NetLogo - Technology and Models

For the past week we have been learning about Ecology.  I have a number of old resources that I have been asked to use in the classroom.  With the recent talk of NGSS and STEM I was looking for ways to integrate some sort of meaningful technology into the classroom.

As I was poking through several videos on the Bozeman Science website, Paul Anderson briefly mentioned NetLogo as resource he uses in his classroom.  NetLogo is a piece of software that creates computer models of all sorts of scientific or statistical situations.  The software helps model everything from basic traffic patterns to game theory.  I found a model that helps visualize relationships between predator and prey and I was able to use it in class with great success.

The need in the classroom:

1. To quickly visualize the relationship between predator and prey over generations.
2. To quickly visualize the results of messing with the balance of predator/prey relationships.
3. To visualize and analyze the results of the corresponding data.

Gathering this type of data to has been a lengthy process in the past.  It ends up usually being too general or too painstakingly lengthy to make the exercise meaningful.  And, generating data where one of the variables changed is hypothetical and equally time-consuming.  NetLogo provided a way to quickly generate data for the situations we were looking at.

The Old Way.  *sigh*

Downloading and installing NetLogo was pretty simple.  It's a Java based program so it can be installed almost anywhere and I was impressed that it ran so smoothly on my lightweight laptop.

Here's a screenshot of the Wolf Sheep Predation model.

Shiny!

Now, here's what I'm most excited about.  The model produced data that really helped scaffold good questions.  The students were interested in the modeling and were mostly impressed at how fast data could be generated.  The data allowed me to assess the students' understanding of the principles we've been talking about in the last 4 class periods.

In each class we ran a basic simulation and we talked about the ebb and flow of both predator and prey but we were also able to play with the variables.  In one instance we had a situation where the number of sheep dipped too low and the wolves went extinct within our digital biome.  I got a reaction from a lot of the students!  I was surprised and very excited at the empathy!

After the demonstration we moved on to other classwork, but I continued to get questions about the predator/prey relationships, what-if questions, and questions about running the software themselves.  For a small investment of classroom time and an hour of my personal time I got quite a satisfying result.

Can We Have Class Outside Today?

Can we have class outside today?  Yes!  Yes we can!  And, there was much rejoicing!

We began a unit on Ecology and it seemed fitting that we actually go outside.  After all, we're all very much a part of the local environment and getting into the environment seems like a good first step.

During the beginning of class students wrote down as many observations about the local environment as they could.  Before going out we had a discussion about some of the things that make up environments.  Then, students were asked to be silent, observe, and write things down.

Students responded well.  They were very funny too.  One student 4th period wrote down "Mr. Davis," much to the enjoyment of his buddies.  It was a good jumping-off point to discuss human impact on the local environment; one of the major parts of our study of ecology is recognizing that we all have an impact on the environment.

When I discussed my plan with my wife, she offered some suggestions:

1. One, the time outside needs to be finite.  Too long and the students will get bored.
2. The students need to have a goal to work towards.  I asked each student to come up with at least 20 observations in the 10 minutes we were outside.
3. The students need to be spread out from one another; too close and they chat.

The 10 minutes flew by!  The students came up with great observations that we were able to incorporate into the following lecture and discussion.  This is a lesson plan I'll definitely use in the future.

Here's a shot of the local environment from the classroom door.

Teaching First: The Cheat Sheet

We had a quiz yesterday, and I caught a student cheating.

I normally walk around the room during an exam with two intentions.  First, to make sure the students aren't cheating, and second, to make sure students can ask clarifying questions.

As I went over to address a raised hand, I noticed a student, less than 5 feet away from me, pull something out from under the desk.  After addressing the question, I looked again; the student was looking at a cheat-sheet.

After taking the strip of paper, I handed it to my master teacher and explained what I saw.  So, we followed the classroom policy of giving the student a "0" on the quiz, and the school policy of calling the parent and informing an administrative counselor.

I was sad for the student, who just sat there for the remainder of the quiz.  The 0 would kill the student's 96% in the class, which will almost be impossible to recover from before the end of the quarter.  On the other hand, it wasn't an exam, and the student should be able to recover before the end of the semester.  Honors and AP students are under a lot of pressure from a variety of sources; sadly, cheating is a much larger problem in higher classes than the mainstream classes.

Hopefully, the student will learn his lesson.

