Written Assignment



Beth L. Richards

C&T 809 Creative Thinking and Learning

Project 1, Option 1

July 27, 2008

9th Grade General Biology, 1st Quarter term

Ecology Unit

The Human Impact on Ecosystems: Integrating PSCCTS

Preface

The ecology unit is a 4 to 5 week unit. The unit concludes with a lesson on the human impact on ecosystems that reinforce the concept of the interconnectedness of ecosystems in the biosphere. The primary objectives of the final lessons on ecology are: understand interconnectedness of ecosystems; develop analytical and creative thinking skills; analyze a current social issue; and apply ecological concepts to a problem.

The 5E model of science instruction will guide this unit. The 5 phases of this model are Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. The original lesson plans have been completely rewritten to incorporate instruction on creative and critical thinking and have not been included. A visual aide will engage students in a socially important ecological issue. Bloom’s higher level thinking skills, application and analysis, will be achieved as students stretch their thinking skills using creative and critical thinking strategies in the Explore, Explain, and Elaborate phases.

The purpose of the lessons on DDT is to engage students in an ecological problem, model problem solving and creative and critical thinking skills (PSCCTS) and consolidate and apply unit concepts. Students will then use their knowledge and creative and critical thinking skills for a quarter project; investigation and analysis of a contemporary ecological issue.

Rationale

Problem solving skills and creative and critical thinking skills are essential in science. Inquiry-based learning in science requires students to analyze information, develop hypotheses, design experiments, propose solutions, and support their findings. These tasks require creative and analytical thinking skills.

In this unit PSCCTS will help students define and analyze an ecologically important issue. PSCCTS will help students define the problem, describe the characteristics of the problem, understand their own and other’s point of view regarding the problem, generate creative ideas to solve (or reduce) the problem, and assess and select the best ideas for solving the problem. In addition, the Six Thinking Hats strategy is ideal for cooperative group learning. This strategy will help students develop and refine interpersonal skills as they work together to find potential solutions to the problem.

Planning Matrix

|PSCCTS |Concepts: Interconnectedness of Ecosystems/ Human Impact |

| |Understand Interconnectedness of |Analyze current social issue |Apply ecological concepts |

| |ecosystems | | |

|Synectics: Analogical | |X | |

|Thinking | | | |

|Lateral Thinking: |X | | |

|PMI, OPV | | | |

|Idea Generating: Attribute| |X |X |

|Listing | | | |

|Brainstorming, | | | |

|Brainwriting | | | |

|CPS & Lateral Thinking: |X |X |X |

|Six Thinking Hats | | | |

Lateral Thinking Preparation

As part of the engage phase of the 5E lesson plan a visual aide will be used to prompt the students’ thoughts and emotions on the impact that humans have on ecosystems. A cold writing assignment will be assigned to engage students in a socially relevant ecological issue and elicit emotion and personal opinion. The written assignment will be followed with an introduction to Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats strategy.

Materials:

• Poster or Internet image of Hollis Sigler’s painting, Haunted by the Ghosts of Our Own Making. This painting is housed at the Spencer Art Museum at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. I am currently looking for a poster of this painting to display in my classroom. If I do not find a poster, an image of this painting is available online at .

• Colored Hat Construction: Visor templates, scissors, colored foam board (white, red, black yellow, green, blue), coiled shoe string, hole punch.

Assignment:

1. Red Hat- Each student will write a brief initial interpretation of the painting. One half to one page would be sufficient for this part of the assignment.

Activity:

2. Assignment of learning groups, 4-5 students of varying abilities.

4. Teacher led description of the Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats strategy.

3. Learning groups construct six thinking hats.

Lesson Plans

Lesson 1: Lateral Thinking: Six Thinking Hats

Goals: As part of the exploration phase of the 5E lesson plan on ecology students will conduct research of the literature on the chemical compound DDT, its history, uses, abuses, and its ecological and human impact. Lateral thinking strategies, PMI and de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats, will guide student thinking and information gathering.

Materials:

• Teacher provided websites, books, journal and news articles.

• TrackStar (clickable link) – The Interconnectedness of Organisms: An Ecology Lesson Extension

• One PMI information table per group (Table 1)

• Student constructed thinking hats

Lesson Outline: Students will wear or place the appropriate colored hat on the table indicating where they are as a group in the investigative process.

1. White Hat: Learning groups will conduct a library research on DDT using materials provided.

2. Black Hat, Yellow Hat- Each group will organize information using PMI. Students can choose to work together, one hat at a time, or assign different colored hats to each member to fill out the PMI table of information.

PMI (Plus, Minus, Interesting) Table of Information

|P = Plus |M = Minus |I = Interesting |

|(Yellow Hat) |(Black Hat) | |

|Highly effective |Non-biodegradable |First synthesized in 1893 |

|Insecticide |Carcinogenic | |

|Banned in 1973 |Accumulates in food chains/webs | |

| | | |

Table 1

3. Blue Hat- Each member of the group can add or question contributions to any category of the PMI table. Information will be reviewed and submitted.

