Vital Signs: Hard Fun 2008

Every invasion starts out small

2009-10-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

The forlorned look on Paul Gregory’s face (Maine Department of Environmental Protection) said it all – the worst of the worst aquatic invasives was indeed found in a small lagoon of lovely Damariscotta Lake near Jefferson, ME. That’s the bad news. The good news is that a volunteer lake monitor detected the infestation early, and so far the extent of the infestation appears limited to this lagoon. A legion of volunteers have answered the call for help and have dispatched to survey the remainder of the lake, urgently working in an attempt to beat the seasonal changes in the air. So far no other sites have been identified so it appears that hand removal of the plants may be possible, and containment fields and benthic barriers installed by DEP personnel may be sufficient at preventing further spread. This lake may well have been saved thanks to this one volunteer who made a keen observation and reported it.

The moral of this story is clear: the more eyes we have looking for unwanted invasives, the better. The message to students contributing to the Vital Signs invasive species data is also clear: your data observation may be the tip that saves an entire lake some day and rejoice when an invasive species is NOT FOUND!

13 + 17 + 21 = awesome

2009-07-26T19:44:00.000-07:00

We started a year ago with 13 teacher advisors (blue). In a few short days we're welcoming 17 more (green). In a few short weeks we'll stir in 21 more (yellow). In a few short months we'll welcome their hundreds of students...and their hundreds of students' observations and projects and great ideas and....

Wow.

A distribution map is always handy when you have 51 PLUS to play and learn with.

First annual equipment blitz

2009-07-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

2 days
3 GMRI-ers
3 volunteers
100 quadrats
15 weed weasels
15 kicknets

All ready for 37 new Vital Signs teachers to use with their students this coming fall!

2009-05-19T07:04:00.000-07:00

Laura Seaver, teacher extraordinare from Old Orchard Beach's Loranger MS, pointed us to this Simpsons episode from 1998. "Bart the Mother" could be a good hook for students. Laura is going to show clips to classes this week as part of her ecosystem-health-biodiversity-invasive-species unit, and will report back on its success.

Episode synopsis:
"Bart accidentally kills a mother bird with Nelson Muntz's bee-bee gun, and tries his best to raise the mother's eggs on his own. But when the hatchlings turn out to be a pair of destructive lizards that harvest nests for their own survival, the town's bird population is placed at great risk. Guest voice Phil Hartman, in his final speaking role on The Simpsons" (http://wtso.net).

The Simpsons 1003 Bart the Mother

Feeling good

2009-02-09T18:23:00.000-08:00

Petri has started working on the look & feel of the VS website. Your sneak peek....

Expert & peer review

2009-02-02T18:57:00.000-08:00

All of a sudden our data review process has taken shape. Here's how we think it'll play out:

Expert Review
Sarah & Sarah will assign specific species to selected "experts." These expert reviewers will have the power to change the status of species identifications from Pending to Confirmed or Questioned. They will then suggest a different identification (as necessary), and leave a comment.

These special reviewers will be given this “expert reviewer status” on their profile page (community participation statistics).

Peer/ Community Review
All users will be able to suggest a different identification and comment on a data record. Clicking on username will help the community figure out if this is user is credible or not. Comments won't be limited to the species identification - we'll encourage notes on photographs, measurements, field notes, ....

No Edits!
Further, no one will be able to edit a data record once it has been submitted (not even species experts changing incorrect identifications). “Corrections” will be made on the Species Observation Detail page as suggested identifications and comments.

The big issue with this is that the map view may be confusing and terribly misleading to those who don’t understand the review process (They found hydrilla there!?!)…but it may work to our advantage to motivate discussion and drive people to find out more.

This approach is certainly in line with MCIAP and DEP wanting to be alerted of any species that looks "suspicious." And suggesting an identification and commenting both allow the data collector to change her mind after the fact - while preserving the valuable thought trail and data integrity.

Finding and not finding

2009-01-29T18:55:00.000-08:00

We're trying on a new approach to reporting species. See how it fits.

Species was FOUND by Username on 2008-11-26 in Portland

Species was looked for but NOT FOUND by Username on 2008-11-26 in Portland

Gettin' tough on data entry

2009-01-28T18:36:00.000-08:00

Gettin' tough on data entry

As the data entry wireframes shape up, we've had to make a few tough decisions:

1. No "Practice Data Entry" interface or separate website. It was a nice dream while it lasted. We've since convinced ourselves that practicing how to input data isn't really the learning we're after and slim chance it would improve data quality. Instead we'll encourage those who like practicing to do so with the paper form. Everyone else will just jump right in.

