Dogs at the beach
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Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Working with Students
Further Resources
This task is about noticing things, and thinking about what you notice.
Look carefully at the picture.
Task administration:
This task can be accessed by printing a pdf or online.
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).
Carrying out the task
This task is intended to be an oral assessment. The intention is to encourage discussion between students so they can interact with, and build on, others' ideas.
The task can be carried out in small groups or as a class. Opportunities for all students to contribute should be provided.
This task is intended to be an oral assessment. The intention is to encourage discussion between students so they can interact with, and build on, others' ideas.
The task can be carried out in small groups or as a class. Opportunities for all students to contribute should be provided.
The teacher asks students the questions on the task sheet and records the responses. The responses can be recorded directly on-line, in a digital format, or hand-written.
The photograph should be presented in colour and in such a way that all students can see it easily.
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).
Teacher prompt (Question c)
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:
Some prompting questions might be:
- How likely is that to happen?
- What would happen next?
- What effect would that have on things that live there?
Copyright:
All images copyright to PhotoKete are used under a commercial license and can be freely used for educational purposes in New Zealand Aotearoa.
Level:
2
Curriculum info:
Keywords:
Description of task:
Task: Make observations from a photograph, identify potential problems giving reasons, decide which problem is the most important and give reasons for the choice. Assessment focus: observing, identifying risk.
Curriculum Links:
Science capabilities
The capabilities focus is brought about by the conversations you have and the questions you ask.
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 gathering data from careful observations and the meaning made from these observations.
Science capability: Gather and interpret data (TKI)
Capability: Engage with science
This resource provides opportunities to discuss making predictions about the seriousness of potential issues/problems in a real life situation.
Science capability: Engage with science
This resource provides opportunities to discuss gathering data from careful observations and the meaning made from these observations.
Science capability: Gather and interpret data (TKI)
Capability: Engage with science
This resource provides opportunities to discuss making predictions about the seriousness of potential issues/problems in a real life situation.
Science capability: Engage with science
Science capabilities:
Answers/responses:
| What to look for | |
| a) | Students notice the main features, e.g.,the harbour, beach, surrounding hills, dog, seabirds, and details (the dog is running, the birds are flying, driftwood on the beach). |
| b) |
Students predict a problem or problems that dogs could cause things that live at the beach, e.g., disturbing or killing birds (including their nests) and other wildlife that might be there, fouling the beach, biting people walking on the beach, etc,
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| c) |
Students recognise that the dog can impact on other animals at the beach. More advanced thinking: destruction of nests, etc, can upset the ecological balance of the natural environment. See Diagnostic and formative information for more details. Students can assess how severe and how likely the risk they suggest is. |
Teaching and learning:
The key ideas that are covered in this task are:
| Nature of science: Participating and contributing | Science knowledge |
| When making decisions about environmental issues, it is important to ask questions such as, “What could happen if …..” | An event could affect 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 changes potentially 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. Students need to be aware of the different elements within any environment before they can think about how these things impact on each other. Noticing what is missing is also important.
Diagnostic and formative information:
Based on a sample of 6 Year 4 students.
Question a): Noticing
Trial students noticed the environment, e.g. the beach, sea, hills and buildings in the distance, obvious animals (the dog and birds), and a few details, e.g., the birds were all flying.
They demonstrated a sense of inference (although they didn't use this word) when they discussed the fact that, although the dog might be chasing the birds, they couldn't really tell this from looking at the picture.
Question a): Noticing
Trial students noticed the environment, e.g. the beach, sea, hills and buildings in the distance, obvious animals (the dog and birds), and a few details, e.g., the birds were all flying.
They demonstrated a sense of inference (although they didn't use this word) when they discussed the fact that, although the dog might be chasing the birds, they couldn't really tell this from looking at the picture.
Question b): Identifying problems
Problems identified included:
- scaring away the seagulls
- dog poo
- splashing people
- spreading disease to fish in the sea.
The trial students were inclined to focus on problems for the dog, e.g., it might eat litter and get sick. When they make this sort of response, students could be asked which animal they think is most important to consider at the beach. The only animals they identified specifically that could be affected (apart from the dog) were fish and humans, and to a lesser extent, seagulls.
Question c): Which is the worst problem?
The worst and most likely problems identified by trial students were dog poo (gross!) and scaring the seagulls.
Science understandings
The trial students did not demonstrate an understanding that
- sea birds are the natural inhabitants of the beach, while a dog is not
- the beach provides sea birds' requirements for living, e.g, food, shelter, and a place to nest
- many small animals that were not visible also live at the beach
- dogs on a beach can impact on the life of animals that live there, at a more serious level than scaring them
- dogs are capable of eating eggs and baby birds.
Next steps:
Science Capability 1: Gather and interpret data
Close observation is an important skill to develop in science and is an aspect of Capability 1: Gather and interpret data. Noticing what is there is an important first step that may help students think about likely impacts of particular actions or events. In this activity, students should be able to observe the photograph closely and give detailed descriptions of what they see. 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 a beach, ask, “What does it look like? Apart from sand, what is on the beach?”
Science knowledge.
If students are to make accurate predictions of likely consequences they also need knowledge about the particular context. In this context, finding out how the beach supports various sea birds' lives, other things that might live at the beach, and how the introduction of a dog may impact on the natural beach ecosystem, helps students to better assess risks.
Vocabulary
Students need the language to explain cause and effect relationships. Asking “Why do you think that?” can encourage students to form better explanations.
Close observation is an important skill to develop in science and is an aspect of Capability 1: Gather and interpret data. Noticing what is there is an important first step that may help students think about likely impacts of particular actions or events. In this activity, students should be able to observe the photograph closely and give detailed descriptions of what they see. 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 a beach, ask, “What does it look like? Apart from sand, what is on the beach?”
Science knowledge.
If students are to make accurate predictions of likely consequences they also need knowledge about the particular context. In this context, finding out how the beach supports various sea birds' lives, other things that might live at the beach, and how the introduction of a dog may impact on the natural beach ecosystem, helps students to better assess risks.
Vocabulary
Students need the language to explain cause and effect relationships. Asking “Why do you think that?” can encourage students to form better explanations.
Capability 5: Engage with science
To be able to make informed decisions about environmental issues, students need to develop a sense of probability and risk. One strategy could be to get students to brainstorm all possible consequences, encouraging students 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.
Key Competency: Thinking
This task provides opportunities for students to think at a “systems level”, an important skill to science and the environment. 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 that system. The dog, the sea, animals and plants that live at the beach, and people could be regarded as parts of a system in this context.
Discussing "what might happen if" particular scenarios are played out can support students to start developing systems thinking. Students need to think about the scenarios both immediately and into the future. Some examples of "what if" questions in this context are:
- What might happen if birds that live at the beach are nesting? How would this affect the populations of seagulls in the future?
- What might happen to the beach if there were no seagulls?
- What might happen if the dog digs holes in the sand?
Provide opportunities to discuss "what if" questions in a variety of contexts.
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.
The following table shows Building Science Concepts books that have a focus on cause and effect.
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Living World
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Environment
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Other
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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 |
The following articles from ARB research may be helpful to teachers
- Inter-relationships - a really important idea in environmental science
- Common alternative ideas about inter-relationships
Similar ARB resources in other contexts: