FOSS Modules as the Foundation for Place-Based Science Education in Hawai'i
By Ania Driscoll-Lind, Education Program Director, Kula Nai'a Foundation, Hawai'i

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Examples of Extensions of the FOSS Modules from the 2003–2004 School Year

Example I: Grade 3

The third-grade teachers already had a full science unit developed on whales to coincide with the winter quarter when the humpback whales migrate to Hawaiian waters. So, I proposed that this year we pilot the Physics of Sound Module during the fall. This worked very well. By winter quarter the students who used the Physics of Sound Module already understood important vocabulary and concepts needed to study how the whales used sound in the marine environment. They already understood the difference in the speed that sound travels through water vs. air.

In addition, the students studied the different kinds of toothed and baleen whales and the types of sounds that each group makes. Because they already understood pitch, frequency, loudness/amplitude, and Hertz they could apply those concepts to the different types of sounds made by marine mammals. All four classes created their own humpback whale songs. Small groups created phrases and then each class combined their phrases to create a unique song. The quarter culminated in a whale-watching trip to see and hear humpback whales in the wild.

STUDENTS WATCH A BREACHING HUMPBACK WHALE ON THEIR WHALE-WATCHING ADVENTURE.

A smaller group of about 20 students participated in an after-school workshop created by Dolphin Quest Inc. and the Kula Nai’a Foundation. The students studied the many types of dolphins and toothed whales, which ones were found in Hawaii, how dolphins make and receive sound, and how dolphins used the different kinds of sounds. Then the class made a trip to the Dolphin Quest facility where they had a chance to meet the bottlenose dolphins and to put hydrophones in the water to listen to the dolphins echolocation clicks and whistles.

STUDENTS GET UP CLOSE WITH A DOLPHIN AT THE DOLPHIN QUEST FACILITY.

Example II: Grade 4

The fourth-grade teachers were the heart of the HNLC project at our school. They were chosen as the first-grade level to pilot a place-based science unit. All of the fourth-grade teachers were experienced and trained in using technology in the classroom. They all had at least a year of experience working with FOSS modules. During the summer of 2002 summer, the fourth-grade teachers and I had a planning meeting. The teachers chose to concentrate on the Measurement, Water, and Structures of Life Modules.

After discussing the possible projects we decided to focus on the anchialine (from Greek meaning "near the sea") ponds found along the coastline. These ponds are created by fresh water traveling through lava tunnels to the ocean. The fresh water mixes with the salty ocean water. These ponds have no surface connection with the ocean, but ocean water moves in and out of the ponds through underground lava tubes with the rising and falling tides. As a result, these ponds support a unique assemblage of organisms, many endemic to this unique ecosystem.

Anchialine ponds are also important because they are an integral part of the water cycle on our island. The rain that falls in the upslope forests and grasslands runs through the lava tubes to exits into the ocean. Studying this cycle created a good opportunity to teach the children about the traditional Hawaiian resource management system for a watershed called the ahupua’a system.

These coastal ponds are quickly disappearing. The west coast of the island of Hawai’i had about 90% of the anchialine ponds in the United States. Most of the ponds are now gone, having disappeared under the hotels and condominiums that have been built in the last 15 years.

During our second year of teaching the anchialine pond unit, we coordinated with two local experts at two very different sites on the Kona Coast. To better compare the two sites we divided the four fourth-grade classes into two groups. One group visited the anchialine ponds and fishponds that are maintained by Mr. David Chai and his staff at the Four Seasons Resort at Hualalai. The other group visited the ponds that are currently being restored by Mike Ikeda of the Queen Lili’uokalani Trust at the Papawai site near Kona. John Kahiapo, the education specialist for the State of Hawaii Department of Natural Resource, Aquatic Division was also an invaluable resource. He patiently worked with children naming and spelling the Hawaiian names for the native organisms that live in and around the ponds. Alan Nakagawa of Mobile Education Partners provided essential assistance and technology tools for the pond study.

Because there are at least three species of shrimp that are endemic to Hawaiian ponds, the crayfish investigations from the FOSS Structures of Life were good preliminary activities. In addition to learning about the characteristics of crustaceans, diagramming the body parts of the crayfish, and learning to observe their behavior, we extended the investigations by having the students use digital microscopes to investigate crayfish molts. Dean Swanson of the Just Think Mobile was able to help by providing additional laptops and microscopes and by working with the students to help them learn to use these tools. Having the crayfish investigations as a lead-in activity was useful both to help them learn about the parts of a crustacean and to learn how to use the microscopes. These microscopes were then used to study the native Hawaiian shrimp.

THESE PHOTOS ARE OF THE 4TH GRADE USING MICROSCOPES TO INVESTIGATE CRAYFISH AND ANCHIALINE POND SHRIMP.

In addition, the students made some basic water-quality measurements, such as temperature and salinity. This followed naturally from the investigations in the Measurement and Water Modules. By using temperature probes provided by Alan Nakagawa of Mobile Education Partners, we collected data for over a week before each trip. Then, when the classes visited the field sites, we measured the salinity of the ponds and downloaded the temperature data to a laptop computer. The temperature data were then reduced from the over 25,000 data points for each pond, down to just one temperature reading every six hours. The students then graphed these numbers for each of the ponds and compared the changes in temperature in the two ponds over the course of a week.

Ania Driscoll-Lind is a marine scientist and science education specialist working with the Waikoloa Elementary School. She is the education program director for the Kula Nai'a Foundation (www.kulanaia.org). You can contact Ania at ania@kulanaia.org or 808-883-6808.