2. We're going to make everyone pick a species from the pulldown list. No unknowns. No write-ins. Use your brain, your resources, be brave, pick the closest species, back 'er up with evidence, and let the community do its magic. Our intended use is to go into the field armed with a known species to look for, and a hypothesis about whether it will be found or not, so this should work out just fine.

3. No more confidence ratings for species identifications. After polling and mulling, we're now sure that there's little if any learning in this very subjective rating process, and doesn't set novices up for any sort of success. Jenny Novice is "wicked sure" she found garlic mustard...expert reviewer says no way nicely)...Jenny Novice experiences a big and unfortunate bust in confidence.

LL Bean boot design overhaul

2009-01-14T13:46:00.001-08:00

Invasive didymo (rock snot) and milfoil have lost a favorite vector....

How-to

2008-12-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

We keep hearing from teachers that they want to "see it" before they "do it," so we started collecting how-to videos moons ago. The plan is to shoot more more more....building equipment, preparing for trips, collecting data, identifying certain species, telling look-alike species apart, eating invaders....

I've just retrieved videos from the Flip in preparation for building kicknets and weed weasels for the spring field season. Here are a few from Mike Denniston (Middle School of the Kennebunks). I have others of giddy students actually using the nets, but can't post faces. Use your imagination.

We think its important for the videos to be made by members of the VS community (motivating, accessible, real, la la la), so we'll be asking our student, teacher, and scientist types to shoot as often as they can in the early years. We're hoping teachers see how-to video production as a nice way for students to demonstrate learning.

How to build a kicknet that'll survive students & post-hurricane rapids for 9 years running:

How to keep equipment from clunking, crunching, and splashing:

Database defined

2008-12-20T07:18:00.000-08:00

We've defined all fields for the database for each of the three levels of participation. This exercise of course brought to light areas of stickiness and uncertainty and struggle. Here are a few of the harder ones we had a good fun wrestle with:

What to name each of the three levels of participation? How do we name these levels without implying that Level 1 data is of lesser quality than Level 3 data? The difference lies in time, focus, and depth of research - not quality. I present to you our three shiny new "Types of Investigation":

Level 1: "Species survey"
Level 2: "Species and habitat survey"
Level 3: "Populations and habitat survey"

What to do about photo captions? Initially we thought a caption written in the field would help students find the right photo later in the classroom. We quickly learned otherwise when photo-enthused students remembered the photos they had taken weeks earlier without the aid of a caption. ....and either wrote or tweaked their captions during the data entry process. So do we use photo tags instead of captions? A few key words that will help students build a potentially critical 21st Century skill? Maybe for the site photo, but how to appropriately tag a species photo when unsure of its identity? So we think our best bet is to have data collectors tag their site photo, and take 2-3 photos of each species and list 2-3 pieces of corresponding written evidence. Now the trick is how closely to link the species photos and evidence. We've asked our teacher advisors for help thinking through this one.

Do we need the dead or alive field? It confuses the heck out of the literal middle school mind, but with the help of scientist advisor Jonathan Grabowsky we've determined it's a critical field for coastal species. Students investigating other habitats will be spared the confusion.

Which fields should be made mandatory? Tricky. We need to require enough data to ensure a quality, usable record. We also want to set students up for a successful experience whereby "forgetting" to collect a piece of data doesn't result in their entire entry being denied from the database. So we've required the minimum, but will be clear in our expectation that the best of the best entries have all fields filled in.

Did I find it or did we find it? We decided to go with "I" rather than "we" with the hope that it will lend itself to more ownership of the data and (we really hope) more careful data collection.

How to report not finding a species? I think I didn't find it....Nice contrast with "I think I found it, but wicked confusing. I don't think I found it....Not what we're going for. I looked, and don't think it's here....Seems to be the most clear we can muster up right now.

New fields with some great promise for learning:
Evidence of vectors
Diversity of species
Evidence of reproduction

Primetime kudzu

2008-12-16T16:19:00.000-08:00

Did you catch the invasive species story on the NBC Nightly News last night? Here's the link to:

...a creative and productive approach to managing invaders
...a model of citizen science
...a climate change twist

Finding new fuel sources "in the weeds"
Dec. 15: Working out of his garage, a North Carolina man thinks he may have found a good use for one of the world's most annoying plants, kudzu. NBC's Roger O'Neil reports (Nightly News).

Urban vector legends

2008-12-15T10:21:00.000-08:00

After 40 hours without electricity, I needed a movie. Netflix lead me to The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. I wasn't expecting to think about work and invasive species and Vital Signs on a sleepy Saturday evening, but darn it that's what happened. Two things make this a particularly good film for VS:

(1) Mark Bittner is an incredible example of a passionate citizen scientist...a novice turned expert through careful, daily observation.

