Science to the Rescue

Introduction

For the last 100 years, the town of Hitchcock, Illinois has been the biggest coal providing city in the United States. Almost half of the town's resident's work at either the coal mine or factory. The other half of the town's residents work as fishermen, depending on the towns large lake to make their living. When the town was first founded, 150 years ago, the was lake was filled to the brim with different fish populations and the fishing industry was booming. However, around the same time the coal mine and factory opened on the shore of the lake, the number of fish in the lake began to decrease. This decrease in the number of fish year to year seemed gradual at first, and the people of the town believed that their numbers would eventually come back up. However today, the fishing industry in the town is collapsing due to the shrinking number of fish in the lake.

The fishermen in town have been blaming the coal industry for poisoning the fish in the lake for years, and want to kick the coal industry out of town. In its place, the fishermen have even proposed a plan to replace the thousands of jobs lost by allowing a natural gas company that has expressed interest in fracking in the town. The representatives from the natural gas company even claim that the new natural gas industry will be safer, better for the environment, and will even create new jobs as it grows.

The members of the town that work in the mine or factory in town have been listening to the fishermen complain that their industry has been poisoning the fish in the lake for years. However, the coal workers defend their work by blaming the decrease in the number of fish in the lake on the fishermen's own over fishing. They believe that if the fishermen stopped fishing and worked in the mines or in the factory with them for a couple years that the numbers of fish will naturally replenish. In their eyes even if the coal industry isn't great for the environment, and it is affecting the fish in the lake, then fracking for natural gas won't be any better.

Due to the rising tensions between the coal workers and the fishermen, the mayor decided to call a town meeting to decide what to do.  Unfortunately, the meeting wasn't much more than a yelling match between the two sides.  After 3 hours of listening to fully grown adults scream at the top of their lungs in a packed building on a Sunday night, Mayor Shah declared that he had enough.  Yelling louder than everyone else in the town hall, the mayor proposed a solution.  He would recruit the help of 3 experts, explain the situation, and they would decide what the town would do.  Unable to come up with a solution themselves, the town agreed. 

Task

You and your two best friends since Mr. Shah's science class in high school, all of those years ago, are on a camping trip in the forests just outside Hitchcock, Illinois.  You've all just completed your doctorate degree in different fields of science, and decided to celebrate by spending the week together fishing all day and building campfires to roast marshmallows over. It's your first night in the forest when suddenly all three of you wake up to the ringing of the only phone in the tent.  At first you're a little annoyed to woken up so late on a Sunday night, but you're all happy to find out that it's your old biology teacher Mr. Shah.  He explains that he's now the mayor of Hitchcock and that he needs experts in biology/ecology, geology, and political/economic science and heard that you three just finished your doctorate.  Because Mr. Shah was your favorite teacher in high school, you all decide to end your camping trip early and work together to find a solution to Hitchcock's current predicament.  

 

 

Process

1) Within your group of three, each of you will be responsible for assuming the role in one of three fields of science:

  • Ecology/biology
  • Geology
  • Political Science

2) Once you've picked your role, it'll be your responsibility to look at the problem (and come up with a solution) through the eyes of a scientist in that field of study. In order to do this, you'll most likely need to do some research about what your field of study is.  There are many online and offline that you can use, however I've included good online sources to get you started:

3) Work with your group, combining all areas of your expertise, to create a plan for the town of Hitchcock using evidence, theory, and scientific reasoning as support.  Be sure to re-read the introduction and make sure that each of the town's concerns are addressed  in your plan.

4) Create a 7 - 10 minute presentation using at least 1 type of medium as a tool (Prezi, PowerPoint, etc.).  After the presentation, be prepared to answer question regarding your plan from Mr. Shah.

Evaluation

Media Rubric:

 

 

0 Points

2 Points

4 Points

Problem Solved

Few, or none, of the issues in the town are addressed or solved using scientific reasoning.

Most, but not all, of the issues in the town are addressed or solved using scientific reasoning.

All of the issues in the town, explained in the introduction of the web quest, are addressed or solved using scientific reasoning.

Ecology/biology

Few, or none, of the proposed plan/solution is supported by ecological/biological theory, evidence, or scientific reasoning.

Most, but not all, of the proposed plan/solution is supported by ecological/biological theory, evidence, or scientific reasoning.

All parts of the proposed plan/solution are supported by ecological/biological theory, evidence, or scientific reasoning.

Geology

Few, or none, of the proposed plan/solution supported by geological theory, evidence, or scientific reasoning.

Some, but not all, of the proposed plan/solution is supported by geological theory, evidence, or scientific reasoning.

All parts of the proposed plan/solution are supported by geological theory, evidence, or scientific reasoning.

Political Science

Few, or none, of the proposed plan/solution is supported by political science theory, evidence, or scientific reasoning.

Some, but not all, of the proposed plan/solution is supported by political science theory, evidence, or reasoning.

All parts of the proposed plan/solution are supported by political science theory, evidence, or scientific reasoning.

Spelling and Grammar

Has more than 5 spelling or grammar mistakes.

Has 3-5 spelling or grammar mistakes

Has less than 3 spelling or grammar mistakes

Citations

Doesn’t contain citations for sources.

Contains incorrect (not in APA) citations for sources.

Containing citations for sources in APA format.

 

 

 

Presentation Rubric:

 

0 Points

1 Point

2 Points

Presentation of Proposal

Not every part of the plan/solution was presented

Or

Each part of the plan/solution was presented but most parts didn’t make sense/weren’t clearly explained.

Each part of the plan/solution was presented but some parts didn’t make sense/weren’t explained clearly.

Each part of the plan/solution was presented and logically explained.

Answering Questions

Students were unable to logically answer the teacher’s questions about their content area.

Students answered the teacher’s questions, however their answers weren’t fully correct or they seemed unsure.

Students answered the teachers questions knowledgably with confidence.

Time

The presentation was less than 5 minutes long.

The presentation was 5-6 minutes long.

The presentation was 7 minutes long.

 

Conclusion

During this activity you'll get the chance to use information that you've learned in class to tackle problems involving the changes to an ecosystem and the resulting effects it has on populations living in that ecosystem, in a real world setting.  Furthermore, you're completely in the drivers seat and get to chose/create your own path of study relating to a field of science of your choice! After this project, not only will you be more knowledgeable of controversial issues that are hot topics today, you'll gain practice expressing your beliefs in a logical and more irrefutable way.  And once you've finished learning how the harvesting/use of different food sources effect the surrounding ecosystems, do some research on how other changes can affect the environment.  Other changes can include (but are not limited to!): deforestation, application of fertilizer, drought, and flood. 

Teacher Page

Objectives:

  • Students will be able to explain how changes in an environment can affect an ecosystem and the species living within it.
  • Students will compare and analyze the effects of over-fishing, coal mining/burning, and fracking for natural gas. 

NGSS:

HS-LS4-5

Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in: (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of others. 

Target Learners:

The lesson plan is designed to be for high school biology students towards the end of an evolution/natural selection unit.  Previously learned knowledge necessary for the students include: species, populations, ecosystems, natural selection, effects of changing environments, cause and effect relationships, extinction, population frequencies, evolution, and mechanisms for evolution.