Centers are a learning concept that is very popular in K-12 education right now. Basically, centers should have a theme, which is similar to a unit title. Each individual center is a lesson that is part of that larger theme. Students rotate through the centers in groups, doing an activity at each center. By the end of the rotation, the students should be able to put together what they have learned from each center to understand the theme as a whole.
The theme of these science centers is water ecosystems. Each center is designed to take 2-3 weeks, with group sizes of 3-5 students. These centers are multidisciplinary, using art and reading activities as well as traditional science activities to teach science concepts. The centers were created by Kristy Segal and Jeremy Harder for the 2005-2006 4th and 5th grade class at Ophir School.
Art Center Instructions
At this center you will learn about the life cycle of plants from the Northwestern United States and attempt an accurate scientific picture of various stages of one plant’s life. For scientists, it is often very useful to look at pictures of what they’re studying. It sometimes helps to not only look at a picture, but make your own to show yourself how much you understand.
Look at the pictures of plants at the center. Each plant is shown in four stages of its life cycle: flower, fruit, seedling, and adult plant. You should notice that while the life cycle stages are the same (flower, fruit, seedling and adult), they look different for each plant. While not every plant goes through exactly the same life cycle, these are examples of a common and successful life cycle.
Instructions:
1. Choose one of the plants for your art project.
2. With a pencil and ruler, divide your piece of paper into four equal sections.
3. Using the art supplies provided at the center, draw the four life stages of your plant, one in each section of your paper.
4. Color using colored pencils each of your four stages.
5. Label each stage as flower, seed, seedling, or adult plant.
6. Discuss your drawing with the members of your group.
7. Questions to consider when discussing your drawing:
• Did you draw the life stages accurately?
• What similarities do you see between you and your classmates’ drawings in each stage?
• What differences do you see?
• What do the similarities/differences tell you about plants in this area of the United States?
• What characteristics could help you recognize this plant when hiking or riding your bike?
Food Web Center Instructions
At this center you will learn about food webs in the ecosystem where you live. In any ecosystem, all of the organisms (living things) depend on one another to live. Every living being must get energy from somewhere else, this is called an energy cycle. For example; plants get energy from photosynthesis, animals eat plants or other animals to get energy (just like you!), and fungi and bacteria digest the bodies of dead animals and plants to get their energy. Without these relationships, no organism (living thing) would be able to live for very long.
In your field research on the Gallatin River, you and your classmates collected data on the organisms living in this ecosystem. Using this data, you can create a food web of the Gallatin River that illustrates how each organism (living thing) gets its energy.
Look at the sample food web provided for you at the center. Food webs are drawn to show the connections between all of the organisms in an ecosystem. Each organism is drawn or represented by a symbol, and then lines are drawn to connect organisms that eat or are eaten by other organisms. Producers like plants, fungi and bacteria are at the bottom of the food web. Consumers, such as elk, bears, and wolves are at the top or middle of the food web. Now point out to each other the following terms we just discussed.
• Organism symbols
• Connection/relationship lines
• Consumer/Producer
Instructions:
Using the supplies provided at the center, create your own food web with your group. To do this:
1. Include all of the organisms observed during the class field trips to the Gallatin River.
2. Label each organism on your food web.
3. Connect each organism to other organisms that it has an energy relationship to. If you are unsure about how an organism should be connected to other organisms, use the guide books provided at the center to find out more about what animals eat.
4. Make your food web as detailed as possible.
• Include and label ALL organisms that you gathered from your observations on the Gallatin River.
• Include accurate connections using arrows to label the relationships.
• Colored accurately.
Microscope Center Instructions
STOP!!!! WARNING!!!!! If you are working at this center you should have already completed the Pond Observation Center.
In addition to the macro-organisms (living things big enough to see) you’ve been studying in the pond, water ecosystems also have microorganisms. These are living things that are too small to see with just your eye. At this center you will complete your experiment by observing microorganisms from the pond water with a microscope. The microscope is a tool that will let you see very small organisms that you could otherwise not see with your naked eye.
Instructions:
Microscope Experiment Guide
1. As a group, decide what your procedures will be for observing the organisms. Will everyone have their own microscope? Will you share slides or make your own? Write down your procedures here.
Now that you’ve developed your procedures, you can start your observations. HAVE AN ADULT HELP you set up your slides and start using the microscopes.
2. As a group, start making your observations with the microscopes. Remember to use the procedures you designed. Fill out the data sheets as completely as you can.
When you’ve finished your microscope observations, you’ve finished the collecting data/results part of the scientific method. The next step is to draw conclusions from the data you’ve collected.
3. What kind of macro-organisms did you find in the pond?
4. What kind of microorganisms did you find in the pond water?
5. What observations did you make about how the organisms act? What did you see them doing?
6. What do you think the connection is between macro-organisms and microorganisms?
7. How accurate was your hypothesis? Use the scale below to mark the accuracy of your hypothesis.
1---------------2------------------3-----------------4----------------5
(not accurate) (very accurate)
8. What other hypothesis could you make that might be more accurate, considering your data?
Microscope Data Sheet
Instructions:
Collect your drop of pond water and make a microscope slide using the instructions provided. Then, observe the microorganisms in the water. For each organism, try to identify what kind of organism it is (fish, plant, insect), and write this under the organism column. Then describe important features of the organism (shape, size, color) under the description column. Finally, draw a picture of the organism under the drawing column.
| Organism | Description | Drawing |
Pond Observation Center Instructions
Water ecosystems can be very challenging. So many different organisms (living things) live in water environments, and they all interact with each other in different ways. The classroom pond is a model of a larger water ecosystem. In the pond, many different organisms live together, just like in a real pond. The organisms you can see in the pond are called macro-organisms. These are organisms that are big enough to see with the naked eye. There are also other organisms, called microorganisms that you cannot see. You will study these later.
