| Lesson
3 & 4 Components |
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| I. Presentation 3: Data introduction and Osprey Example | View description | Download files |
| II. Bald Eagle Activity 1 | View description | Download files |
| III. Bald Eagle Activity 2 | View description | Download files |
| IV. Bald Eagle Activity 3 | View description | Download files |
| I. Presentation 3: Data introduction and Osprey Example |  |
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| Description | ||
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Introduces students to CEETV, the Contaminants Exposure and Effects - Terrestrial Vertebrates database, as a source of data that can be used to investigate the effectiveness of the DDT ban. | |
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Reviews how to formulate a hypothesis and determine the type of data needed in order to reduce potential bias. | |
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Uses osprey data from CEETV to explore the effectiveness of the DDT ban | |
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| Goals | ||
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Students lean about data sources available to the public | |
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Students practice formulating a hypothesis and selecting data in a manner that minimizes bias. | |
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Students gain an appreciation for graphing as a way to visualize data. | |
| Download Files for Presentation 3 | ||
| • | “TeacherManual3_4” ( if not downloaded previously) | |
| • | “Lesson3_dataintro_presentation” | |
| • | “Lesson3_WB” | |
| • | “Lesson3_WB_KEY” | |
| • | "osprey" | |
| II. Bald Eagle Activity 1 | |
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| Description | ||
| • | Students are given a dataset from CEETV containing data on DDE concentrations in bald eagle eggs in the U.S. | |
| • | Students are introduced to Microsoft Excel and some of its functions | |
| • | Students sort their data and eliminate records that would introduce bias. | |
| • | Students divide records into groups by year and calculate DDE averages for each group. | |
| • | Students graph their results and discuss the meaning of their graphs. | |
| Goals | ||
| • | Students practice formulating a hypothesis and sorting a dataset to remove records that would introduce bias into the investigation. | |
| • | Students learn how to manipulate data and graph using Microsoft Excel | |
| • | Students discuss the meaning of their graph and explore possible explanations for the pattern they observe. | |
| Download Files for Bald Eagle Activity 1 | ||
| • | “TeacherManual3_4” (if not downloaded previously) | |
| • | “baldeagle presentation ” | |
| • | “BaldEagleActivity1_WB” | |
| • | "BaldEagleActivity1_WB_KEY" | |
| • | "baldeagle" | |
| • | "BaldEagleActivity1_Excel" | |
| • | "EagleExAct1" | |
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| III. Bald Eagle Activity 2 | ||
| Description | ||
| • | Students look at the records they used to create the graph in Bald Eagle Activity 1 and propose a possible hypothesis to explain their results. In particular, they are encouraged to question whether the trend they observe is a trend across the U.S. or limited to specific locations. | |
| • | Students reexamine their data by dividing data into groups by state, discuss the results, and formulate a new hypothesis. | |
| Goals | ||
| • | Students gain further comfort and expertise with manipulating data and graphing in Excel | |
| • | Students explore how different ways of dividing and visualizing data can lead to different results and hence conclusions. | |
| Download Files for Bald Eagle Activity 2 | ||
| • | “TeacherManual3_4” (if not downloaded previously) | |
| • | "BaldEagleActivity2_WB" | |
| • | "BaldEagleActivity2_WB_KEY" | |
| • | “EagleExAct2_KEY” | |
| • | "BaldEagleActivity2_Excel" | |
| • | "Baldeagle2 presentation" | |
| IV. Bald Eagle Activity 3 | |
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| Description | ||
| • | The results of Bald Eagle Activity 2 are discussed with emphasis on how bias was introduced to the first investigation. | |
| • | Students are asked to share their results and new hypotheses. Santa Catalina is identified as a potential hotspot. | |
| • | Students investigate their new hypothesis by looking at the bald eagle data one last time. This time they contemplate a graph in which the bald eagle data has been divided into 2 large datasets, one containing all U.S. data with the exception of data from Santa Catalina and the other dataset containing data only from Santa Catalina. | |
| • | Students discuss the meaning of their graphs and formulate ideas about what might have caused the patterns they observe. | |
| • | Students discuss how combining the data records in different ways led to a different result thereby reviewing ideas about bias presented earlier in the unit. | |
| Goals | ||
| • | Students develop critical thinking skills with regard to science, in particular by identifying sources of bias. | |
| Downloads for Bald Eagle Activity 3 | ||
| • | "BaldEagleActivity3_WB" | |
| • | "BaldEagleActivity3_WB_KEY" | |
| • | "Baldeagle3 presentation" | |
| • | "BE3graph" | |
| • | "BaldEagleActivity3_datasheets" | |
| • | "EagleExAct3" | |