Caretakers versus Exploiters: Impacting Biodiversity in the Age of Humans

Classroom Strategies and Student Activities

The initial “hook” for this curriculum is a field trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.  During the zoo visit students will gather information about three animals with various statuses.  Students will have to describe concerns, treatments, and what can be done to support these species.  In the zoo, students will also try to evaluate the enclosure and the behavior.  We will explore the purpose of zoos and make a critical review of the impact on conservation.

Another initial “hook” for this curriculum is a field trip to the Phipps Botanical Gardens.  During the botanical visit students will gather information about three flowers with various statuses.  Students will have to describe concerns, treatments, and what can be done to support these species.  In the garden, students will also try to evaluate the enclosure.  We will explore the purpose of botanical gardens and make a critical review of the impact on conservation.

Activity One - Dinner and a Movie/Book. 

This idea was inspired from Sean Means’ “The American Dream” curriculum unit from 2018.  The dinner and a movie/book model allow students to view/read and reflect on full-length films/books that are relevant to what we are currently studying.  The film/book will be shown/read after school in the interest of instructional class time.  Students will be more likely to attend films and read books that are more modern in addition to receiving participation/extra credit.  And of course, pizza will be served.

Activity Two - Journaling (writing marathons: ascending intervals – 3min, 5 min, 7min, 10min) & Read Aloud (both student and teacher). 

This idea was inspired from Lauren Freeman’s “Becoming Butterflies” curriculum unit from 2019.  I’ve learned through my years as a mathematics teacher that a student’s math competency is directly related to their mother’s reading skills.  That’s simply amazing and I hope to develop the students reading skills and (more importantly) their listening skills through this exercise.

Activity Three - Geometry and Biology through art expression. 

One of my favorite things about teaching geometry is that the subject lends itself to incorporating art.  Students will discover fascinating relationships between geometry and nature:  mandalas, MC Escher drawings, the golden ratio, theory of proportions, flowers, shells, marine life, origami, and the human face.  An example of what this would look like would be origami bees.  Origami is good for you as it develops eye hand co-ordination, sequencing skills, math reasoning, spatial skills, memory, but also patience and attention skills. 

Activity Four - Think Marks

Think marks is a strategy that incorporates quick and simple doodling.  From infancy to industry, doodling has practical and powerful applications where students from all walks of life give visual representation and meaning to their ideas and to help others.  In using this tool, students are able to show their thinking as they read or solve math problems.  For example, if a student is reading an informational text about the Honeycomb Conjecture and something is confusing, the student might place a question mark to signal they are confused. 

Activity Five - Project Bee Watch

Project Bee Watch is a citizen science project that leverages volunteer labor to understand how pollinators are faring in Allegheny County.  At the Frick Environmental Center, operated by the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, students will receive manuals to help them identify pollinators and the plants that attract them.  Each student will receive 3.3 feet by 3.3 feet plot.  It’s a tool composed of bamboo sticks tied together with a string.  The square is used to mark off the section of wildflowers where the data will be collected.  It only takes ten minutes to complete a survey and students can do it as much or al little as the want. 

Activity Six – Tessellations

This activity examines tessellations and ways of covering a plane with the same two-dimensional polygons so that there are no overlaps or gaps.  Tessellation is a pattern of shapes that fit perfectly together and are found all over the place especially in bathroom and kitchen tiles, in the living room on carpets and wooden floors, and especially where brick is used for construction.  Students will explore tessellations by using regular polygons to discover which shape tessellates and which shape does not.  Students will be using this table:

Allow the students to approach the problem in any way that they like.  They need to be able to justify why there must be gaps or why the pattern can’t go on infinitely.  Bring the class back together to discuss and share the justification of their results.  As a connection into the Honeycomb Conjecture, ask the class if they have a conjecture about which regular polygon can be used efficiently to cover the most area with the least perimeter.  Each conjecture can be explored with the use of grid paper.

Activity Seven – 3D Tessellations

This activity allows the students to explore three-dimensional shapes, describe and identify their distinguishing features, and most importantly, appreciate the efficiency of the tessellating hexagon in meeting the needs of honeybees. Engage the students with a display of an actual honeycomb and ask:  How does the honeycomb benefit the bees?  Discuss and record the student’s understanding of the key ideas.  Students will recognize that it takes a lot of energy for bees to make wax, the hexagonal prism is more efficiently arranged, and that the honeycomb has been proven by science and math to be the perfect combination of saving energy through wax and honey storage which allows the bees to stay alive.

Figure 4 Bee on honeycomb in hive.

Activity Eight - Culminating Activity

Suggested student assessment would be to have each group choose one of its conservation ideas and write a plan for how the class could carry the idea out. It must consist of an explanation of why the plan is a good one and what it will accomplish, a list of the species that will benefit from the plan, and a description of the difficulties that might be associated with this plan.