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What this lesson includes
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Real-World Example
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Coding Tutorial
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Assessment
Overview Accordion
Learning Goals
- Identify and describe various North Carolina habitats.
- Explain the importance of environmental factors (temperature, light and moisture) on habitat health.
- Design and build a habitat monitoring device using sensors from the Climate Action Kit.
- Record, analyze, and interpret collected data from the field.
Preparation Accordion
Materials
- Climate Action Kit
- micro:bit V2
- Computer with access to Microsoft MakeCode
Get to Know the Content
- Make sure you've completed our 'Getting Started with the Climate Action Kit' professional development series
- If it has been a while, review the kit components featured in this lesson:
- Review the lesson, particularly the following thinking routines from Project Zero (Harvard Graduate School of Education):
Activity Accordion
Big Idea (15 minutes)
Students will:
- brainstorm what types of things live in a habitat and what they need to survive
- explain the difference between habitats in North Carolina
Take Action (30 minutes)
Students will use the Climate Action Kit to design, build, and code their own habitat monitoring device. The device will use a moisture sensor, a solar sensor, and the micro:bit temperature sensor to log data for analysis in the field.
We've provided 3 ways students may build the project to support scaffolding and differentiation in your classroom: 'Use', 'Modify', and 'Create'.*
| Activity | Description |
|---|---|
| Use |
Students follow a tutorial to build and test a habitat monitoring device to collect soil moisture and solar data. Success CriteriaI can:
ResourcesTutorialFinal Code |
| Modify |
Students will follow a tutorial to build their habitat monitoring device and enhance their device with new sensors and usability improvements. Success CriteriaI can:
ResourcesTutorialFinal Code |
| Create |
Students work in small groups to design, build, and code their own habitat monitoring device for data collection in the field. Success CriteriaI can build a habitat monitoring device using the Climate Action Kit that is:
ResourcesBlank Project |
*Irene Lee, Fred Martin, Jill Denner, Bob Coulter, Walter Allan, Jeri Erickson, Joyce Malyn-Smith, and Linda Werner. 2011. Computational thinking for youth in practice. Acm Inroads 2, 1 (2011), 32–37.
Assessment Accordion
Use the following criteria to assess student learning. Students can:
Conversations
- Can students describe the types of habitats in North Carolina?
- Can students describe the types of data collected by habitat monitoring devices?
- Can students explain an ecologist’s role in habitat monitoring?
- Can students communicate the relationship between sustainable habitat management and habitat monitoring devices?
- Can students explain how the sensors work in their model? (Use, Modify, Create)
Observations
- Do students methodically test and debug their model? (Modify, Create)
- Do students make predictions about what certain segments of the code are responsible for and test those predictions (Use, Modify)
Products
- Students annotate their code to explain how it works (Use, Modify, Create)
- Add to the model to improve the functionality of the habitat monitoring device (Modify)
- Student-created models meet the design criteria outlined in the lesson (Create)
Standards Accordion
Next Generation Science Standards
Grade 6 - 8
MS-LS2-1 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
MS-LS2-2 Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
MS-LS2-3 Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
MS-LS2-4 Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
Computer Science Teachers Association Standards
Grade 6-8
2-CS-02 Design projects that combine hardware and software components to collect and exchange data.
2-CS-03 Systematically identify and fix problems with computing devices and their components.
2-DA-08 Collect data using computational tools and transform the data to make it more useful and reliable.
2-AP-14 Create procedures with parameters to organize code and make it easier to reuse.
2-AP-19 Document programs in order to make them easier to follow, test, and debug.
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
Grade 6
6.SP.A.2 Understand that a set of data collected to answer a statistical question has a distribution which can be described by its center, spread, and overall shape.
6.SP.A.3 Recognize that a measure of center for a numerical data set summarizes all of its values with a single number, while a measure of variation describes how its values vary with a single number.
6.SP.B.4 Display numerical data in plots on a number line, including dot plots, histograms, and box plots.
