Amongst the sand dunes
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Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Working with Students
Further Resources
This task is about making observations and thinking about environmental problems and solutions.
Look carefully at the picture above.
Task administration:
Equipment
Digital recorder (optional); OHT, data show, interactive whiteboard or other IT tools to present photograph (optional).
Digital recorder (optional); OHT, data show, interactive whiteboard or other IT tools to present photograph (optional).
- This task is intended to be an oral assessment.
- The teacher asks students the questions on the task sheet and records the responses. The responses can be recorded directly onto the task sheet or digitally.
- The task was trialled with groups of 4 students, but this could be adjusted to smaller or larger groups, as long as opportunity for all students to contribute is provided.
- The photograph should be presented in colour and in such a way that all students can see it easily.
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The teacher may prompt students to encourage them to further explain their ideas, e.g.:
- Tell me more about that.
- What else do you notice?
- Why do you say that?
- Refer also to the prompts for Question c).
Copyright:
Image (c) J. Fisher, 2011, PhotoKete.
All images copyright to PhotoKete are used with permission and can be freely used for educational purposes in New Zealand Aotearoa.
Level:
2
Curriculum info:
Keywords:
Description of task:
Make observations from a photograph, identify potential environmental problems giving reasons, decide which problem is the most important and give reasons for the choice.
Curriculum Links:
Science capabilities
The capabilities focus is brought about by the conversations you have and the questions you ask.
Capability: Gather and interpret data
This resource provides opportunities to discuss:
- how scientists look very carefully, and describe exactly what they see.
- how our science understandings help us explain what we observe.
Capability: Engage with science
This resource provides opportunities to discuss risk, how likely it is for events to happen, and which are most important to manage.
Science capabilities:
Answers/responses:
a) Students are expected to notice the main features,
e.g., the sand, the bicycles, footprints/tracks and grasses.
b) Students are expected to identify a people focussed problem e.g., accidents to people.
More advanced thinking: Students identify an environmental problem such as damage to the plants.
c) Students are expected to recognise some form of damage to the environment or what lives there.
Teaching and learning:
The purpose of question c) is to investigate students’ concept of risk. To what extent do they weigh up the notion of severity with likelihood? During their discussion, prompt students to think about the big picture, long term impact of a particular event. Encourage them to think about a chain of events set off by one event. Some prompting questions might be:
- How likely is that to happen?
- What would happen next?
- What effect would that have on the dunes?
Rationale for assessing this task orally
The observations and ideas being assessed in this task are complex. At Level 2 most students’ writing will not capture the richness of their understanding or the connections they are able to make.
The observations and ideas being assessed in this task are complex. At Level 2 most students’ writing will not capture the richness of their understanding or the connections they are able to make.
The key ideas that are covered in this task are:
- Nature of science: Participating and contributing - When making decisions about environmental issues, it is important to ask questions such as, “What could happen if …..”
- Science knowledge - Any event affects the environment and what lives there.
Why are the ideas in this assessment task important for students to learn?
- In making sound decisions about the environment and what lives in it, we need to be aware that all changes have a flow on effect to the environment itself and what lives there.
- Considering what effects an event might have, and deciding how likely and how serious the effects might be, assists decision making about managing risk.
Noticing is an important prerequisite for making decisions. By identifying many things in the environment students will then have many ways to think about how they might each impact on one other.
Diagnostic and formative information:
Responses students made in the trials
Question a): Noticing
The things that the students noticed in the trials were: a bike has fallen over, a person is riding a bike, a dog, footprints (human & dog), bike tracks, sand dunes, sand, shadows, grasses.
Question b): Identifying problems
Some students identified “problems” that focused on people while others identified “problems” that focused on the environment.
People-focused problems
Students from all of the three trial schools talked about the immediate danger for people of riding the bikes on the soft sand.
Question a): Noticing
The things that the students noticed in the trials were: a bike has fallen over, a person is riding a bike, a dog, footprints (human & dog), bike tracks, sand dunes, sand, shadows, grasses.
Question b): Identifying problems
Some students identified “problems” that focused on people while others identified “problems” that focused on the environment.
People-focused problems
Students from all of the three trial schools talked about the immediate danger for people of riding the bikes on the soft sand.
- The bike makes grooves in the sand which makes holes that people may trip over.
- Sand is hard to pedal in and steer so the wheels will get stuck and people may fall off.
- Bikes leave a trail of sand which could fly up into people’s eyes.
- Someone might trip over the bike.
Environment-focused problems
Students talked about the direct effect riding the bikes could have on the plants, or on the dunes.
Students talked about the direct effect riding the bikes could have on the plants, or on the dunes.
- Plants will be run over by the bikes and die.
- Bikes kill plants because they damage the roots.
- Bikes spill oil into the sand from bike chains.
Some students talked about longer term or indirect effects on the environment.
- Bikes stop the plants growing by compacting the sand.
- If the bike is left for some time water from the sea will rust it. Bits will flake off and float in the ocean where fish eat it by mistake.
Some students used their background knowledge to identify other problems that might occur.
- People might bring litter to the beach.
Question c): Which is the worst problem?