(2) For 2-ish minutes the film focuses on 10-ish "urban legends" about how the parrots escaped pet-dom and ended up on San Francisco's Telegraph Hill. Each legend is a lesson in itself on invasive species vectors!

Here's a movie synopsis direct from http://www.pelicanmedia.org:

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill is the true story of a Bohemian St. Francis and his remarkable relationship with a flock of wild green-and-red parrots. Mark Bittner, a homeless street musician in San Francisco, falls in with the flock as he searches for meaning in his life, unaware that the wild parrots will bring him everything he needs. The film celebrates urban wildness, Bohemian and avian, and links the parrots' antics to human behavior. A surprise ending ties the themes together and completes Mark's search for meaning.

Welcome beetles

2008-12-04T07:44:00.000-08:00

The local news reports that more beetles are being released in Maine to control invasive species. The first batch were hungry for purple loosestrife. This next batch hungry for the wee wooly adelgid that is attacking native hemlock trees.

The adelgid is quite easy to spot on hemlocks, and it's a hot species in Maine right now. Time to add a new invader to our list, and keep eyes peeled.

Little tiny piece of paper poll

2008-12-01T16:51:00.000-08:00

Lisa Austin's students from Mahoney Middle School in South Portland weighed in on our ongoing paper-or-plastic-in-the-field discussion.

Little tiny piece of paper poll question: Would you rather collect data on paper or computer?

Little tiny piece of paper poll results before doing field work at Mill Cove on the cold and drizzly first day of December:

(Ah yes, too small to see. Let me help you tally. 3 Paper: 4 Computer)

Little tiny piece of paper poll results after doing field work (on computer) at Mill Cove on the cold and drizzly first day of December:

1 Paper: 6* Computer
*One of the six "Computers" confessed he preferred paper until he found out that he'd have to transcribe onto the computer afterward in the classroom

Consensus?

2008-11-28T17:13:00.000-08:00

Maine DEP has posted on its website definitions of "exotic nuisance alien invasive species and native indigenous species."

http://www.maine.gov/dep/blwq/topic/invasives/invtermplant.htm

Wiki + teachers = !

2008-11-21T10:48:00.000-08:00

Our teachers are in the midst of transforming the fledgling resources wiki into a useful community tool. Take a peek at their discussion pages: http://vital2008.wikispaces.com

Interesting note number one. All approached the wiki slightly differently, allowing us valuable insight into how teachers modify plans to suit their own classroom needs, how teachers share, what teachers share.

Interesting note number two. We've seen this one before. Lots of enthusiasm and participation and promises to add more while together at GMRI, but not a peep since. Insight nonetheless into when teachers share.

Interesting note number three. Everyone has attacked the invasive species curriculum beast differently. Neat approaches that I'm glad we've been able to capture.

Petri's latest

2008-11-20T08:12:00.000-08:00

DMR checks in

2008-11-19T13:30:00.000-08:00

Pete Thayer of the Department of Marine Resources (and the Maine Marine Invasive Species Working Group) called this morning to find out the latest on Vital Signs. He wants to share our successes with the Northeast Aquatic Nuisance Species Panel (a very big deal).

Specifically, he wanted to know how many teachers and students are participating and if anything interesting had been found during the fall field season. Sarah K told him about the probable Didemnum sighting at Falmouth Town Landing by Sharp Eye Plummer and his student investigators. Pete's interest was piqued!....

So is it Didemnum? Need a better photo? What tips would you give this young photographer?

Paper or plastic?

2008-11-18T17:25:00.000-08:00

We're digesting a delicious meeting with our Teacher Advisory Group (held Friday 11/14/08 at GMRI with 11 teachers in attendance).

We used a "speed dating" approach to get our teachers chatting. Burning program development questions were on tap.

The fieriest of the questions turned out to be whether or not teachers would have their students take their laptops into the field with them to collect data. Jessie Campbell - Monhegan Island School - creatively summed up the dating results (see photo) to kick off a lively group discussion.

A few discussion highlights:

Would a student with her nose glued to her iBook notice the caterpillar crawling across her foot? The elephant stirring in the underbrush?
Paper and pencil gains "lost art form" status
No-peeking poll results: 2 would never take iBooks out, the rest would (with some serious, unsettled waffling)
Eliminate data "creation" in the classroom with this simple statement: "Don't make up data, you turkeys!"

After listening closely, here's where we think we are, sweetly summarized for us by Sarah K:

1. We know that not all teachers will bring computers in the field. Even if all grew comfortable with taking computers outside over time, it would be a huge barrier to bringing new teacher on board if we required computers to be taken outside.

