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Survival of the Diverse board
game
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Submitted By
Christine Balga
Davis Drive Middle School
Cary, North Carolina
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Subject
Objective
Description/What to do in the classroom
Things to consider/science behind it
Number of TryScience.org features used
Titles of TryScience.org features
Materials Used
Results of student feedback and teacher assessment of activity
Attachments
Subject
Environmental Science--ecosystems, biomes & adaptations
Objective
Constructing and playing a board game in which
players move through the earth's different biomes. Players must
answer questions to earn adaptations to allow them
to pass safely through each biome.
Science Standards: (List as applicable)
NC Science Standards
Constancy and Change
*Hydrosphere
*Population Dynamics
Strands: Nature of Science, Science as Inquiry, Science and Technology, Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
Description/What to do in the classroom
*Students will use the Internet to research the earth's biomes and the life they support.
*Students will research to find the types of adaptations plants and animals have evolved in order to survive in the biome's conditions.
*Students will research human activity that may lead to global warming.
*Students will brainstorm questions suitable for each biome and adaptations necessary to survive and thrive in each biome.
*Students will complete experiments geared to identify successful adaptations.
*Students will list and explain evolutionary adaptations of plants and animals.
Students will view ecosystems in each of earth's biomes or research on Internet if a live-cam is unavailable.
*Students will build the biome gameboard and brainstorm appropriate questions for each area.
*Students will play and learn!
Things to consider/science behind it
*What types of adaptations enable certain animals and plants to live in certain areas of the world?
*How are living things having their basic needs met in each area of earth?
*What will hapen to each of the earth's biomes if the earth's temperature rises 2 degrees celsius?
*What influence does the human race have on global warming and can humans enjoy a high quality of life without destroying any habitats and without speeding global warming?
Curriculum topics
Environmental Science-ecosystems, biomes and adaptations
Biology-genetics, adaptations, natural selection
Chemistry-greenhouse gases and their effect, ozone productions,
Life Science-life cycles of animals
Earth Science-plate tectonics, Pangaea, meteorology
Social Sciences-Students will debate at the end of the unit to decide who should take responsibility for slowing global warming and how this could happen.
Integration of TryScience.org features
*Experiments in Earth Science, Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Social Sciences where students will complete experiments, view data and analyze it to come to a conclusion and maybe ideas for further testing to apply directly to their topic.
*Adventure-students can explore the Star Trek Adventure and think about how humans are able to adapt to harsh environments. Then students will brainstorm ways that humans could save ecosystems.
*Fieldtrips-Students will search to find museums in countries that are in each biome. If there is an on-line fieldtrip available, they will take it and make notes to sahre in their group. If no such trip exists in an area, students will contact museum scientists with specific questions about conditions in their
respective biomes.
Number of TryScience.org features used
6-10
Titles of TryScience.org features
*Experiments: Animal Attraction, Got Gas?, Salt, Soil and Seeds, Turbidity,Wind Mapping with Bubbles
*Live Cams: Challenger Learning Center at SciTrek, Cypress Swamp at Orlando Science Center
*Fieldtrips:Search for museums in different biomes to learn about conditions there.
*Adventure: Star trek Adventure
Materials Used
TryScience.org websiteand basic supplies as outlined in certain experiments
Computer access for research and experiments.
Cardboard, modeling clay, paint, plastic animals and plants and pictures to build a three dimensional gameboard.
3*5 cards to write questions
Colored Markers and pencils
Results of student feedback and teacher assessment of activity
Project is just in beginning stages. Students are so interested in the experiments that they want to complete more than the ones I have required and several parents have let me know that this site is actually becoming a reference site for their other children. Students have said that they like the Live Cams and would like to have one on all the time to make periodic checks to see if animals happen by.
The game board is coming along and the students have taken two quizzes on the information. Most are scoring A's & B's and they tell me they are learning it by doing it in class--not hours of study. Many say making questions with answers helps them remember the answers better. Students have been coming to class earlier so that they can show me what they did on TryScience.org. I even have a few students that would like to produce a site like TryScience.org and to maintain it.
Two students would like to have a current science topics addition to the site. This would show science happening and affecting the world and have a message board for students around the world to comment. We have discussed that different nations would have very different views on the global warming issue.
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