Mr. Davis' Lab Notes: A Few Ideas

After tens of hours leading a high school biology lab, here are a few things I've learned:

1. A lab worksheet should have clear instructions.  Just because it's clear to me doesn't mean that it'll be clear to a student.  If you have a student service, ask them to do the lab.  Adjust the instructions as needed.  When a lab is over, go through the lab worksheet and change things for next time.
2. A teacher should only need a minute or two to set the lab in context of the course content and issue safety warnings before turning the students loose.  If it takes you more than a few minutes to do this, then either your expectations or the lab design must be changed.
3. A good lab takes time.  Students need time to read the instructions and even to visualize the process. Students need a few attempts at tying things out before they're actually getting good data.  In my experience, severe time constraints inhibit the value of a lab; when teachers eliminate problem-solving, labs turn into a paint-by-number assignment.
4. Students must be taught to read instructions.
5. Use the lab to walk around and ask good questions.  Even with 40+ students in a classroom, I have managed to get to each group several times over a period and be available for questions or to point students in the right direction.
6. There's an art to asking analysis questions.  I am certain that the quality of the question determines the quality of the answer.  I'm no good at this yet, but this will be one of those things I will try and continually improve.  A good question points students to the right answer without giving it to them; they'll need to make the jump themselves.

It seems to me that a lab should be organized chaos and the teacher's role is to ask guiding questions.

I would love to get to the point where I can teach content, present students with an overarching question, give the students resources to answer the questions, and then set them loose.  To that end, I improve my labs.

Hardy-Weinberg - Math Meets Biology

I heard a science teacher say that all biologists think they're chemists, all chemists think they're mathematicians, and all mathematicians think they're God.  Well, today in Honors Biology, we skipped over the chemists and went straight for math.  Though, after a day of wrestling with their first exposure to solving Hardy-Weinberg equations, only a few students felt like deity.

Here's a shot of the whiteboard.

I also had my first observation by my college supervisor.  He came 4th period, so I had a chance to practice beforehand.  Overall, the observation went well.  There were a few items related to small classroom management strategies that I need to improve.  The timing of handing out worksheets was one of the issues mentioned.  I began the lesson and forgot to hand out the papers during a down period when students were solving a bit of math.  Overall it didn't hurt the entire lesson, but it did create an awkward lag in the lesson as I hurriedly passed out papers.  His second suggestion was that I not turn my back to the class when I write on the board.  This one may take a while to fix; I already have trouble writing on a whiteboard while facing the board directly.  Changing my stance may degrade my whiteboard-manship.  But, it'll be important to learn this skill so I'll work on it.

Tomorrow we'll finish up the Hardy-Weinberg equations and watch a short clip of genetic drift in action.

Small Rudders Turn Big Ships

My master teacher was out again today and will probably be out tomorrow, too.  As I muddle through, I am having a great time and learning a lot.  Today, I learned a valuable lesson about being strategic with everything I say.

Continuing from our discussion on the historical context of Charles Darwin, we jumped into more detail about the famous 5 year voyage on the HMS Beagle and the observations he made on that trip.  After the lecture, we watched the first part of an old VHS video titled The Evidence for Evolution.  The plan was to watch half of the film today today and the other half tomorrow.  To help students pay attention and get value from the video, my master teacher developed a 30 question fill-in-the-blank worksheet to be filled out during the video.

First period was the test run.  We got through question 15 of the worksheet, which ended up being a good place to stop.  So, 15 questions became the benchmark.  Second period confirmed that we could do the lecture and get through question 15 of the worksheet.  All was well.

Third period is where I made my mistake.  In preparing the students for the video, I added that we'd probably get through question 15 on the worksheet and then watch the remainder during tomorrow's class. Well, after the students get the answer for question 15, they began to pack up and talk to one another.  There was still about 2-3 minutes of film before the stopping point!  These three minutes had good explanations and helpful graphics that helped explain the content!  Despite not having a blank to fill in, the content was still valuable.

When I noticed the students packing up, these thoughts ran through my head in about 2 seconds:

1. I shouldn't have told them that we'd only get through question 15.
2. I most definitely will -not- do that next period.
3. It's not on the worksheet and the information in the video won't be on a quiz or test; it's more for enrichment.
4. I can force them to sit down and watch it, but that would only build resentment of being forced to do something with little value.  

I don't know if I made the right choice, but I let it go.  The students continued to pack up and the bell rang soon afterwards.  We got through the lesson and I think they're understanding and comprehending the content.  In my questions I have been able to ask some higher level questions.  I don't think the situation will hurt the students' comprehension.

So, today's lesson: Be strategic in -all- communications.  Even little statements you think are helpful at the time can come back to bite you in the tail later if you're not careful.

PS:  

On the topic of questioning, I was rather proud of myself.  I asked a simple question.  "What is an example of an adaptation?"  Then I waited.  The wait seemed like it would go on forever.  This class, in particular, is a quiet class so I didn't know what to expect.  When I thought the students would stare back at me forever, one girl piped up with an example.  Then, another student piped up with another example of an adaptation.  Increasing wait time works!