Research Scenario
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The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States; it is home to a variety of plants, fish and animals. The lives of these species are in jeopardy and although the bay and rivers are cleaner than they have been in the past 10 to 15 years, restoration and enhancement are still very much needed. Your class has just held a fundraiser to help save the Bay and each group in the class has enough funds to provide a donation to one conservation program. Through research your group will determine what program will receive your donation and why.
How can human activities conserve and enhance aquatic ecosystems? |
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Task and Product
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Form a group with four other classmates. Have each group member choose a different Chesapeake Bay restoration program to specialize in. The choices are:
- Managing Fisheries
- Restoring Water Quality
- Reducing Pollution and Identifying Pollutants
- Restoring and Maintaining Habitats
- Sound Land Use
Each group member will present their research using Microsoft Powerpoint, a public service announcement video or a newspaper article. After all the presentations have been presented, your group will discuss and decide which Chesapeake Bay restoration program will receive your donation and why. |
Assessments
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The following scoring tools may be used or adapted by your teacher to evaluate your research process and your final product and presentation.
Research Process Assessments:
- Daily-- Formative
- Research Process--Summative (Student/Self)
- Research Process--Summative (Teacher)
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Teacher note: To facilitate the collaborative nature of this project, consider creating a project-based wiki or using another collaborative Web 2.0 tool (VoiceThread, MindMeister, Groupsite.com, etc.) to use as a workspace. For further help/suggestions, see your Library Media Specialist or visit this website.
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Your grade will be based on your final product. Click to view the scoring criteria for each:
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Questions
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Essential Question:
How can human activities conserve and enhance aquatic ecosystems? |
Subsidiary Questions:
Use these questions to jump start your research. Use a note taking sheet to also develop questions of your own. Click on the conservation program your are specializing in for your specific note taking sheet.
Managing Fisheries
- What are fisheries?
- Why are fisheries important to conserving and enhancing aquatic ecosystems?
Restoring Water Quality
- What is being done to restore the water quality of the bay?
- How does the water quality affect aquatic species?
Reducing Pollution and Identifying Pollutants
- What pollutants are affecting the Chesapeake Bay?
- What is being done to reduce these pollutants?
- Why is reducing these pollutants important?
Restoring and Maintaining Habitats
- Why is maintaining habitats as important as restoring them?
- What is being done to restore and maintain habits in the Chesapeake bay?
Sound Land Use
- How does land use negatively affect the Chesapeake bay and its aquatic species?
- What is the Chesapeake Bay program doing to promote and implement sound land use?
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Gather, Sort, and Cite
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Use a variety of resources for gathering information about Conserving the Chesapeake Bay.
Gather information from a variety
of sources.
Sort your findings using a graphic
organizer, note cards, outline, word document, or other form
for recording your research.
Cite your sources to avoid plagiarism.
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Organize
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 Analyze your research notes to determine if you have adequate information to answer your essential question.
How can human activities conserve and enhance aquatic ecosystems? |
Synthesize your findings by creating a first draft of your product.
- What new insights have emerged about your topic?
- Which facts are the most compelling and would have the greatest impact on your audience?
- Which facts are unnecessary and/or repetitive and therefore should be left out?
Evaluate the effectiveness of your research for the task.
- Have you gathered sufficient details about your conservation program and why it is important for the enhancement of the bay?
- Is your research reflected in the content of your end product?
- Are you ready to create the final version of your product?
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Conclusion
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Presentation:
- Create the product assigned by your teacher. Use your graphic organizers to help you prepare your product. Check the scoring tool for your individual product to ensure that you meet all requirements.
- Share the result of your work with your classmates. During the sharing phase, record the most relevant and important information from each presenter.
Reflection:
- After hearing all the research about the various conservation programs, your group will discuss and decide which conservation program will receive your donation.
- Your group will then present to the class which program received your donation and why.
- You may want to share with the class your group members presentation prepared for the conservation program your group chose.
Extension:
- Now see how you, your family and community can contribute to saving the Bay by checking out the Chesapeake Bay Foundation webpage.
- Check with your service learning coordinator to see how you can implement this program into your school community.
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