Carolina Crunch! Exploring Food Webs in
the South Carolina Saltmarsh
Created by- Kimberly Schneider, University of South
Carolina
Funded by- NSF K-12 Fellowship to K. Schneider
Implemented- St. Andrews Middle School, Columbia SC; Bythewood Middle School, Blythewood, SC; GK-12 teacher summer workshop 2006
Summary- This lesson explores food webs using organisms
from the South Carolina Salt Marsh. Students read about the organisms
and have to put together their own food web from the information provided. After
making the food web students answer questions about food webs and must
exhibit understanding of new vocabulary (e.g. omnivore, predator, producer).
Beat the Heat!!! Using infrared technology
to explore the differences between warm and cold blooded organisms
Created by- Lindsay Watson and Kimberly Schneider,
University of South Carolina
Funded by- NSF K-12 Fellowship to K. Schneider
Implemented- St. Andrews Middle School, Columbia SC; GK-12 teachers summer workshop 2006
Summary- This lesson will contrast warm-blooded
and cold-blooded animals using pictures taken with an infrared camera.
Students will visually explore differences between organisms radiating
(in infrared) body heat and answer questions about the pictures they
observe.
Summary: This is an easy dissection for middle school students. Students will dissect and observe mussels (or other bivalves) and compare the body system to humans. This lesson covers the differences between human body systems and other animal systems. It also is a good primer to other dissections or can stand alone if no other dissections will be done in the classroom.
Is it hot in here? Exploring the greenhouse effect and global climate change
Created by: Kimberly Schneider, University of South Carolina
Funded by: GK-12 NSF Fellowship
Implemented: St. Andrews Middle School, Columbia SC
Summary: The lesson will explore the greenhouse effect through a simple demonstration. Students will gain an understanding of thegreenhouse effect, climate change, and global warming.
Created by: Brice Gill, St. Andrews Middle School, Columbia SC
Funded by: NSF Research Experiences for Teachers
Implemented: St. Andrews Middle School, Columbia SC
Summary: Students create a mock population of two competitive species of mussels in order to examine the effects of varying traits on the mussels’ competitive advantage. The students will be able to (1) understand the role of dominant and recessive traits in an organism and (2) differentiate between the two species of mussels by their expression of certain traits.
It’s a Mystery: How PCR data can be used to determine distribution
Created by: Brice Gill, St. Andrews Middle School, Columbia SC
Funded by: NSF Research Experiences for Teachers
Implemented: St. Andrews Middle School
Summary: Students examine salinity and wave action maps and compare those maps with the distribution of two species of mussels. The student will be able to (1) analyze PCR charts to determine the distribution of the two Mussel species and (2) hypothesize about what environmental conditions each species may prefer.
Created by: Populations Connection (http://www.populationconnection.org). Modified by Kimberly R. Schneider (GK-12 program, Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina)
Funded by: GK-12 Fellowship
Implemented: St. Andrews Middle School, Columbia SC; NSF GK-12 summer teacher workshop 2006
Summary: The histories of local rivers provide insight into the effect of population growth on a natural resource and the cumulative impact of individual actions.