Ecological phenomena often take place over large spatial and temporal scales that are difficult to observe directly through classroom investigations. As a result, K-12 ecological education and ecological outreach often rely heavily on classroom activities like models, simulations and gameplay to provide students with an engaging hands-on exploration of ecological principles. During development of a middle school ecology unit, we assessed the quality of multiple, publically shared, ecology classroom activities. First, ecologists reviewed the classroom activities for scientific rigor. We then gathered feedback from implementing teachers through surveys after each lesson, and from participating students through a series of surveys throughout the unit. Findings revealed strengths and weakness of different approaches, and resulted in the identification of a set of characteristics that help ecological activities to be engaging and educative. We compare and contrast different activities to illustrate the common strengths and weaknesses that we identified through this development and testing process. This work is part of the Michigan Science Teaching and Assessment Reform Project which is funded by the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation.
Results/Conclusions
Findings from ecologists, teachers, and students revealed three important traits of ecological classroom activities for middle school students that are educational and engaging: (1) The activity should utilize a commonly accepted theoretical or conceptual model, for example Lotka-Volterra or bottom-up/top-down control. (2) Students should be able to draw connections between the activity and the ecological theory or phenomena (3) The activity should incorporate movement within the classroom, while still facilitating classroom management. Publically available educational activities intended to illustrate ecological principles vary in terms of how well they exhibit these traits. Common shortcomings include activities that clearly illustrate an ecological phenomenon in an engaging manner, but may encourage the development of misconceptions. Other activities clearly illustrate an ecological phenomenon, but are too complicated to implement in most classrooms or are not engaging enough to maintain student attention. Some simulation exercises fall into this category, although they are commonly promoted and used in K-12 ecological education. By comparing and contrasting various activities, we illustrate common characteristics of high quality ecological activities as identified through teacher and student feedback. By understanding characteristics that promote student learning and engagement, ecologists are better prepared to craft more effective educational outreach.