We heard from Dan Preston, a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Integrative Biology. He presented a Ponds in Peril activity, and here are the materials we’d like to share with you:
Monroe SMILE club students engineered stream ecosystems to meet the specific adaptations of the macroinvertebrates that they designed. Once their streams were complete they added water to test their work! Check out their creativity!
During the August SMILE teachers workshop we spent an entire day learning about Oregon’s geology, hazards, and preparedness. All of the lesson materials shared were connected to NGSS with a specific focus on Cross Cutting Concepts. Check out some of the fun activities:
During an elementary session, teachers learned about riparian systems and their importance to birds and other organisms and we built model ecosystems. Here are the lesson plans that support these concepts:
At the May Teacher’s Workshop held at the HJ Andrews Forest, SMILE teachers learned about how field investigations connect to NGSS Practices. Teachers focused more specifically on how to help students develop questions, set up an investigation, and analyze and interpret the data that they collected. Below is the materials shared during this session.
One of our SMILE clubs was featured in the Woodburn Independent Newspaper! SMILE club advisor Dave Ellingson and his students created an archaeological exhibit in the Woodburn Public Library to showcase some of bones of extinct animals found in Woodburn. Read all about it in this article!
April showers bring May flowers right? Well how exactly do we measure such a thing? This article describes this processes. But why do we care? Right now throughout Oregon many cities are experiencing a drought while others are not. For cities that are, how much rain do you normally get this time of year? How many inches of rain would you need to catch up? For those that are not experiencing a drought, how much rain are you experiencing? These are great questions to ask your students.
There is only one wildlife forensics lab in the world and its located in Ashland, Oregon. This forensics lab is just like any other, except the victims are animals. This could be a great oppurtunity to talk with your students about how a wildlife forensics lab might differ from a human one (this link might be helpful). If you are nearby you might want to consider taking a lab tour.
Food shortage is not the only issue anymore. Wasting food is having a dramatic effect on the environment, economy and society. An estimated $162 billion is being lost because of unused food, as seen in this New York Times article. This is an interesting topic to pose to your students. What solutions can you come up with to solve the food waste problem in your club, school, community, state, country or world? How does this solution work? Share with us!
