Coastal Roots High
Teacher’s Guide
Project Background and Rationale
Course/Students
This curriculum web is designed for High School Environmental Science.
The grade level expectations listed below are from the Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum – High School environmental Science Standards. The link to these can be found below as well.
The lesson is designed for High School Students who have difficulty with traditional lessons and who struggle with academics and reading comprehension. It can be adapted for more advanced students.
Content
The lessons in this curriculum web are designed for students to work collaboratively with teacher guidance in developing an understanding of the Louisiana Coastal Wetlands, the habitats and biomes, the benefits of the wetlands, the threats to the wetlands, and prevention and restoration.
The reason for creating this curriculum web is so that students in North Louisiana can develop a deeper understanding of the situation concerning the coastal area of Louisiana. Media coverage of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita typically focused on the people that dispersed and the impact the hurricanes made on cities such as New Orleans. The media coverage did not elaborate on the impact of the coastal wetlands affected by the two hurricanes. This curriculum web will provide students with information as well as opportunities for research, discovery, and a chance to make an impact.
It is hoped that this curriculum web will keep students motivated. The information is organized for them. There are opportunities for students to collaborate, utilize technology, uncover facts, and discover and create ideas to make a difference while learning.
Collaborative Learning
It is recommended that the teacher assign students to collaborative learning groups. Each group will be asked to research a different coastal region in Louisiana. They will explore elements such as native animals, plants and geographical characteristics. Students will then be given a chance to research the impact of hurricanes that have made their way through each region. Coastal erosion will be the next focus for each group, as they must be aware of those factors which have caused coastal erosion and those which continue to impact the coast currently. Students will also be working on a plant project to learn about rehabilitation for each region’s wetland areas. Classes are encouraged to take a field trip near the end of the unit to get a hands-on opportunity to demonstrate and further their knowledge of the wetlands.
Group members may be assigned roles to help their groups function together well. Some roles for the teacher to consider are: Facilitator/Moderator (to facilitate discussion, encourage member participation, and keep group on task); Timekeeper (watches the time, reminds group to move forward, leads clean up, fills in for other members); Recorder (takes notes, records information); Runner (gets materials as needed, goes to teacher or other groups for assistance). You may come up with other roles for group members.
Curriculum Web Goals and Objectives
GLEs or Course Goals
High School Environment Science Standards (http://www.louisianaschools.net/lde/saa/1842.html#EnvironmentalScience)
Science and the Environment
· #2 Describe the characteristics of major biomes on Earth (SE-H-A1)
· #5 Examine and discuss the major stages of succession, describing the generalized sequential order of the types of plant species (SE-H-A4)
· #7 Illustrate the flow of carbon, water, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus through an ecosystem (SE-H-A6) (LS-H-D1)
· #8 Explain how species in an ecosystem interact and link in a complex web (SE-H-A7) (SE-H-A10)
· #10 Analyze the effect of an invasive species on the biodiversity within ecosystems (SE-H-A9)
· #12 Give examples and describe the effect of pollutants on selected populations (SE-H-A11)
· #19 Determine the interrelationships of clean water, land, and air to the success of organisms in a given population (SE-H-C1)
· #22 Analyze the risk-benefit ratio for selected environmental situations (SE-H-C4)
High School World Geography Standards
http://www.louisianaschools.net/lde/uploads/4017.doc
World Geography
· #9 Identify and analyze the distinguishing physical or human characteristics of a given place (e.g., landforms, precipitation, ecosystems, settlement patterns, economic activities) (G-1B-H1)
· #11 Draw conclusions about a place or area from its geographic or physical features (G-1B-H1)
· #21 Characterize areas or regions in terms of the physical processes that affect them (e.g., Pacific Ocean “Rim of Fire,” San Andreas fault) (G-1C-H1)
· #24 Examine the effects of a physical process (e.g., erosion and depository processes, global warming, El Niño) on the natural environment and societies of an area and draw conclusions from that information (G-1C-H1)
· #38 Identify technological advances that expanded human capacity to modify the environment (e.g., steam, coal, electric, nuclear power, levees) (G-1D-H1)
· #40 Analyze or evaluate strategies for dealing with environmental challenges (e.g., dams or dikes to control floods, fertilizer to improve crop production) (G-1D-H2)
· #46 Assess the role of government in preserving natural resources and protecting the physical environment (G-1D-H4)
· #47 Evaluate the effectiveness of policies and programs related to conservation and use of natural resources (G-1D-H4)
· #49 Debate a position on an environmental issue involving conservation or use of natural resources (e.g., private vs. public interest) (G-1D-H5)
· #50 Evaluate options for solving a local or regional problem involving physical processes or environmental challenges (e.g., government disaster aid, environmental clean-up cost responsibility) (G-1D-H5)
Specific Objectives
TLW:
· Conduct research on the various regions within the Louisiana Coastal Roots area.
· Create a PowerPoint presentation by working in collaborative groups.
· Utilize technology to understand the importance of Louisiana’s wetlands and coastal regions.
· Evaluate the effects of certain environmental factors.
· Create a plan as to how to improve those areas.
