Slideshow for the Conservatoin Education Tutorial on STEM, Project Based Learning and Field Investigations.

1. Introduction to Systems,
Questions and Field
Investigations
AFWA Connecting Students, STEM and
Standards through Field Investigations,
PBLM and Systems Thinking
Series

2. Pages referred to on the following slides
can be found in the Field Investigations:
Using Outdoor Environments to Foster
Student Learning of Scientific Processes
Guide.
http://www.fishwildlife.org/files/ConEd-
Field-Investigations-Guide.pdf
Please have this guide on hand either
digitally or in print as you go through this
presentation.

3. What is a System?
Write down your definition of system on a
scratch piece of paper.

4. Systems Definitions
• An assemblage of inter-related parts or conditions
through which matter, energy and information flow.
(WA EALR’s)
• An organized group of related objects or components
that form a whole. (NRC)
• A collection of things and processes that interact to
perform some function. The scientific idea of a
system implies detailed attention to inputs and
outputs and interactions among system components.
(AAAS)
(Field Investigation Guide, pg 1 and pg 77)

5. Systems Definition
• What other systems
exist?
– Economies
– Society
– Human
Environmental
Impacts
– An weather event

6. Engaging your Students in
Understanding Systems
For instance ask your students to draw
and label a local system and answer...
“What questions do I have about this
system?”

7. Benefits from Engaging your
Students in Understanding
Systems
• Not just describing a
horned toad, but
looking at where they
live, what they eat,
what eat’s them, how a
farmer impacts them,
and how a farmer is
impacted by them
paints a clearer picture.
• What other questions
can you think to add to
the list above?

8. Parts of a Local Forest System
Air
Moss Tree stump
Deciduous
Tree
Ferns
Coniferous
Tree
Bare Soil

9. Parts of an Urban Ecosystem
Tree
(deciduous) Tree (conifer)
Building
Air
Car
Bush
Sidewalk Decaying Bare Ground
leaves

10. Parts of a Local Schoolyard
System
Coniferous
Tree
Deciduous
Grass Shrubs
Weeds
Wood chip
path
Gravel path
Bare Soil

11. Systems Questions
• We want to ask students systems questions:
– Function of parts
– Energy forms and transfers
– Roles of parts in ecosystem
– Interconnections in ecosystem
– Lifecycles
– Adaptations
– Inputs and outputs Systems
– Subsystems Questions

12. Why is Systems Understanding
Important?
• Content
background
(systems
understanding) is
crucial to asking
good questions.
• Good questions
are integral for a
successful field
investigation.

13. From Systems to
Field Investigations
Now let’s take the time to look at what
the Field Investigation process entails.

14. Field Investigation Process (pg. 3-4)
• Good Questions
Three types of Investigative Questions
• Hypothesis/Prediction
• Materials
• Procedures
• Collect, Organize and Analyze Data
• Conclusion
• Discussion

15. Types of Questions
• Essential Questions
• Investigative Questions
• Why? Questions
• Book – Researchable Questions

16. Types of Questions
• Essential Questions
Our
Focus
• Investigative Questions
• Why? Questions
• Book – Researchable Questions

17. Essential Questions
• Big picture questions
• Cannot be answered with one
investigation
• Connect various investigations

18. Essential Questions
“How healthy is
my stream?”

19. Investigative Questions
• Descriptive
• Comparative
• Correlative
Read the definitions on page 11 in the
Field Investigations guide.

20. Descriptive Questions (pg. 11)
1. How many ___ are there in a given area?
2. How frequently does ___ happen in a given period?
3. What is the (temp., speed, height, mass density, force, pH, etc.) of ___?
4. When does ___ happen during the year? (flowering, fruit, babies born,
etc)
5. Where does ___ occur over time? (What is an animal’s range?)

21. Descriptive Question
When Lewis and Clark were on their
expedition they were conducting a
descriptive investigation.
Their question: “What flora and fauna live in
this area?”

22. Field Investigation Process
Once we have completed a descriptive
investigation of our schoolyard or
natural area identifying the animals,
plants, and even the decomposers
that live there, we are then prepared
to conduct a comparative
investigation.

23. Comparative Questions (pg. 11)
1. Is there a difference in ____ between group (or condition) A
and group B?
2. Is there a difference in ___ between or among different
locations?
3. Is there a difference in ___ at different times (seasons)?

24. Comparative Question
Darwin’s finches are an example
of a comparative study.
“What are the differences in beaks among
finches on the Galapagos islands?”
http://www.biology-
online.org/2/11_natural_selection.htm

25. Correlative Questions (pg. 11)
1. What is the relationship between
variable #1 and variable #2?
2. Does ___ go up when ___ goes down?
3. How does ___ change as ___
changes?

26. Correlative Examples
1. What is the relationship between variable
#1 and variable #2?
– Such as between algae populations and the
birthrate of small mouth bass
2. Does ___ go up when ___ goes down?
– Such as temperature, pH, water levels, salinity
WHEN salmon #’s, # of anglers, # species of
trees
3. How does ___ change as ___ changes?
– Such as barometric pressure, viscosity, shadow
length AS precipitation, temperature, time

27. Correlative Question
Examples
1. Do animal tracks increase with greater forest
canopy cover?
2. Does the salmon population go down when
dissolved oxygen levels go up?

28. Comparative vs. Correlative
There is a fine line between these two investigation questions because
sometimes it seems that you are collecting the same data.
Here is how they are different:
Comparative – only collecting one set of data. Example Question:
Does the average height of same-aged Douglas Fir trees differ at
100 feet, 500 feet or 1000 feet above sea level?
– Students are comparing the height of trees at different
predetermined elevations.
– Data collected = height of trees
Correlative – actually collecting two sets of data. Example Question:
How does the average height of same-aged Douglas Fir trees
change as elevation increases?
–Students are looking for a correlation between height and elevation.
–Data collected = height of trees AND elevation.

29. Activity:
Investigation Questions for Sorting
• After reading these instructions, press ESC to exit this
presentation and return to the main Moodle site.
• Download Field Investigation Questions for Sorting
document and determine the type of investigation for each
question: descriptive, comparative or correlative.
• Check your answers using the Field Investigation Questions
for Sorting - Answer Key (also on the main Moodle site).
• Then, re-open the Introduction to Systems, Questions and
Field Investigations PowerPoint, return to this slide and
continue with the presentation.

30. A Sample Temperature Investigation:
Webinar
• Click on the link
below and the
archived webinar
page will open in
your browser:
http://www.eeweek.
org/webinars/field_
investigations
Then… Click Here and Watch
Minutes 22:47 to
39:00

31. Now What?
Continue through the Field Investigations section so you will be
ready to give it a try!
Page 42 in the guide explains thoroughly how
to use your student’s questions to build a
field investigation.
And…as a bonus:
Studies show that kids who
learn outside learn more, and
achieve higher grades!
Have fun and encourage kids
to think outside the
classroom!