When students first considered what the worst problem could be they often described scenarios that showed little understanding of scale. For example, some students said the worst problem would be bikes killing the plants because plants produce oxygen. They showed little understanding of the amount of oxygen the plants could produce compared to what is needed worldwide. Other students said the worst problem would be the bikes spraying out sand that would then increase the height of the sand dunes.
However when asked which problem was most likely students were generally able to select probable scenarios, e.g., bikes running over the plants or the impact on people such as tripping, crashing etc. A few children were able to describe scenarios that were both serious and probable, e.g., bikes will kill the plants and this in turn will affect all the animals that are dependent on the plants.
NOTE: Although the focus of the task was on identifying problems the discussions provided opportunities for students to display various science understandings.
Students identified an understanding of a range of science concepts:
In any environment there are complex relationships between the things that live there.
Students at one school described the sand dunes as a “fragile” environment. They talked about the plants as a habitat for animals and that without the plants the animals would die. They also knew that particular plants might be the only food source for some animals which would make their destruction particularly serious. These students recognised that although the sand dunes were a fun place to play doing so could damage the environment. At one of the other schools students showed little awareness of any living things in the sand dunes.
Saltwater (and air) causes rusting on metal surfaces.
Students recognised that the bike exposed to the sea and air would rust. They said the rust would break away and be washed into the sea where it would detrimentally affect the animal life.
Plants produce oxygen.
Some students displayed developing understandings of the role plants play in putting oxygen back into the atmosphere although some misconceptions were evident, e.g., treating air and oxygen as the same thing.
- (There will be) no air if plants are not there cause plants give air.
Next steps:
This task requires students to think at a “systems level”. However, before they can begin to consider how a particular action or event will affect a system they need some understanding of the individual parts of the system.
In this activity, ideally students should be able to observe the photograph closely and give detailed descriptions of what they see. (Close observation is an important skill to develop in science.) Students may need practice with this. Encourage students to carefully describe what they see, rather than just label it. For example, if students say they can see plants, ask, What do they look like? What colour are they? What are their leaves like? What sort of places do you see plants like these growing in?
Noticing what is there, is an important first step that may help students think about likely impacts of particular actions or events. However, if they are to make accurate predictions of likely consequences they also need knowledge about the particular context. For example, what sort of plants and animals live there and what are the relationships between them? Do students realise, for example, the role plants play in stabilising sand dunes? Students also need the language to explain cause and effect relationships. Simply asking “Why do you think that?” can encourage students to form better explanations.
To be able to make informed decisions about environmental issues, students also need to develop a sense of probability and risk. One strategy could be to get students to brainstorm all possible consequences, encouraging them to be as creative as they can, and then get the class to debate which are the most likely scenarios and explain why. The class could also debate which would be the most damaging scenarios. Are there any scenarios that appear near the top of both lists? A scenario that is both likely and damaging is serious. Science in the real world is rarely “black and white” and the ability to weigh up and consider various alternatives is an important skill for students to develop.
In this activity, ideally students should be able to observe the photograph closely and give detailed descriptions of what they see. (Close observation is an important skill to develop in science.) Students may need practice with this. Encourage students to carefully describe what they see, rather than just label it. For example, if students say they can see plants, ask, What do they look like? What colour are they? What are their leaves like? What sort of places do you see plants like these growing in?
Noticing what is there, is an important first step that may help students think about likely impacts of particular actions or events. However, if they are to make accurate predictions of likely consequences they also need knowledge about the particular context. For example, what sort of plants and animals live there and what are the relationships between them? Do students realise, for example, the role plants play in stabilising sand dunes? Students also need the language to explain cause and effect relationships. Simply asking “Why do you think that?” can encourage students to form better explanations.
To be able to make informed decisions about environmental issues, students also need to develop a sense of probability and risk. One strategy could be to get students to brainstorm all possible consequences, encouraging them to be as creative as they can, and then get the class to debate which are the most likely scenarios and explain why. The class could also debate which would be the most damaging scenarios. Are there any scenarios that appear near the top of both lists? A scenario that is both likely and damaging is serious. Science in the real world is rarely “black and white” and the ability to weigh up and consider various alternatives is an important skill for students to develop.
To find other ARB resources about cause and effect click on the link or use the keyword cause and effect.
Other key words that you can use are food webs or food chains, and interdependence.
Cause and effect relationships can be explored in many different contexts.
Other key words that you can use are food webs or food chains, and interdependence.
Cause and effect relationships can be explored in many different contexts.
The following table shows Building Science Concepts books that have a focus on cause and effect.
| Living World | Environment | Other |
|
3 Birds 6 Soil animals 21 Life between the tides 22 Tidal communities 53 Moulds and fungi |
1 Waterways 2 Weathering and erosion 12 Volcanoes 40 Earthquakes 43 Spring 44 Spring is a season 50 Storms 52 The land changes |
8 The Moon 9 Shadows 16 Sand, salt and jelly crystals 23 Fresh food 24 Preserving food 32 Introducing metals 33 Working with metals 34 Parachutes 37 Floating and sinking 38 Understanding buoyancy 42 Marbles 46 Keeping warm 47 Insulation 56 Bread 57 Eggs 58 Ice 59 Bikes |