Part Two: Activities

The activities in each lesson are designed to help students deepen their base of knowledge and test their understanding of the main concepts mandated in the curriculum. You can decide which (and how many) activities you’d like students to complete. There is one recommended activity per chapter that helps link the lessons forward, giving students the opportunity to build towards their final project, which is revealed in Chapter Six.

Defining Your Community:

Summary: This activity will help students better understand their own context.

Objective: By reflecting on the issues and values that are important to them, students will work to define their communities, articulating their interests, influences and support networks.

Skills:

• Critical thinking
• Self-reflection
• Research and analysis

Instructions:

1. Introduce the concept of community and why it matters, including in the scientific world. You can use the description provided.
2. Ask students to reflect on the communities they are a part of. Encourage them to think beyond their immediate family and friends and consider any groups or organizations they belong to.
3. Give students a list of questions to guide their reflection, starting with the questions provided in the activity.
4. Have students create a list of all the communities they are involved in, indicating if the community is local, provincial, national, or international.
5. Ask students to identify which communities are solely online and which ones are in-person. Have them reflect on the benefits and drawbacks of each type of community. Ask them to reflect on why they aren’t part of certain communities.
6. Encourage students to draw a simple map to connect their communities and reflect on how these communities relate or overlap with each other.
7. Have students compare their communities with those of their peers, identifying overlap and shared interests.
8. Facilitate a class discussion on the value of community and its importance in promoting social cohesion, cooperation and civic engagement.

Assessment:

• Observe students as they work through this activity and take note of their participation and engagement. This will give you a sense of their ability to self-reflect, and how well they are working individually and as a group.
• Engage students in a group discussion to help them expand on the thoughts, ideas and insights they generated during this activity. The discussion will help you assess their understanding of the activity’s goal and their ability to articulate ideas.
• Ask students to write a reflection on their learning, highlighting what they found most valuable, what surprised them the most and what they still have questions about. This will help you further assess student self-reflection skills, while also testing their ability to articulate thoughts in writing.

Mapping Biodiversity Hotspots:

Summary: Students will work to better understand their local, natural context.

Objectives: The purpose of this activity is to help students link what they’re learning in this class to the community where they live. By exploring and mapping the biodiversity in their neighbourhood, students will develop a deeper understanding of their natural context.

Skills:

• Research skills
• Digital map-making
• Analytical skills
• Communication
• Environmental awareness and stewardship
• Critical thinking

Instructions:

1. Begin by reflecting on the importance of context in science and why understanding our natural context matters.
2. Have students follow the instructions outlined in the activity to create a map using Google Earth or Google My Maps, highlighting the green spaces and natural areas in their community. Encourage students to add labels to the map, including details on the natural context they’ve highlighted.
3. Students should research neighbourhood green spaces, and reach out to local experts (naturalists, scientists, Indigenous elders) where possible, in order to gain a better understanding of their community’s biodiversity. Encourage students to add any new information, images or locations to their map based on their research.
4. Encourage students to visit the natural areas in their community with their families, having them add their own observations to the map.
5. Once the maps are complete, have students present their work to the class and discuss what they learned about their natural context, using the questions provided at the end of the activity.

Assessment:

Assess students based on the quality of their maps, the accuracy and depth of their research, and the level of engagement and participation in the activity.

Understanding Your Views:

Summary: Students will learn their local context and better understand why different people hold different views.

Objective: In this activity, students will explore the perspectives of their community and country, comparing and contrasting why different histories have helped shape different contexts and biases. The objective is to help students become more familiar with their own local or regional context, and find empathy for those in different parts of the country with very different contexts. This is central to understanding why some trust and value science, and other don’t.

Skills:

• Critical thinking
• Empathy
• Research and analysis
• Communication
• Self-reflection

Instructions:

1. Begin by explaining why we all have different contexts, and why it’s important to respect different histories and realities. Inform students that this activity is about good research, honest self-reflection and fostering empathy for those they might not know or agree with.
2. Have students follow the prompts in the activity and answer the questions associated with understanding different contexts.
3. Have students share their research and reflections in groups, discussing their findings. Without judgement, encourage every student to reflect on how their community has influenced their views and perspectives.

Assessment:

1. 1. Participation: Determine how thoroughly students researched the questions assigned and if they actively contributed to group conversations.
   2. Reflection: Evaluate if students practiced sincere self-reflection in order to determine comprehension of the activity and their ability to think critically and empathize with different perspectives.

What’s Your Context: *Recommended*

Summary: In this activity, students will brainstorm ideas and issues that feel relevant and interesting to them, a first step towards identifying their eventual final project’s focus.

Objective: The objective of this activity is to get students thinking about their community and their world, and the real-world application of the lessons learned in this course. By brainstorming ideas and issues of interest, students will begin to uncover what matters to them, an important first step as they work towards finding a scientific focus for their final project.