Lesson 2: Synectics: Analogical Thinking and Attribute Listing

Goals: Application of ecological concepts. As part of the elaboration phase of the 5E lesson plan a whole class discussion will apply ecological concepts, knowledge of DDT, and creative and critical thinking skills to interpret the analogical aspects of Sigler’s painting Haunted by the Ghosts of Our Own Making.

Lesson Outline:

1. Teacher led instruction on analogies; direct, personal, and compressed conflict (symbolic).

2. Whole class attribute listing of the characteristics of H. Sigler painting.

|Empty chairs |staged |transparent |

|harvest |ghostly |fresh food |

|bountiful |hidden messages |transparent skeletons |

Table 2: Examples of possible student responses

3. Students will work in their previously assigned learning groups to create direct analogies. Possible example of student generated direct analogy: Skeletons are like death.

4. In learning groups students will identify compressed conflict. Examples of a possible compressed conflicts (oxymorons) students might generate- empty bounty; transparently hidden

5. Whole class list of compressed conflicts will be generated with contributions from each group.

6. A whole class discussion will prompt learning groups to create a new direct analogy. Question prompt: How is DDT like a ghost? Possible answer: DDT is “transparently hidden”, like a ghost, its effects are observable though its presence is hidden in food chains and food webs.

7. New direct analogies from each group will be listed prominently in the classroom.

Lesson 3: Synectics- Personal Analogy

Goal: As part of the elaboration phase students this lesson will elicit empathy and emotional responses to a socially important ecological issue.

Materials:

• Reading material: Biography of Hollis Sigler (AskArt 2008)

• Return student interpretations of H. Sigler painting.

Lesson Outline: Homework assignment

1. Individual students will write a personal analogy to help them empathize with the ecological problems caused by the use of DDT. For example, a student might write about how it feels to be a bird laying eggs with shells so thin and fragile they are crushed when she sits on the nest to incubate them. This short essay would be written in the first person.

2. The students will incorporate their new knowledge of DDT, the life of Hollis Sigler, and creative and critical thinking skills to rewrite their individual interpretation of Sigler’s painting. Students will be required to provide support for their interpretation using ecological concepts (consolidated knowledge from the entire unit). Some concepts they could include in their support are bioaccumulation, how chemicals travels through trophic levels of the ecosystem, impact of DDT on food chains and/or food webs, human impact on the environment, potential and documented impact on human health, etc.

Lesson 4: Application of Ecological Concepts and Lateral Thinking Strategies: Six Thinking Hats- Quarter Project

Goal: As part of the elaboration phase students will apply creative and critical thinking skills developed and modeled in the exploration of DDT.

Overview of Lesson: Students will continue to work in their cooperative learning groups. Each group will choose a modern ecological issue, such as global warming, renewable energy sources, bioaccumulation of mercury, ozone depletion, habitat destruction, deforestation, etc. Students will apply ecological concepts and CPS the Six Thinking Hat strategy to research their issue and generate ideas that may remedy or reduce the impact of their issue on the environment and/or human health.

Materials:

• Thinking hats

• PMI table of information

• Library resource materials

• Brainstorming guidelines (Separate document attached)

• Notecards for BrainWriting Pool (MyCoted 2008)

Quarter Project Schedule

Day 1: White Hat Stage- Library research

Day 2: Yellow Hat and Black Hat Stages-

• PMI table of information completed

• Red Hat Stage - A creative pause between class meetings will give students time to consider their ecological issue.

• Homework Assignment- Students will individually record their personal feelings and perceptions about the issue, discussing the issue with their parents if they desire (OPV).

Day 3: Group Brainstorming- Idea generating

• OPV (Other People’s View)- Homework assignment will be shared with group members illuminating personal feelings and perceptions about the issue.

• Green Hat Stage- Learning groups will generate ideas, strategies, solutions, or alternatives, to remedy or reduce the impact of their issue on ecosystems and humans.

o BrainWriting Pool Activity

Students record ideas on notecards. Notecards are passed to group members who can piggyback on the ideas or add new ones (MyCoted 2008).

• Blue Hat Stage- Learning groups will select one to three strategies generated in the BrainWriting Pool activity. These strategies can be based on what individuals, communities, or society can do to remedy or reduce the impact of their issue on ecosystems and/or human health.

Day 4: Group Presentations

• Learning groups will share their ecological issue with the class.

o Description of the problem

o Ecological, social, and/or personal relevance.

• Blue Hat- Groups will propose potential strategies to the class.

Assessment of Student Learning

Grading rubric developed and saved on Rubistar, .

Creative Problem Solving- Ecological Issue

Rubric ID: 1597540

Works cited

AskArt. (2008). "Hollis Sigler Biography." Retrieved July 27, 2008.

MyCoted. (2008). "Brainwriting." Retrieved July 27, 2008.

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