As the weather gets warmer this spring, Mr. Rohn and Ms. Rogoff’s 6th grade The Science of Place students are working in Dane Park across the street from the school. This class is about exploring a sense of place through several lenses, including earth science, ecosystems, and engineering. The class also examines systems big and small through observation, data collection, and data analysis to develop the skills of a good scientist. As a part of their study into ecosystem interactions, they visited the park every week to work on their individual field studies.
For their field studies, students chose their own project hypothesis questions based on the park’s environment and their observations, and then they will collect and analyze data to answer that question.
They are studying some of following variables in their questions:
- Moisture level in the soil
- Amount of insects
- Amount of invasive species
- Elevation of the land
- Height of plants
- And more.
So far they have been surveying the meadow using sampling methods like a transect line, random sampling, and quadrat techniques to see the density and frequency of their chosen variables. They have also been removing invasive species in a treatment area so students can use an area with and without invasive species for their field studies. Park Ranger Alex Cassie has been coming to Dane Park with them and has been teaching them how to recognize these invasive species and is answering all of their questions about the park.
On this day, they were exploring a grassy meadow to see if the variables that they chose to study in their field studies are actually measurable. If the variables are measurable they will continue on with their field studies, but if not, then they will revise their hypothesis questions.
Besides working on their projects, Mr. Rohn says the class “will do community work to serve as stewards of the land. The activities will include removing invasive plant species and planting native species to promote biodiversity in the park.”