Students become “experts” and make creative presentations about the different ecological roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers at local and global scales.
The Mangrove Mapping Curricula strives to provide opportunities for students to learn about and explore mangroves and their ecosystems. Through this process it is hoped that students develop and understanding and appreciation for mangroves and the role they play in a healthy environment. Mangroves are group of tropical/subtropical trees that live in salt or sweet (salt/fresh water combination) water coastal environments. They are considered a cornerstone species and play important roles in habitat formation and stabilization of coastal environments.
In this lesson, students will be amateur mycologists--collecting and analyzing various mushrooms. Through observation and discussion, students will gain knowledge of the basic anatomy of mushrooms, their life cycle, and their method of reproduction through spores. Students will learn to create spore prints of mushrooms and label and preserve their spore prints, just like a mycologist. Students also will learn that by comparing spore prints, they can identify different mushroom species.
In this problem-based learning (PBL) scenario, students prepare a presentation for investors showing how their fishing company has a significant advantage because it locates upwelling zones and fishing areas using TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) and other satellite data. Prior to launching the PBL, students learn about wind: the topics of air pressure, coriolis effect, upwelling and the role of differential heating on the atmosphere are explored in classroom demonstrations. Materials required include a beaker, coffee grounds, drinking straw, balloon, flashlight, and turntable. The resource includes teacher background information, glossary, assessment rubric, and an appendix introducing problem-based learning.