scholarly journals Simulating Biomagnification to Illustrate Trophic Pyramids in the Middle School Classroom

2018 ◽  
Vol 80 (5) ◽  
pp. 385-389
Author(s):  
Adeline Schlussel ◽  
Alexander Rhoades ◽  
Kelly Y. Neiles ◽  
Samantha L. Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Food Chain ◽  
Science Classroom ◽  
Environmental Contaminants ◽  
Aquatic Organism ◽  
School Science ◽  
Science Standards ◽  
Aquatic Food Chain ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Aquatic Food

Biomagnification influences the movement of environmental contaminants and relates to food chains and the transfer of matter in ecosystems, concepts that are found in the Next Generation Science Standards. Consequently, we developed a hands-on, discussion-based activity for the middle school science classroom to demonstrate biomagnification and connect it to food webs and trophic pyramids. Each student represents an aquatic organism, and together students simulate the consumption and excretion processes in an aquatic food chain. This simulation demonstrates how certain environmental contaminants accumulate within organisms and ultimately become concentrated in predators at the top of the food chain.

scholarly journals Raising Awareness About the Impacts of Squalene on the Well-Being of Individuals, Societies & the Environment!

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-13
Author(s):  
Alexa Osterman
Keyword(s):  
Food Chain ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Simple Substance ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Aquatic Food Chain ◽  
Hands On ◽  
The World ◽  
Aquatic Food ◽  
Almost All

Before humans inserted themselves into the aquatic food chain, sharks were at the top maintaining balance and playing a crucial role on this earth. For hundreds of millions of years (even before the dinosaurs!) sharks have been shaping our underwater ecosystem and creating a foundation for life in all parts of the sea. Now with 95% of shark populations decreasing everywhere our health and the planet's health is at major risk. Shark livers contain an oil so hydrating and rich all cosmetic that companies want to get their hands on it. This simple substance, also known as squalene, is found all around the world in the form of cosmetics (lotions, anti-wrinkle creams, sunscreen, foundations) and daily off the shelf supplements. With the serious lack of education about what’s in our cosmetics, it makes it scary to think that almost all of us have been absentmindedly plastering on prehistoric predators on our body in the name of beauty.

Bolstering Content by Promoting Language and Literacy in the Urban Science Classroom

2019 ◽  
pp. 121-160
Author(s):  
Jennifer E. Renn ◽  
Annie Laurie Duguay
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Academic Language ◽  
Science Classroom ◽  
School Science ◽  
Middle School Science ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Program Participant ◽  
Language Of Science

This chapter focuses on the creation and implementation of lesson modules related to developing language skills in the middle school science classroom. These modules, which focus on academic language development for students who are English learners or speakers of non-standard dialects, are part of the curriculum in a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program for middle school science educators at a large urban U.S. university. Drawing on the literature surrounding the academic language of science and language development, the content of these modules is appropriate for teacher educators and science teachers at all levels. The module content was designed around three components, linguistic understandings, critical language awareness, and pedagogical modeling, and exemplifies the Standards of Professional Development Excellence established by the Center for Applied Linguistics. This chapter describes the module creation, observations from the module delivery, and program participant responses to the materials and content.

scholarly journals Interest in Dialogic and Non-Dialogic Teacher Talk Situations in Middle School Science Classroom

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 1531-1546
Author(s):  
Kalle Juuti ◽  
Anni Loukomies ◽  
Jari Lavonen
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Science Classroom ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Experience Sampling ◽  
School Science ◽  
Teacher Talk ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Student Interest ◽  
School Students

AbstractPrevious research has shown that dialogic teacher talk not only supports students’ understanding but also raises their interest. However, there is little, if any, research on the connection between dialogic talk and student interest in classroom situations. To investigate this connection, we collected video observations and experience sampling data. In total, 87 middle school students aged 14 to 16 participated in the study. Data were collected from the classes of six science teachers, and three lessons were video recorded in each teacher’s classroom. During the lessons, students were asked several times to express their interest in the situation through the experience sampling method (ESM). The measurements took place in situations where the teacher either talked with the students or talked to the whole group of students. The talk situations were categorised as dialogic or non-dialogic, based on the video recording. On a five-point scale of interest, the median value was 3.3 in non-dialogic talk situations and 3.5 in dialogic talk situations. We hypothesised that students’ interest would be higher in dialogic talk situations than in non-dialogic talk situations. The hypothesis was tested with a related samples Wilcoxon signed rank test, and the results supported the hypothesis (Z  =  −  2.62; p  <  0.05). The results suggest that dialogic talk may trigger students’ interest in science learning.

scholarly journals Experimental aquatic food chain system: Enhancing Daphnia magna as natural feed using eutrophic waters

2020 ◽  
Vol 535 ◽  
pp. 012052
Author(s):  
L R Tanjung ◽  
T Chrismadha ◽  
Y Mardiati ◽  
Sutrisno ◽  
E Mulyana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Daphnia Magna ◽  
Food Chain ◽  
Chain System ◽  
Aquatic Food Chain ◽  
Aquatic Food
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