2. We know there is some (superficial, perhaps) appeal to scientists about students collecting data electronically in the field (opportunity for data quality enhancement with program interactivity, etc. - although I checked this today with one of our scientist advisors and Jonathan wasn't convinced that the computer in the field would make that big a difference).

3. We know scientists themselves collect data in the field using paper and pencil.

4. We need to establish expectations and strategies for achieving expectations around data quality, data integrity, etc. These concepts are essential components of scientific practice. Ruth's suggestion of creating exemplars for outstanding, mediocre, and poor data records would be one important stragegy. Another - developing activities that introduce students to the database, website, and program in such a way that they get the true scientific nature of the project.

5. We need to explore the various ways we can check data quality (comparing student teams' data to one another to check for agreement and/or outliers that might indicate data "creativity").

6. We know that having students take computers into the field requires steps that introduce significant opportunity for trouble.

7. We know that there is real value from an education perspective to keeping the field experience focused on a student's connection with his environment.

All that leads me toward thinking that we need to concentrate on #4 - establishing expectations and strategies for achieving them - instead of applying our limited resources to make the laptops work outside and address the associated issues (#6).

Seems this one is just heating up! Stay tuned.

They came back

2008-11-14T18:49:00.000-08:00

10 of 13 teachers from our August Institute (plus Ruth(!), our longest standing Vital Signs teacher) returned to GMRI today as Vital Signs Teacher Advisors.

Newsy

2008-11-11T13:01:00.000-08:00

The Sanford Newspaper ran a story on Diana Allen's seventh grade students' experience tackling Vital Signs at Number One Pond: Checking for 'Vital Signs'

Critical caveat... This reporter came back to Diana's classroom several times with clarifying questions about Vital Signs. With its many components and players and tools and and and, turns out Vital Signs is a bear to describe, to digest, and to write news articles on. Who knew?! Hats of to Ms Todd for her persistence. For the next Ms Maine Media out there, it'd behoove us to have the simplest and straightforwardest story to relay .

Expert experiments

2008-11-06T11:36:00.000-08:00

We're experimenting with some indirect (i.e. smo as middlewoman) scientist-student interaction via email. Mike Denniston’s students took photos of the small crayfish that they found in the Kennebunk River. It’s now in their classroom, and they’re growing it to see if they can ultimately identify it when it matures.

I emailed the Kennebunk students' photos to crayfish experts Karen Wilson, Matt Scott, and Will Reid. Karen was the first to reply (see her great email below). I’ve forwarded her email along to Mike and his students, and have asked Mike to give us some feedback on his students’ (and his own) reaction to a scientist’s keen interest in their data collection. Awaiting the delicious results of this expert experiment!

From: Karen Wilson [mailto:kwilson@usm.maine.edu]
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008 10:45 AM
To: Matthew Scott; Sarah Kirn; Sarah Morrisseau; wmreid1@verizon.net
Subject: Kennebunk crayfish (Or, what to do while your crayfish grows)

Hi Sarah and all!

The message I'd send to the students is that it looks like, at first glimpse, that they have a crayfish that is probably native (not a rusty crayfish in any case), and, as they've figured out, a male. I've attached a photo of the pleopods on much larger crayfish that I took to give them a feel for the angle we'd need in order to identify the crayfish to species. They should most definitely let him grow up a bit more, then take some more photos! As he grows there are few things the students can look at: Watch the crayfish feed - how does he use each type of claw, leg or maxiliped? in what order? Does he use his antennae? If the aquarium has gravel the students might notice the crayfish probing the gravel with some of his walking legs - they've got sensors on them that can help the crayfish find food that is buried. The students could try some simple feeding experiments: does he find food faster is the aquarium water is circulating than if its not (watch for antennae activity)? What if the food is buried in the gravel a bit? If the students have done any water quality sampling, they could monitor water quality in the crayfish tank - you'll notice that conductivity goes up after a water change - because the crayfish is excreting nitrogen produces, among other things. Really high conductivity means its time to change the water! This may be measurable on a smaller time scale if you put the crayfish in an aerated jar of relatively new water (but not distilled water!) and measure conductivity over the course of the day. As for molting - is the crayfish being fed a bit of tetramin or other fish food flakes each day?

Some day I'd love to visit the Kennebunk school and talk about crayfish with the kids - that'd be fun.

Karen

Impromptu

2008-10-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

In 15 minutes I trained 5 GMRI educators & community types (citizen scientists perhaps?!) to collect Vital Signs data. The training site was the grass field behind GMRI, so we used our imaginations to screen a quadrat for loosestrife, catch crayfish in a stream, and pull submersed plants from a pond.

