My Scientific Study

Question(s)

How can I apply the skills and traits of a scientist to other areas of study?

Overview

Students who have participated in the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s LabVenture! program will use their personalized websites to reflect on the research skills they gained and the species knowledge they learned. This activity will guide students through the four LabVenture! stations they completed by revisiting familiar content and answering new questions.

This reflection process prepares students to do similar scientific work studying a species within their own watershed that they identified in We’re Going on a Species Hunt. Teams of students choose one species to study in depth to better understand its role, the resources it needs, and its interactions with humans. Students then share their species research findings with their classmates in Species Swap.

Standards (MLR)

Learning Objectives

• Students will be able to reflect upon an experience, and pose and answer new questions to learn more
• Students will be able to apply the knowledge and skills learned during one experience to another

Materials

Computers with Internet access (for individuals or teams of students)

Time Needed

30-50 minutes

Activity Procedure

1. Brainstorm with your class what students remember from their LabVenture! program. Encourage them to think outside of the box (smells, sounds, feelings, skills and tools used…)

2. Divide students into their LabVenture! teams (if possible) or have them work individually to reflect on their LabVenture! experience using their personalized student websites.

• Log in here to access students’ websites: http://mystery.gmri.org/community/login.aspx
• If you have trouble logging in, email: scheduler@mystery.gmri.org

3. Use the reflection sheets below to guide students’ review of their LabVenture! experience. Allow students a minimum of 5 minutes and a maximum of 10 minutes to work through each of the separate investigation stations/student website pages.

• If your students participated in the Lobster: Untold Tales program, refer to the Lobster: Untold Tales student Reflection Sheet (view below or click link to download).

• If your students participated in the Mystery of the X-Fish program, refer to the Mystery of the X-Fish student Reflection Sheet (view below or click to download).

4. After students have completed their reflection sheets, revisit your class brainstorm. Have the students circle any skills, traits, knowledge, tools, methods, or processes that they experienced or used while they visited their personal websites. Are there any new words to add to your brainstorm list?

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LabVenture! Student Reflection Sheet

Lobster: Untold Tales

Download Reflection Sheet

Visit your personal LabVenture! website and reflect on your experience using the guidelines and questions below. You will be using the skills and knowledge that you gained during your LabVenture! experience to study a species within your watershed in depth.

What do Larval Lobsters Eat?

It’s not always easy to determine what an animal eats. It is rare that can scientists can observe animals eating in their natural habitat, and they don’t always have the opportunity to examine its stomach contents. During your LabVenture!: Lobster Untold Tales experience, you heard from up to 3 of 4 different scientists about the various methods that can be used to determine what Larval Lobsters eat (you can watch all 4 of these videos on your personal website). Based on these methods and your knowledge of a Larval Lobster’s habitat, you made a hypothesis (an educated guess) about what Larval Lobsters eat.

• Visit your LabVenture! website, What do Larval Lobsters eat page, and watch the videos about different methods used to study larval lobsters and your team’s hypothesis video.

• What prior knowledge did you need about Larval Lobsters in order to form this hypothesis?

You will be using similar skills and knowledge later to form a hypothesis about what your species of choice eats…and what eats it!

Lobstering for a Living

Lobstering is one of the most valuable fishing industries on the east coast of the United States and Canada. For more than 100 years, Maine lobstermen have worked together to develop and enforce rules to make sure there are enough lobsters to keep their businesses strong.

• Visit your LabVenture! website, Lobstering for a Living page, and brainstorm connections between humans and lobsters.

• How do scientists and lobstermen work together to better understand lobsters?

You will be determining connections between your species of choice and humans. Some connections may not be obvious, use this activity as inspiration to think outside of the box!

Lobster Adaptations

Every species has adaptations that make them unique and allow them to survive within their habitat. During your LabVenture!: Lobster Untold Tales program, you examined the various adaptations that adult lobsters have to help them grow and change, protect themselves, or migrate.

• Visit your LabVenture! website, Lobster Adaptations page, and examine the photos your team took of adult lobster adaptations.

