SAMPLE LESSON

TITLE: The Story in Color!

OVERVIEW: Using the National Wetland Inventory (NWI) maps for three different dates, covering approximately 30 years, students will discover the major changes in habitat types for a selected site.

SUBJECT AREA: Environmental Science

GRADE LEVEL: Middle school

OBJECTIVES:
        To identify habitat patterns and develop habitat appreciation.
        To use modeling in explanation of habitat change.
        To differentiate between habitat types.
        To recognize selected patterns illustrated in designated images.
        To understand the processes involved in habitat change.

STANDARDS:
        National Geography Standards
        Essential Element 1 The World in Spatial Terms
        Standard 1. How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools and technologies to acquire, process, and
                                   report information from a spatial perspective.
        Standard 2. How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places , and
                                   environments in a spatial context.
       Standard 3. How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth’s surface.

        National Science Standards
        Content Standard: Unifying Concepts and Processes
        Standard. As a result of activities in grades K-12, all students should develop understanding and abilities aligned with
                the following concepts and processes:
         -Systems, orders and organization
         -Evidence, models and explorations
         -Constancy, change and measurement

        National Math Standards
        Standard 8. Patterns and Functions
        The mathematics curriculum should include explorations of patterns and functions so that students can:
        -analyze functional relationships to explain how a change in one quantity results in a change in another.

LOUISIANA STATE FRAMEWORKS       
            Louisiana Social Studies
            G-1A-M2             Interpreting and developing maps, globes, graphs, charts, models, and databases to analyze spatial distributions and patterns.
            G-1B-M3             Identifying criteria used to define regions and explaining how and why regions change.
            G-1D-M1             Analyzing and evaluating the effects of human actions upon physical environment.

            Louisiana Science Content Standards
            S1-M-A4             Developing descriptions, explanations, and graphs using data.
            SE-M-A4             Understanding that human actions can create risks and consequences in the environment.

CROSS CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS: Geography, Earth Science, Life Science, Mathematics

PROCESS SKILLS: Observing, communicating, comparing, inferring, classifying

TIME: Teacher Preparation-One Hour
            Class time-two 50 minute class periods

MATERIALS: Teacher-Background information, photo essay, Skills and Technique sheets for
                     Skill 1 Map Use, Element 3 Classification of Wetland and Upland Habitats
                    Skill 3 Visual Recognition, Element 1 comparison of Habitat Maps

        Student: NWI map sections- 1956,1978,1988, color classification scheme, colored pencils

PROCEDURE:
        1. Students should brainstorm the definition of wetlands and their benefits.
        2. Class discussion of wetland types should follow to identify the students expectations of what plants and animals are
            found in various types of wetlands.
        3. The photo essay should be shown to confirm or direct student responses and introduce the NWI classification scheme.
        4. Following distribution of the color scheme and the NWI maps, students should begin their exploration of the site’s
            habitats by the coloration process.

                NOTE: Students may do each map by themselves, or in cooperative grouping situations to address time constraints each student
                            may be assigned the task of coloring one particular year.

        5. After completion of the coloring process, comparisons between the three images should be made by the student group.
        6. Class discussion and question wrap-up.

ASSESSMENT:
        Student group work should be monitored.
        Completed colored images should be evaluated.
        A student generated chart to illustrate percent of change for selected habitat types.

REFERENCES:
        Nice Geography and GIS Sites www.frw.tuu.nl:80/nicegeo
        GIS in Education danet.wicip.org/gisedu
        First National Conference on the Education Applications of Geographic Information Systems (EdGIS) Report. (1955).
        Looking at Earth. (1996). Priscilla Strain & Frederick Engle. Atlanta: Turner Publishing, Inc.