In this center, you will work through an experiment using the scientific method.
Instructions:
1. Find your scientific method guide.
2. With your group, read the scientific method guide out loud. Discuss each step with your group.
3. Answer the questions on the experiment guide.
4. Observe the organisms in the pond. Look closely at how the organism moves, it’s body structure, and how it interacts with other organisms.
5. After close observation, be sure to fill out your data sheets completely and write down all observations.
The Scientific Method
A scientist’s real job is discovery. Scientists try to find out everything they can about a certain subject. Often, the best way to find out something is to ask a question. The scientific method is the process scientists use to ask questions and to find answers.
The scientific method consists of a series of steps. After all of the steps are completed, a scientist should have an answer to his or her question.
Steps to the Scientific Method:Pond Observation Experiment Guide
STOP!!!!!!! Before you start this worksheet, you should have read through the Scientific Method worksheet.
Imagine that you are a scientist. You are a scientist who works on water ecosystems. We call those scientists hydrologists. Let’s say you’ve decided that you want to learn more about how these ecosystems work. To do this, you decide that the best way would be to set up a model pond.
Now it’s time to start your first experiment. How do you start an experiment? You do experiments by working through the scientific method.
So you start with the first step of the scientific method, which is to ask a question. Well, you created the pond to find out more about pond ecosystems. You decide your question will be:
“What kind of organisms are in a pond and how do they live together?”
Now that you have your question, you need to develop a hypothesis. Remember, your hypothesis is what you GUESS the answer to your question will be.
1. As a group, decide what your hypothesis will be for the question above. Write it down here.
After you have a hypothesis, the next thing you need to do as a scientist is decide how to test the hypothesis by developing your methods. You decide that the best way will be the make observations of the artificial pond you had created.
Well, you know that you need to make observations of the organisms in the pond, but how are you going to do that? It’s time to design your procedures. You decide that you’ll need data sheets to write down your observations, so you have some made. This is the Pond Observation Data Sheet. But what else do you need to do?
2. As a group, decide how you’re going to observe the organisms in the pond. • Do you need to take samples? • Can you watch their behavior in the pond? • Should you split up your group and each observe a couple of organisms?
Once you’ve designed your procedures, you’re ready to start your experiment. This is the collecting data/results part of the scientific method. For this experiment, your data will be the observations you make of the organisms in the pond.
3. As a group, start making your observations of the pond. Remember to use the procedures you designed. Fill out the data sheets as completely as you can.
Pond Observation Data Sheet
Instructions:
Observe the macro-organisms in the pond. For each organism, try to identify what kind of organism it is (fish, plant, insect), and write this under the organism column. Then describe important features of the organism (shape, size, color) under the description column. Finally, draw a picture of the organism under the drawing column.
| Organism | Description | Drawing |
Reading Center Instructions
At this center you will learn about watershed ecosystems. Try to find connections to the watershed that you live in as you read. Remember your critical reading skills!
Each day, you will read one of the 5 articles at the center.
Instructions:
1. Read the article together.
2. Discuss the article as a group.
3. Complete the reading guide for the article.
Reading Guide:
Article #1
1. Why do you need a water plan for your new town?
2. In the story, you use the creek and the ground water as water sources. Can you think of some other possible water sources?3. Explain how you get running water in your house in Big Sky?
4. Can you think of any problems there might be with the water supply distribution system you made?
5. What other ways might your town start using water soon?
Reading Guide:
Article #2
1. Do you think the aqueduct systems are a good idea? Why or why not? Can you think of any problems there may be with the system?
2. Why did you have to build a sewage-treatment plant? What was wrong with putting the wastewater directly into the creek?
3. Where does the wastewater from your house in Big Sky go?
4. As you saw in the story, flooding can cause big problems for a town. What other natural events happen with water?
5. You have two options for dealing with the flooded houses on the flood plain: don’t let people build there, or build a reservoir to trap flood water. Which option do you think you should choose? Why?
Reading Guide:
Article #3
1. Can you think of some advantages not listed in the story to using a lake for your water supply instead of a creek?
2. Why did you have to start growing your own food?
3. Do people use irrigation systems in Big Sky? Why do people need irrigation systems?
4. Animals don’t bathe or wash dishes with water like we do. Why do you think the animals need so much water?
5. Once the vegetables and animals have water, what do you think your town will need water for next?
Reading Guide:
Article #4
1. Why don’t you want the wastewater from the mines to go back into the creek?
2. In the story, people in town started opening factories. Most products we use come from factories. Do you think all factories use water? Why or why not?
3. What does the town need so much electricity for? What do you use electricity for in your home?
4. Do you think the thermoelectric power plant is a good idea? Why or why not?
5. Why did the power plant have to cool their used water down before they put it back into the stream? What do you think would happen if you put hot water in the Gallatin River?
Reading Guide:
Article #5
1. Most towns have commercial businesses. List some in Big Sky?
2. Is the nuclear power plant a good idea? Do you think this will solve all of your power problems? Why or why not?
3. Does the town have everything it needs now? Does every town need all of these power plants and industries and businesses? Why or why not?
4. What do you think will happen if the town keeps growing? Will you ever run out of water?
5. Do small towns use less water than big towns? Why or why not?