• You studied one species of Lobsters closely, how do you think scientists tell different species apart?

You will be examining your species of choice in a similar way to discover the features that make it unique and the adaptations your species has that allows them to survive within their habitat.

Lobster Research Methods

Science can be tricky! Scientists need to be inventive about ways that they approach studying different species. During your LabVenture!: Lobster Untold Tales program, you learned about three different ways that scientists study the habitats that lobsters prefer, and you got to try out two of these yourselves.

• Visit your LabVenture! website, Lobster Research Methods page, and watch the three videos about different methods scientists use to study lobster habitat.

• List a pro and con of each method that scientists use to study lobster habitat.

You will be investigating your species of choice to find out where it lives, what it eats, its different life stages, and adaptations. As you learn more about your species, think about the various ways that you can discover (or that scientists have discovered) this information.

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LabVenture! Student Reflection Sheet

The Mystery of the X-Fish

Download Reflection Sheet

Visit your personal LabVenture! website and reflect on your experience using the guidelines and questions below. You will be using the skills and knowledge that you gained during your LabVenture! experience to study a species within your watershed in depth.

What does the X-Fish Eat?

It’s not always easy to determine what an animal eats. It is rare that can scientists can observe animals eating in their natural habitat, and they don’t always have the opportunity to examine its stomach contents. During your LabVenture!: Mystery of the X-Fish program you examined an X-Fish specimen to gather clues about what it might eat. Based on this method, you made a hypothesis (an educated guess) about what an X-Fish eats.

• Visit your LabVenture! website, What does the X-Fish eat page, and watch your team’s hypothesis video

• What prior knowledge did you need about X-Fish in order to form this hypothesis?

You will be using similar skills and knowledge later to form a hypothesis about what your species of choice eats…and what eats it!

Where are the X-Fish?

Some species live in very different habitats than us, making it difficult to see any connection that we may have to that species, and that species to us. During your LabVenture!: Mystery of the X-Fish program you got to play two different roles, one as a scientist, the other as a fisherman, as you examined the X-Fish.

• Visit your LabVenture! website, Where are the X-Fish page, and list the ways that scientists and fishermen work together to better understand the X-Fish.

• Can you think of any ways in which the X-Fish population is affected by the knowledge that fishermen and scientists have about it?

You will be determining connections between your species of choice and humans. Some connections may not be obvious, use this activity as inspiration to think outside of the box!

What is the X-Fish?

Every species has adaptations that make them unique and allow them to survive within their habitat. During your LabVenture!: Mystery of the X-Fish program, you examined the unique features of an X-Fish to identify it.

• Visit your LabVenture! website, What is the X-Fish page, and examine the photos your team took of the X-Fish specimen.

• You studied one species of fish closely, how do you think scientists tell different species apart?

You will be examining your species of choice in a similar way to discover the features that make it unique and the adaptations your species has that allows them to survive within their habitat.

What does the X-Fish do?

Science wouldn’t exist if we didn’t have questions. Some questions we can answer…some we can’t…yet! During your LabVenture!: Mystery of the X-Fish program, you observed schooling fish and made observations.

• Visit your What does the X-Fish do page on your LabVenture! website,  and watch your team’s observation video.

• Turn your team’s observations into questions.

• Watch the underwater videos that you captured during your investigation. Do you have any new observations? Any new questions?

You will be asking and answering a lot of different questions about your species of choice. The skills you used here will help you to refine your questions, find answers, and discover some of the questions that scientists still have about your species.

Reflection/Formative Assessment Ideas

Based on the class brainstorm list, have students write a personal list of the scientific skills, traits, and knowledge that they feel confident doing or using themselves. Have them write a separate list of skills, traits, and knowledge that they would like to practice and learn more about.

Extension Ideas

Have a great idea to share? Please leave a comment below.

Resources

• The Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s LabVenture! program for Maine’s 5^th and 6^th grade students

References

• http://mystery.gmri.org/community/login.aspx