I pulled together 4 sets of equipment and sent them on their way. They are heading to their backyards and to places of interest to gather information that'll chub up the database.

Show me the experts

2008-10-23T17:53:00.000-07:00

Short scientist videos like the ones below may serve to motivate students, help them realize the importance of the data they are collecting, and put their learning and action into a larger community context. Teachers (Mike, Laura, John, Sue, ...) have expressed interest in using scientist videos to kick off their Vital Signs investigations. I imagine their value will extend beyond our classroom users.

Here are two videos we may want to use as we prime scientists to share their species stories, science passions, and desire for data from the Vital Signs community.

Scientists studying crayfish & Chinese mitten crabs in the UK:

Dr. Karen Wilson (USM), Maine's crayfish expert (shot before leaving for Kennebunk to observe data collection):

Sanford debrief

2008-10-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

Had a great conversation with Diana, Dana, Misty, and Heather following the marathon test in Sanford. Highlights:

Vital Signs tasks transcend technology. We were thrilled to hear Diana say that the data entry and visualization tasks were more interesting to her students than the technology. She was pleased to see students focused on VS rather than on using their new iBooks, and that they only asked for help a few times.

A dangerous assumption. Diana & Dana talked about the assumption adults often make that students some innate technology savvy. Diana has found that its not so with the iBooks. While students aren't intimidated by technology like many adults are (great!), their tolerance for frustration is very very low (not so great!).

Photo shoot. Going forward, Diana would like to see her students work on the quality of their photos and data. She wants her students to be able to take the photos that will be most helpful to scientists.

I feel like I'm there. Time was well-spent coaching her students to write rich, detailed site descriptions. They are quite nice!

Young and ruthless critics. Students were quick to critique data in the database. They were holding others to higher standards than they did themselves! A nice glimpse of the potential motivating power of a peer review process.

Splash goes the weasel

2008-10-21T06:55:00.000-07:00

Five energized Sanford boys gave the weed weasel a toss into Number Two Pond. The weasel single-handedly (forkedly?) changed the boys' data collection experience.

They were immediately engaged by the active sampling, the hidden promise of unknown depths, and the challenge of throwing something as far as you can and making a splash.

They schemed together about technique:
"If you throw it like this, I bet..."
"We need to reel it in wicked slow so we can get the most weeds..."

There was healthy competition:
"Oh I can throw it farther than that..."

They told me how to design it better:
"I want it to be heavier so it sinks faster and drags more..."

Though beside-themselves-happy with the dripping ball of submersed plant ooze they dragged up - these tough boys didn't want anything to do with the weeds:
"Eeeewww..."
"I'm not touching that..."

I was able to get a few girls to help me pull apart the weed ball to find plants that were the same and those that were different so we could bring samples back to the classroom with us. The boys just wanted to throw it again.

And then everyone wanted to throw it:
"I want to throw it next!"

So, the weasel is a sure winner with seventh graders. Management of the tool will need some thought. Protocols will need some thought. Learning will need some thought. Plant fragmentation will need some thought.

One, Two, ...

2008-10-21T06:28:00.000-07:00

Diana Allen and her Sanford seventh graders were are working with us this week to test the data collection-entry-viewing process the whole way through. Yesterday - a crispy and bright fall day - we observed data collection (paper) at Number One Pond, and let the weed weasel fly at Number Two Pond. Today - a chilly gray day with sprinkles - is data entry in the classroom with Image Works. Here's hoping the photo upload goes smoothly. Tomorrow, data viewing. I predict sunshine and a slight breeze.

Similar to the Falmouth data entry test, we're planning to give students minimal instructions and assist on a group-by-group basis as troubles and confusion arise. Same tact for data viewing, though Diana may put together a "scavenger hunt" for the classes we don't observe.

Note: We need to understand better the context in which Diana is framing this research investigation, and what learning goals she has for her students. We need to make sure to ask her to compare experiences from one class to the next, how she refined and evolved her approach, how students responded....

Database welcomes student data

2008-10-16T16:47:00.000-07:00

We loaded 20 iBooks with Adobe AIR and the prototype data entry form, and carted them to Falmouth Middle School for an afternoon of testing. Lew Plummer & Anne Macdonald graciously offered up two classes of students to enter data from a September field trip to the Falmouth Town Landing. It's pretty neat to see student records in the database.