6.SP.B.5.A Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context, such as by reporting the number of observations.
6.SP.B.5.B Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context, such as by describing the nature of the attribute under investigation, including how it was measured and its units of measurement.
6.SP.B.5.C Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context, such as by giving quantitative measures of center (median and/or mean) and variability (interquartile range and/or mean absolute deviation), as well as describing any overall pattern and any striking deviations from the overall pattern with reference to the context in which the data were gathered.
6.SP.B.5.D Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context, such as by relating the choice of measures of center and variability to the shape of the data distribution and the context in which the data were gathered.
Grade 7
7.SP.B.3 Informally assess the degree of visual overlap of two numerical data distributions with similar variabilities, measuring the difference between the centers by expressing it as a multiple of a measure of variability. For example, the mean height of players on the basketball team is 10 cm greater than the mean height of players on the soccer team, about twice the variability (mean absolute deviation) on either team; on a dot plot, the separation between the two distributions of heights is noticeable.
7.SP.B.4 Use measures of center and measures of variability for numerical data from random samples to draw informal comparative inferences about two populations. For example, decide whether the words in a chapter of a seventh-grade science book are generally longer than the words in a chapter of a fourth-grade science book.
Common Core Technical Career Standards
STEM Cluster: Engineering & Technology Career Pathway
ST-ET 1.3 Use computer applications to solve problems by creating and using algorithms, and through simulation and modeling techniques.
ST-ET 2.1 Select and use information technology tools to collect, analyze, synthesize and display data to solve problems.
ST-ET 3.1 Use knowledge, techniques, skills and modern tools necessary for engineering practice.
ST-ET 3.2 Describe the elements of good engineering practice (e.g., understanding customer needs, planning requirements analysis, using appropriate engineering tools, prototyping, testing, evaluating and verifying).
ST-ET 3.4 Illustrate the ability to characterize a plan and identify the necessary engineering tools that will produce a technical solution when given a problem statement.
ST-ET 4.1 Explain why and how the contributions of great innovators are important to society.
ST-ET 4.2 Explain the elements and steps of the design process and tools or techniques that can be used for each step.
ST-ET 4.3 Describe design constraints, criteria, and trade-offs in regard to variety of conditions (e.g., technology, cost, safety, society, environment, time, human resources, manufacturability).
ST-ET 5.1 Apply the design process using appropriate modeling and prototyping, testing, verification and implementation techniques.
ST-ET 5.2 Demonstrate the ability to evaluate a design or product and improve the design using testing, modeling and research.
ST-ET 5.3 Demonstrate the ability to record and organize information and test data during design evaluation.
STEM Cluster: Science and Math Career Pathway
ST-SM 1.1 Apply science and mathematics concepts and principles to resolve plans, projects, processes, issues or problems through methods of inquiry.
ST-SM 1.2 Use the skills and abilities in science and mathematics to access, share, and use data to develop plans, processes, projects and solutions.
ST-SM 1.3 Use the skills and abilities in science and mathematics to integrate solutions related to technical or engineering activities using the content and concepts related to the situations.
ST-SM 1.4 Explain the role of modeling in science and engineering.
ST-SM 1.6 Communicate with others on inquiry or resolution of issues/problems in the global community.
ST-SM 2.1 Demonstrate the ability to recognize cause and effect when faced with assigned projects or issues.
ST-SM 3.1 Evaluate the impact of science on society based on products and processes used in the real world.
ST-SM 3.3 Research how science and mathematics influence the professions and occupations supported by the STEM Career Cluster.
Information Technology Cluster: Programming & Software Development Career Pathway
IT-PRG 4.1 Employ tools in developing software applications.
IT-PRG 6.1 Explain programming language concepts.
IT-PRG 6.3 Demonstrate proficiency in developing an application using an appropriate programming language.
IT-PRG 7.1 Develop a software test plan.
IT-PRG 7.2 Perform testing and validation.