Interdependence loopy

Interdependence loopy

Pencil and paper
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Working with Students
Further Resources
Playing this game assesses your knowledge of how different things in or near a waterway affect each other. It also checks if you know some of the special science words you need to be able to communicate your ideas about what affects waterways.

The aims of this game are:

  • to reinforce some of the relationships present within waterways; and
  • to reinforce vocabulary.
This is an adaptation of a game often played in maths so is likely to be familiar to teachers and students.
How to play:
  • Deal out all the cards.
  • Choose a student to start. That student reads out the statement in italics on the bottom half of a card. Whoever has the phrase that completes that sentence on the top half of their card reads it and then the statement in italics on the bottom of the card.
plants that grow on river banks.
 
When bare soil is washed into rivers it muddies
the water.
 
Mud in the water
  • It could be that more than one student holds a card that could complete the sentence on the first card. In this case choose the most sensible answer, looking at the grammar too. The game continues in this way until all the cards are used. If each card is laid correctly the last statement used will be the statement on the top half of the first student’s card.
Variations

  • Initially it may be better to play this game with a group of about 10 students with 3 cards each rather than the whole class. If the students sit in a circle and put their cards on the floor in front of them they can help each other find the correct card. The focus should be on using all the cards.
  • As the students become familiar with the game it could be timed to see how quickly the class can complete the game. In this version each student has one card.
interdependence-loopy.png
Task administration: 
This task is completed as an activity.
 
• Laminate cards so they can be reused. (Click here for the masters of the Interdependence loopy cards [pdf] or Independence loopy cards [docx])
• Make up sets of cards for each group. 
Level:
4
Curriculum info: 
Science, Communicating in science, Living World
Keywords: 
ecology, interdependence, food chains, waterways, rivers, streams, vocabulary, game, matching
Description of task: 
Task: Play a card game to join two sentence fragments to complete a sentence. Assessment focus: a) relationships of elements in a waterway, and b) science vocabulary.
Curriculum Links: 
Science capabilities
The capabilities focus is brought about by the conversations you have and the questions you ask.
 
Capability: Interpret representations
This resource provides opportunities to discuss using science information to build concept maps of relationship webs.
 
Science capabilities: 
Interpret representations
Answers/responses: 

NOTE: Any statement can be the starting point.

1. When bare soil is washed into rivers it muddies/ the water.
2. Mud in the water/ can kill plants and animals that live in rivers.
3. Roots of trees growing beside rivers stabilise/ banks and give insects and fish places to hide.
4. Trees growing on riverbanks provide/ shade that helps keep water cool.
5. A small change in water/ temperature can affect stream life.
6. Too many nutrients coming into the stream can/ make algae grow too much.
7. When algae grow too much they can/ smother the habitat.
8. Algae are the main food of/ most aquatic insects.
9. Petrol, paint or detergents can get into waterways/ via storm water drains.
10. In the water cycle water moves from the surface of Earth/ to the air and back to the surface of Earth again.
11. Introduced species of/ fish can damage our waterways in lots of different ways.
12. Cold fast flowing water carries more/ oxygen than warmer, slow moving water.
13. Mayflies and stoneflies breathe under water so/ they need to live in places with lots of oxygen in the water.
14. Kingfishers eat small fish/ that feed on aquatic insects.
15. Evaporation is the process where/ liquid water becomes a gas.
16. Water vapour is/ water as gas in the air.
17. Condensation is the process where/ water vapour becomes a liquid.
18. Surface run off is water that/ runs along the ground and goes into lakes and rivers.
19. Precipitation is/ rain, snow, sleet or hail.
20. Groundwater is/ water under the ground, as in a spring or well.
21. Aquifer is a/ large water source underground.
22. Percolation is/ water moving downwards through openings in the soil and rock.
23. Watershed is the area of land drained/ by a river and the streams that run into it (its tributaries).
24. Algae use energy from the sun/ to make its own food (photosynthesis)
25. Clean water is vital/ for healthy ecosystems.
26. Waterways/ support plants and animals.
27. Mayfly, stonefly, and/ caddisfly larvae usually live in clean water.
28. Snails, fly larvae, and worms live/ in muddier, warmer water.
29. Headwaters of streams are usually cleaner/ than lowland waterways.
30. Stock such as cattle can kill/ plants that grow on river banks.
Teaching and learning: 
Teacher feedback on this game
• The language was difficult but provided opportunities to discuss the meaning of new words.• Less able readers were able to participate.• Some students who had not previously seemed engaged demonstrated understanding.• It increased teacher knowledge
 

Diagnostic information  This resource was trialled in several classrooms by researchers and classroom teachers including some involved in Waterways projects.Understanding direct relationshipsThis game was useful for identifying gaps in students' knowledge, and helped them extend their thinking beyond obvious relationships such as food chains.Developing science vocabularyPlaying the game also gave students immediate feedback about their understanding of scientific terms. Some students independently used a dictionary when a definition was debated. Words that were unfamiliar (for example, percolation) were picked up by the teacher and discussed as a class

 
Next steps
To be able to make wise decisions about our environment we need to:
• know what lives in a particular habitat;• know what their requirements are; and• be able to predict the impact of any changes in conditions on the whole habitat.
Both knowledge about the individual "parts" of an ecosystem and how they interact with each other are important aspects for environmental decision-making.Once students are familiar with the elements in an ecosystem, both living and non-living, they can start thinking about how any changes in that environment affect everything in it (see Other resources).
 
To read more go to Inter-relationships research. 
The following resources were developed as part of a classroom research project about students' progressions in thinking about interdependence.

•What lives in our waterways? explores relationships in and near waterways, including impacts of human activities.• Waterways tag is a game that models feeding relationships and how these impact on the population in a waterway• Waterways relationships web game is a concept mapping activity using cards.
 
The following print resources explore interdependence in a different context.
• Ministry of Education (2002). Building Science Concepts Book 21, Life between the tides. Wellington: Learning Media.• Ministry of Education (2002). Building Science Concepts Book 22, Tidal communities. Wellington: Learning Media.• Ministry of Education (2001). Making better sense of the living world. Wellington: Learning Media. Topics are: Earthworms, Mosses and ferns, Aquarium and pond life, Microbiology.
• Ministry of Education (2006). Connected 3. The Secret Life of Estuaries. Wellington: Learning Media. This article explores food web ideas with a particular emphasis on the role of organisms that break down detritus, (rotting plant and animal matter).

Websites

• Regional councils supply resources, including people resources that are relevant to local areas. Many of them provide online resources. Google your local regional council.• Up the Creek is an interactive online activity supported by teachers' notes.