Detailed observations were sent off to Image Works. Here are a few of the bigger ideas that came of this initial test:

Photographs are important to students. A surprise to us, they remember specific photographs they took weeks ago. It's what they wanted to look at most on the VS website. The photograph upload engaged students who had otherwise checked out completely from entering data.
Students don't understand latitude and longitude. They will just as easily put themselves at -10 longitude as -70. Big problem when location is so critical.
Data quality is severely lacking, underscoring the need for wicked good species identification materials, and activities that prompt students to look closely for slight differences among species.

UK and Sarah K find common ground

2008-10-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

Go ahead.
I dare you.
Next time you see Sarah K, say "KNOTWEED!"
Brace yourself for the response.

Seems the UK likes the invader just as much as Sarah K does with this recent BBC article and timelapse video:

The rapid spread of Japanese knotweed is causing huge problems across the UK. This timelapse footage reveals the superweed grew more than 1m-tall (3ft) in just three weeks. Scientists want to introduce a plant-eating predator from Japan to the UK to control the plant. Knotweed article

All systems go!

2008-10-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

Data entry form. Check!

Database. Check!!

Data visualization. Check!!!

We are ready to test the online data entry form and data visualization tools with students.

Falmouth & Kennebunk will give us a look at what happens when a few students (those who took on the role of the Principle Investigator) enter, view and play with their data. Sanford will give us a look at what happens when an entire class collects, enters, views, and plays with their data.

Go!

Vanilla

2008-10-04T18:26:00.000-07:00

Just took a look at a completed class set of datasheets.

Was struck by how closely the students’ site descriptions and captions mirror the examples given on the datasheet.

Wondering whether this parroting is a healthy and safe first step for novices or if there is some danger in providing examples.

What does an example whisper to a student?

Hey, use me to guide you as you build your confidence as a scientist...?

Psst, copy me so you get the "right" answer...?

Hopefully not the latter.

Nobody wants a vanilla database.

So how to avoid?

Don’t know.

Maybe the examples on the datasheet change each time you access it or download.

Lots of real examples from real students…with a link to their full record…with the chance to see yours make the datasheet someday.

Beware the invasive pig bird bug

2008-10-03T10:04:00.001-07:00

Some fine Canadian humor:

Please pass the disconnect

2008-10-02T15:33:00.001-07:00

Chatted with Sue Richman this PM. Sue is a HS Biology teacher in South Portland who was one of our AIM teachers. I joined her students last fall as they learned about invasive species via evolution. Interesting approach. A conversation for another day.

What I want to tell you has to do with peer review. Sue spends Septembers teaching CP & AP students the nitty gritty about how science works (with a healthy dose of peer review, supporting evidence, the publication process...). She contends that it is a completely foreign process to her HS students. They need a lot of explanation and discussion and reinforcement, and often they still don't reeeally grasp it.

Upon getting wind of this, Sarah K notes that it's interesting that so many of the middle school teachers talk about the peer feedback and review happening in their classrooms, but HS students have so much trouble with it. hmm. Please pass the disconnect.

Think they can they do it, but just don't know what its called?
Can they do it, but don't know its relation to real science?
Or are they really not doing the real thing as middle schoolers?

BWETMWEEEEEENOAAAAAA!

2008-10-01T06:03:00.000-07:00

If you hear us yelling that through the hallways, it means that our proposal to NOAA's Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-Wet) Program to create a Meaningful Watershed Education Experience (MWEE) in Maine was funded!

It's the first of (we hope) many joint LabVenture!-Vital Signs proposals aimed at creating a middle grades science learning continuum for Maine.

Goals:
1. Create new LabVenture! visit content and pre- and post-visit activities to integrate this experience at GMRI into school curriculum
2. Complete the activities and tools critical to Vital Signs
3. Connect LabVenture! and Vital Signs so that Maine middle school learners have meaningful watershed education experiences

Primary objectives:
1. Integrate NOAA watershed activities and science resources into LabVenture!
2. Integrate NOAA watershed activities and science resources into Vital Signs
3. Join the resulting watershed-connected programs into a cohesive 5-8 grade science program that allows students to deepen their mastery of core science and watershed concepts
4. Disseminate VitalVenture materials to all Maine middle school schools and online as an Open Education Resource

BWETMWEEEEEENOAAAAAA!

Seeding the database

2008-09-30T07:30:00.000-07:00

The online data visualization prototype is in the works and nearing completion. We are gearing up for tests in Falmouth, Sanford, Kennebunk....

To give the prototype tests some oomph, we have seeded it with 30 data records: upland species from the Invasive Plant Atlas of New England (IPANE), freshwater aquatic species from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and coastal species from MIT Sea Grant Center for Coastal Resources rapid assessment surveys.