Skills:

• Creativity
• Brainstorming
• Critical thinking
• Communication
• Collaboration
• Research skills
• Problem-solving

Instructions:

1. Remind students why nature is being used to focus conversations in this class and then ask them to think about how they would balance the needs of people and nature. Encourage students to think about what issues and ideas feel relevant and interesting to them, and how science can help explore or address these themes. Have students reflect on the lessons learned in this class, the activities they’ve completed so far and the issues raised in their Inquiry Media, as well as in articles they’ve found in the Curated Library.
2. Ask students to follow the activity’s instructions, brainstorm their ideas and record the questions they think need to be explored further. Students can use Post-it notes, Pinterest, paper or electronic devices to help with their brainstorming.
3. If students are struggling to come up with ideas, encourage peer-to-peer mentorship and also direct them to the Curated Library for further exploration.
4. Encourage students to reflect on their ideas and questions before the next lesson, when they will be tasked with pursuing their lines of inquiry.

Assessment: This activity is mainly formative in nature and can be assessed through observation and class discussion, as well as through the quality of ideas and questions generated. Additionally, you are encouraged to provide feedback to the students, to help ensure they are on the right track, as they build towards the final project.

Core Concepts:

Summary: Students will work to deepen their understanding of carrying capacities and food chains.

Objective: The objective of this activity is to review and reinforce the understanding of key concepts, including food chains and carrying capacities. This activity also tests student comprehension by requiring them to answer questions, analyze graphs and create a sample food chain.

Skills:

• Communication
• Scientific inquiry
• Research
• Problem solving
• Critical thinking

Instructions:

1. Begin the activity by presenting the core concept slideshows provided, or assigning students to review the material.
2. Instruct students to work together in groups to answer the questions and complete the tasks outlined in the activity. Encourage students to refer to their notes from the Lesson Media stories, as well as the slideshow presentations.
3. Monitor the groups as they work, offering guidance and support as needed.
4. Optionally, engage students in a class discussion to highlight learning and further test comprehension.

Assessment:

• Accuracy of answers to activity questions
• Ability to analyze graphs
• Quality of the infographic created
• Participation in group discussion
• Completion of activity/a demonstrative understanding of the subject

Species Interaction Lab:

• Developed by educator and biologist Verne Lehmberg and donated for use in Nature Labs

Summary: This lab explores the relationship between two different species in an ecosystem to help students understand food chains.

Objective: Studying the relationships between species is fundamental to understanding how ecosystems function. This lab will define the nine types of two species interaction classifications that ecologists study, and allow students to analyze ecosystem complexity and species interconnectivity through the food web.

Instructions: Students can follow the self-guiding instructions to conduct and complete the lab.

Owl Pellet Dissection:

• Developed by educator and biologist Verne Lehmberg and donated for use in Nature Labs

Summary: Students will dissect a barn owl pellet (can be ordered online) to help them understand how energy transfers through species, seeing the food chain in action.

Objective: The objective of this lab is to showcase how energy moves through living organisms. Studying the energy laws will help students understand why there are so few predators in comparison to prey numbers. A barn owl food chain will be examined by dissecting a regurgitated barn owl pellet, allowing students to identify the number of prey species consumed.

Instructions: Students can follow the self-guiding instructions to conduct and complete the lab.

The Curated Library:

Summary: Students will explore the Curated Library and better understand how to use this tool.

Objective: This activity will introduce students to the Curated Library, a resource containing thousands of hand-selected, analyzed articles and resources that relate to this course and its real-world application. In becoming familiar with the Curated Library, students will also be able to practice their research skills and better understand how to evaluate resources.

Skills:

• Research skills
• Critical thinking
• Communication
• Understanding/comprehension

Instructions:

1. Begin the lesson by introducing the Curated Library and its relevance to the course. Encourage students to take their time as they explore the resources available to them.
2. Part One helps students find articles that relate to this class, deepening their pool of learning resources.
3. Part Two encourages students to compare and contrast the articles they find with those selected by a peer, further widening their course toolkit.
4. Part Three encourages students to develop their research and technology literacy skills, while having a bit of fun at the same time, competing in a virtual scavenger hunt. Provide students with the list of items to find and record, being sure to set a time limit for the scavenger hunt.
5. Once the scavenger hunt is complete, allow students time to share their findings with each other. Encourage discussion and reflection on the resources uncovered.

Assessment:

• Students should be assessed based on their participation in and completion of all three parts of this activity.
• Students should also be assessed based on their ability to find relevant resources in the Curated Library, demonstrating their research and technology literacy skills.
• Encourage students to share any reliable resources they find outside of the Curated Library with Nature Labs. This can be used as an opportunity for extra credit or bonus points.