Curriculum Web Format and Content Structure
Theme and Type of Curriculum
This project is primarily a subject-centered focused unit. While it is established for an Environment Science class, content and activities are interdisciplinary and will cross-over into math, social studies, and English language arts. Students will receive the benefit of the reinforcement of some structural constructs from other subject areas. Often, especially with science, students are intimidated by scientific theory and processes. This unit incorporates activities, hands-on projects, writing, and problem solving that often is typical to other subject areas as well.
We will be looking at the Louisiana coastal wetlands from a variety of viewpoints, allowing students to bring strengths they may have in other content areas and successfully apply them in this unit. This curriculum web will offer a variety of learning experiences to encompass a variety of learning styles.
What impact does all of this have on Northern Louisiana?
For North Louisiana students this unit will provide an opportunity to learn about their home state and benefits the Louisiana wetlands provide to the area, the state, and the nation. Students will also learn about current events, ecological issues, problems and solutions. Student will learn about themselves and services they can provide from their hometown that can have an effect on the future of Louisiana and its coastal wetlands.
Content Map
Suggested Learning Activities and Resources
Learning Activities
1. Introduction: Wetlands 101
Estimated Time (2- 50 minute class lessons)
a. Pretest
b. Teacher selected video or power point (LINK) and lecture
c. Class collaborative groups: Each group will be assigned a coastal region/wetland. They will then be charged to research their region and be able to identify the area on a map. Background information on each region will be presented as a small group oral presentation. These groups will be maintained throughout the project.
d. Blog page for each group to record progress and resources that they use throughout the project. (If technology permits in your school).
e. PowerPoint: Students will begin working on a PowerPoint project that will be used as a comprehensive measure/final project.
2. Hurricanes and Levees
(Estimated time 2-3 50 minute lessons)
a. Hurricane research and discussion
b. Students will visit the National Hurricane Center site to research hurricanes that have hit their region within the last 100 years.
c. Students will identify impacts of the hurricanes on their region’s animal and plant life.
d. Students will use hurricane tracking maps to track the hurricanes that have impacted their region.
e. Blog and PowerPoint will continue to be updated.
3. Coastal Erosion
(Estimated time 2 50 minute lessons)
a. Students will utilize internet sites to follow the timely progression of coastal erosion.
b. Video and discussion on erosion.
c. Students will be charged in developing a future expectation of coastal erosion without any form of preservation or rehabilitation to the coastal region.
d. Blog and PowerPoint will continue to be updated.
4. Coastal Restoration (How can we rehabilitate our wetlands?)
(Estimated Time 4-6 50 minute class periods and on-going plant activities).
a. Students will research plants indigenous to each region, how to grow and maintain them, and what types of things are hazardous to the plants’ development.
b. Students will research the possibility of including other plants within their region (those that may not be indigenous.)
c. Plant yard: Each group will create a real-time garden of native Louisiana plants that can later be transplanted to areas where plant life is needed.
d. Blog and PowerPoint will continue to be updated.
5. Field trip: Students will be provided a chance to personally attend a small group gathering that will give them more hands-on experience with the real problems facing Louisiana coastlines.
Instructor Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan 1: Wetlands 101
Lesson Plan 2: Hurricanes & Levees
Lesson Plan 3: Coastal Erosion
Lesson Plan 4: Coastal Restoration
Resources
1. http://www.lacoast.gov/education/FragileFringe/index.htm
a. The site has a wide variety of information concerning teaching about the coastal wetlands including activities within each area. Each activity discussed also has a suggestion concerning the appropriate age group.
2. http://dnr.louisiana.gov/teach.ssi
a. From the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, this site has information concerning the natural resources within the state.
3. http://www.americaswetland.org/
a. Provided the foundation of the same name, various resources are here concerning the newest information about the impact of our wetlands.
4. http://www.wlf.state.la.us/
a. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries can provide information concerning animals around the coastal region.
5. http://www.lumcon.edu/education/StudentDatabase/
a. This site provides information concerning how students can learn about science and watersheds to the Gulf.
6. http://mywonderfulworld.org/
a. This site was created to raise awareness for geography and global issues.
Assessment and Evaluation
Students will be assessed using a series of rubrics for the activities, the culminating product, and their group collaboration. The students will be provided each rubric so that they will be aware of each area that they will be graded on. Students will also be asked to evaluate activities and components of the curriculum web as they progress through the unit..
Significance of your Project
It is the hope of the creators of the Coastal Roots High curriculum web that this unit provides students within North Louisiana an awareness of the importance of protecting and improving the State’s coastal areas. We hope that this curriculum web will eventually be used by more environmental science instructors and provide a gateway to resources that high school environmental science instructors can use within their classroom. We hope that in the future, this could become part of the comprehensive curriculum for Environmental Science.
Feedback and Evaluation
We want to encourage teachers to contact the creators of the Coastal Roots High curriculum web with feedback and suggestions for improvement. Please share how you adapted the web to fit the needs of your students and your school as well as ways that we can adapt the web to better suit students, environmental science, and teaching in general.
Please complete the student and teacher evaluation forms and e-mail them to us. This feedback is critical to making this curriculum web a success.
9