Great news - IPANE openly shares their data from citizen scientists and professional scientists! Sarah Treanor of IPANE writes:
Thank you for your interest in the IPANE program. In terms of our data, it is all freely available on the web either in table or map format: http://nbii-nin.ciesin.columbia.edu/ipane/data.htm. We encourage its use to the public at large. If you prefer the data to be in tabular form, you can highlight the whole page and paste it into excel.

In using the data, we only ask that the data be cited to IPANE. If it is to be used in any kind of publication, the bottom of the IPANE home page has specific citation information:
http://nbii-nin.ciesin.columbia.edu/ipane/index.htm.

Prototype data will ultimately be purged from the database. Should we decide that seeding is worthwhile, we'll seek out the best data from the best sources and get the best permissions.

South Bristol howls

2008-09-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

From: Edward Seidel
To: Sarah Morrisseau; Sarah Kirn
Subject: The wolf howls at midnight...

Package was delivered at 1100 hours to South Portland. Operative was thrilled with acquisition and sends regards. Children jumping up and down and looking forward to catching crayfish.

Q out

I am a Vital Signs??

2008-09-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

The new "I am a PC"campaign got my attention as a potential motivator for Vital Signs involvement - a way to build community or connect community or showcase community.

The Vital Signs home page could be surrounded by many video squares. Click on a square, and hear a scientist, citizen scientist, student, teachers, etc. say:

"I want to know where milfoil is because...."
"I like to be the first to find new things...."
"I don't want zebra mussels in my lake...."
"I study invasive crayfish because...."
"If you find a Chinese mystery snail, tell me...."
"I like learning science by being a scientist...."

What kind of airplane is that?

2008-09-21T17:30:00.000-07:00

I observed students using our species cards to find invasive upland plants. Here's what screamed out. Plug your ears.

1. A leaf is a leaf. A red berry is a red berry. A rose hip is a rose hip.

2. Because my teacher told me to look for this plant, it should be here.

3. I need to find something. Finding nothing means I'm doing something wrong.

While the ringing in my ears has not stopped, here are some initial thoughts and reactions and questions....

1. Of course all of the leaves and fruits look the same to an untrained & largely uninterested eye. Just like to me an airplane is an airplane, beer is beer, fruit flies are fruit flies, toothbrushes are toothbrushes. To start seeing the differences among planes, beer, fruit flies, and toothbrushes someone would really need to convince me that it was well worth my time. So how to convince and guide and make this species identification business more simple and engaging and fun...? The species cards as they are don't cut it. Should one or more of the "look closely" activities we developed be mandatory? They seemed to work for Sue, Diana, Mike....

2. At what point in our education system is this type of thing ingrained in learners? Will the traditional teacher-learner relationship and cookbook science mentality be a surmountable hurdle? Or are we better off on the edge?

3. How can we better communicate to students (and teachers) that looking hard and finding nothing is the best possible result? At the same time, if finding nothing is rewarded, how do we ensure the looking hard part?

Good medicine

2008-09-17T08:56:00.000-07:00

Ripped (sans permission!) from an email just received from Sarah K....

"Mike Denniston was just here to trade cameras and get his refractometer - he's very happy with how Friday went, thought you were wonderful, wants to PolyComm with Karen from his classroom (Dana will be so excited!), wants to set traps monthly for crayfish, shared his blog link with me, shared a press clipping with me (another one should be published tonight), and told me about the transformative experiences his students are having as a result of being PIs... He's the best medicine I've had for too much time planning Vital Signs!"

Young scientists brave Kennebunk rivers

2008-09-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

Kennebunk first out of the gates

2008-09-04T17:19:00.001-07:00

Crayfish experts Matt Scott, Bill Reid, and Karen Wilson are awaiting results from a crayfish site comparison study by Kennebunk Middle School students slated for 9.12.08 at the Merriland River, Mousam River, Branch Brook, and the Kennebunk River. Site map

Mike Denniston and his 80 Kennebunk students are excited. Mike is taking an ecosystem health approach, piggy-backing Vital Signs work on an 8-year macroinvertebrate study. Rusty crayfish beware!

Fields of paper

2008-09-01T06:54:00.000-07:00

The paper prototype for data collection is ready to roll to students. It has come a long way from the version used during the Teacher Institute and initial student test in August. Taking a team photo, merging captions & descriptions & supporting evidence, increasing the number of species photos, ....

Wiki-d good

2008-08-28T18:38:00.000-07:00

As a baby step towards the Open Resources Exchange Forum, we've posted all model Vital Signs learning activities to a wikispace [http://vital2008.wikispaces.com/].

Pretty, nope.
Functional, yes!
Used, we'll see.

