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Ecosystem health
| Resource type | Theme | Title | Teaser | Grade Level | Name | Comments | Post date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Field work resources | Ecosystem health | Why are water quality data important? | This document gives a quick overview of why scientists pay attention to water quality, and the importance and expected ranges of each of the chemical measurements: temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and salinity. |
Middle school (grades 6-8) High school (grades 9-12) |
vitalteach | 0 | 2013-04-27 |
| Learning activities | Ecosystem health, Ecosystems, Invasive species | Aquatic Ecosystem Presentation Rubric | Students choose an aquatic ecosystem in the state of Maine. After in depth research into the health of that ecosystem, students share their findings. This rubric and instruction sheet guide students as they work independently on their research. |
Middle school (grades 6-8) High school (grades 9-12) |
gmri | 2 | 2012-01-03 |
| Learning activities | Ecosystem health | A Picture of Health: Human Health Continuum | Use A Picture of Health to prime students to think about what it means to be healthy. Before they tackle ecosystem health, students consider human health – a topic more familiar that they all have personal experience with. Students look at a set of photographs of people that show a range of health. They work together to arrange them along a continuum from healthy to unhealthy. They practice backing up their decisions with reasons and evidence, a skill they will use when assessing ecosystem health. |
Middle school (grades 6-8) High school (grades 9-12) |
vitalteach | 0 | 2011-05-06 |
| Learning activities | Ecosystem health, Ecosystems, Invasive species | Nesting Bird Game | This is a fun game where participants explore habitat and nesting bird sites with regard to invasive species. Specifically, it addresses the competition between native birds and invasive bird species when it comes to habitat resources and predators. | Middle school (grades 6-8) | ashdog | 2 | 2011-04-16 |
| Learning activities | Ecosystem health | A Picture of Health: Ecosystem Health Continuum | The Ecosystem Health Continuum gets students playing and experimenting with their own understanding of and assessment criteria for determining ecosystem health. Students look at a series of photographs of ecosystems that show a range of health. They arrange them along a continuum from healthy to unhealthy, and practice backing up the claims they make using evidence. |
Middle school (grades 6-8) High school (grades 9-12) |
vitalteach | 0 | 2010-10-26 |
| Field work resources | Biodiversity, Ecosystem health, Invasive species | Project Participation Rubric | This rubric could be used by students to self-assess their work in a project. | Middle school (grades 6-8) | skistenmacher | 1 | 2010-09-25 |
| Analysis resources | Current events, Ecosystem health, Ecosystems, Invasive species | Hemlock Woolly Adelgid in Maine, 2010 | This is a Google Earth map layer of the towns in Maine with official reports of invasive hemlock woolly adelgid. Data are from the Maine Forest Service (http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/HWAOverview.htm). Please note that the map markers are placed on the town name, and not on the exact location of the HWA infestations. |
Middle school (grades 6-8) High school (grades 9-12) Professional development |
vitalteach | 0 | 2010-08-11 |
| Field work resources, Analysis resources | Biodiversity, Current events, Ecosystem health, Ecosystems, Invasive species, Scientific inquiry | Putting Photos on Google Earth | Here is a site to help put your photos onto Google Earth. | Middle school (grades 6-8) | Jamien Jacobs | 0 | 2010-06-25 |
| Units of study | Ecosystem health, Ecosystems | Ecosystem Health: Checking the Vital Signs of a Maine Watershed | How healthy are your local ecosystems? Students use a variety of health indicators to investigate and assess the health of a local upland, freshwater, or coastal system. They share conclusions and fresh ideas with local planners and resource managers in their communities, and report their findings more broadly to the scientific community through the Vital Signs website. |
Middle school (grades 6-8) High school (grades 9-12) |
vitalteach | 0 | 2010-04-16 |
| Learning activities | Ecosystem health, Ecosystems | Build a Watershed | In this activity students use rocks and aluminum foil to construct a watershed. Then they add pollutants (oil and manure) and observe how pollutants affect a watershed. Finally, they add a wetlands (a sponge) to observe how wetlands can help to clean pollutants from a watershed. | Middle school (grades 6-8) | skistenmacher | 0 | 2009-11-05 |
