conducts an experiment by watching Dr. Majumdar use a lead testing water kit from ANDalyze to test water samples that contained lead solder. PS89 was fortunate to be able to use the ANDalyze kit, that is a cutting edge technology and uses DNA to measure lead concentrations in water down to 2 parts per billion (ppb). Marty Dugan from ANDalyze arranged for for lending us the portable fluorimeter and a discount on the test kits.