Set straight by students

2008-08-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

Five brave middle school students joined the Vital Signs development team at Kettle Cove in Cape Elizabeth on a summery afternoon for a quick paper prototype test of the data collection protocol, datasheet, and species cards. Their detailed comments and great ideas are being incorporated in the next iteration of prototypes that will be further tested in classrooms this fall. We plan to call on these young, expert critics again as testing opportunities arise. They're good. Really good. Could this be our first Student Advisory Team?

Ice cream all around for an afternoon of loosestrife, photo opps, and hard fun.

Lucky Thirteen

2008-08-20T17:00:00.000-07:00

Lucky for the Vital Signs Program, that is!

Thirteen energized middle school teachers from around Maine spent three days this summer sharing their professional experiences and classroom expertise with the Vital Signs development team.

Their input has launched Vital Signs many giant steps forward, and has truly motivated and inspired the Vital Signs team.

They left GMRI ready to integrate Vital Signs in their own classrooms this fall or spring. Here’s why they’re enthused about the program, direct from the 13:

“I am excited about being able to take my students into the field, collect meaningful data and share it with the wider scientific community. I am hopeful that the end result will be to increase my students' environmental awareness so that they become more responsible, global citizens.”

“Great stuff! If good science begins with animate curiosity and intense observation, and healthy classrooms harbor excited teachers, then things are looking up for the science curriculums of thirteen Maine classrooms this fall.”

“I love the idea of doing real science and collecting data for a bigger purpose, along with giving kids the opportunity to develop a sense of ownership for the health of a local ecosystem. What a great opportunity!”

“I found this experience refreshing. I was pleased to be a part of a great group of people working together to improve the quality of science education in Maine. The collaboration between educators, scientists, students and local community should result in a more meaningful experience for our 7th and 8th graders statewide.”

“The most exciting thing about Vital Signs is that we are doing "real" science. Students’ audience will extend far beyond the usual restriction of the classroom walls and into the scientific community. The more students engage in this process the greater the chances are that today's students will become tomorrow's concerned citizens who will work to solve environmental problems as they arise.”

“Students will have an opportunity to take a lead in their communities - learning about invasive species and informing their friends and neighbors. Getting outside and exercising all of their senses to collect scientific data will be exciting and rewarding.”

Teacher spread

2008-08-16T06:25:00.000-07:00

Where teachers are coming from....
Where Vital Signs is likely to invade first....
VS Teacher Map

Institute looms and consumes

2008-08-15T12:32:00.000-07:00

Teacher Institute planning screams on....

Do it.

We're taking our own inquiry pill. Walking our own inquiry talk. We'll give teachers the opportunity to experience the Vital Signs learning environment as we envision students experiencing it. The assumption is that if we model it, they'll get it and do it like we did it. No retching PowerPoints on how to teach inquiry!
As with all inquiry, a rich and seamless experience for participants requires serious preparation. Good luck to us PD rookies.

Are you with us?

Available teacher spots have overflowed thanks to last minute recruits from Monhegan Island, Kennebunk, Old Orchard Beach, Mackworth Island's Friends School & Islesboro. Neat group!
MCIAP's Roberta Hill and DEP's Paul Gregory have agreed to offer their "citizen scientist" and "data end user" perspectives on 08.20.
Maine Coastal Area Program's Elizabeth Stephenson and Sea Grant's Beth Bisson will join us on 08.18 and 08.19 respectively to assist fieldwork, share research, motivate, eat, etc.

Equipped for battle.

Ordering complete. Boxes arriving by the minute. Organization ongoing. We've overtaken by storm the desk of VS Ghost Sarah III.
Paper datasheets, paper species cards, and some online surprises are in the (Image) works.
Sarah K shot this silly video of Sarah Mo & our goodies desk using a very slick, very orange Flip Ultra video camera:

Susan Collins

2008-08-15T10:38:00.000-07:00

Senator Susan Collins is asking the federal government for $1.25 million for Maine in the fight to control the spread of invasive species.

http://www.wcsh6.com/video/default.aspx?maven_playerId=immersiveplayer&maven_referralObject=822072815

A marathon of squares

2008-08-12T17:00:00.000-07:00

Dr Steve Shane cut and assembled meters of PVC pipe to create 78 sampling quadrats for the teachers attending our Vital Signs Teacher Institute (August 18-20). He was up to his elbows in elbows, but managed to complete the task with expert precision in record time. Glimpse his process in this short "how-to" video (don't miss his impeccable line-up in the background):

Lightning fast progress

2008-08-01T17:17:00.000-07:00

Image Works needs a seatbelt and helmet.