Model-Eliciting Activities:

Copyright ©2012 – Florida Center for Research in Science, Technology, Engineering, and MathematicsLearning Systems Institute – Florida State University

Model-Eliciting Activities:

Dr. Melissa Dyehouse, CPALMS MEA SpecialistDr. Adam Santone, CPALMS Science Specialist

Applying Engineering Principles to Science and Mathematics

2012 FCR-STEM Conference


Agenda MEA overview and accessing MEAs on CPALMS MEA activity – Plants vs Pollutants MEA Group brainstorming and writing MEA Initiative


Realistic, open-ended problems with a client Team-based Product is the process for solving the problem

A model the client can use Integrated across subjects

Mathematics Science English Language/Arts Other context areas

Model-Eliciting Activities


• Proposed, tested, and refined by hundreds of teachers, parents, and community leaders who worked with researchers.

• The goals of the project that led to developing the 6 principles were:

6 Principles for Developing MEAs

MEA PrinciplesModel creation

RealisticSelf-assessmentDocumentation

Shareable & ReusableEffective prototype

o Solutions to problems should involve important mathematical ideas.

o Tasks should emphasize the kinds of problem understandings, characteristics, and abilities needed for success in real-life situations – not just in school settings.

o Teachers should be able to gather useful information about their students’ conceptual strengths and weaknesses for more effective teaching. From Lesh et al. (2000)


Research Learn about students’ developing knowledge

Formative assessment Model eliciting = thought-revealing

Learning content Example: Plants vs Pollutants MEA

Support 21st century skills Problem-solving, communication, teamwork

How are MEAs used?


Students read a problem statement (e.g., letter, RFP) from a fictional “client” stating a problem.

Students work in teams to develop a procedure, or model, to give to the client.

Student teams write a letter back to the client explaining their models/procedures.

Students receive a 2nd problem statement, or “twist”.

Teams test and modify (if needed) their models and write another client letter.

The teams present their work.

Basic steps of an MEA


Toothpaste MEA (grades 2-4 and 3-5 versions): this MEA is based on a children’s book. Students must choose among criteria such as cost and taste to decide the best toothpaste recipes.

MEA ExamplesTurning Tires MEA: 9-12 grade students design a procedure to select the best tire material for certain situations by applying geometric concepts through modeling.

Water Filter MEA (grades 2-4 and 3-5 versions): students are asked to develop a procedure for ranking water filters to clean the water for a turtle.

Energy Sources MEA (grades 9-11): Students must select the most promising, sustainable, and helpful energy sources to invest in for the future.


Example Dataset at the Elementary Level

Using the data provided, students must write a letter back to the client explaining their procedure for selecting the best toothpaste recipe.

Toothpaste MEA


Example Dataset at the High-School Level

Using the data provided, students must write a letter back to the client explaining their procedure for selecting the best tire material to use in a given situation.

Turning Tires MEA


Navigate to www.cpalms.org

Under the “Resource Center” tab, do a keyword search for “MEA”

Find MEAs on CPALMS

http://www.cpalms.org/


1. Read the letter from the client.

2. In small groups or with a shoulder partner, develop a procedure for determining how to select the best plants for each research site.

Activity – Plants versus Pollutants MEA


Determine whether your procedure still works with the new data. If the procedure works, determine if it can be improved

upon. If the procedure does not work, determine if it needs

to be tweaked or if additional steps need to be added. Make these changes.

Part 2 - Test your procedure

Client letter 2 excerpt:Recent efforts in our program have identified a new set of plants that may be of use in our phytoremediation program (see Dataset 2; new plants are shaded) and we would like for your group to evaluate these plants against the earlier set of plants.


In what ways is the MEA different from other lessons that you have used in your classroom?

What is something you would change in the Plants vs Pollutants MEA to modify for your students?

Debrief


MEA-Specific

• Informational text• Client letter 1• Dataset 1• Client letter 2• Dataset 2• Instructional

suggestions• Letter templates 1

and 2

Lesson Plan-Related

• Standards• Title and description• Learning objectives• Assessment

– Readiness/comprehension questions

– Reflection questions• Prior knowledge• Accommodations and

Extensions

Primary components of an MEA


Standards alignment Quality vs quantity

Aligned to at least 2 subject areas for MEAs (e.g., Science and ELA)

Standards


SC.912.L.17.16: Discuss the large-scale environmental impacts resulting from human activity, including waste spills, oil spills, runoff, greenhouse gases, ozone depletion, and surface and groundwater pollution.

SC.912.N.4.1: Explain how scientific knowledge and reasoning provide an empirically-based perspective to inform society's decision making.

SC.912.N.4.2: Weigh the merits of alternative strategies for solving a specific societal problem by comparing a number of different costs and benefits, such as human, economic, and environmental.

NGSSS Science: Plants vs Pollutants


MACC.912.F-BF.1.2: Write arithmetic and geometric sequences both recursively and with an explicit formula, use them to model situations, and translate between the two forms.

MACC.912.F-BF.1.1: Write a function that describes a relationship between two quantities.

Mathematical Practices

MACC.K12.MP.1.1: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them MACC.K12.MP.2.1: Reason abstractly and quantitatively MACC.K12.MP.3.1: Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning

of others MACC.K12.MP.4.1: Model with mathematics

CCSS Mathematics: Plants vs Pollutants


Writing Standards for Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects Grades 9-12 LACC.910.WHST.1.2: Write informative/explanatory texts, including

the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.

LACC.1112.WHST.1.2: Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.

CCSS Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects: Plants vs Pollutants


What skills should students already have in order to successfully learn the selected content standards?

Plants vs Pollutants Know the structure and function of roots, leaves, and

stems Have a basic familiarity with elements including arsenic,

cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc Know how to read and interpret data tables

Prior Knowledge


Readiness/comprehension questions What is the problem? Who is the client and what are they asking you to do? What do you need to include in your letter? What advantages and/or disadvantages might phytoremediation

techniques offer? What characteristics would describe an ideal plant for

phytoremediation? Reflective questions

What are strengths and weaknesses of each type of plant? If the situation were slightly different, would your plant type

need to change? Who has a different strategy or procedure?

Assessment Example: Plants vs Pollutants


Pumpkins pull pollutants out of contaminated soil Citation: Graham, S. (October, 2004). Pumpkins pull pollutants out of

contaminated soil. Scientific American. Retrieved online from: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=pumpkins-pull-pollutants&print=true

General discussion questions: Why do you think the researchers tested these five plants? Why do you think that phytoremediation might be used rather than

another technique to remove pollutants? What are some advantages and disadvantages of phytoremediation?

Text dependent questions: Under what conditions does the article imply that phytoremediation

works best? Why did the researchers use soil from the Canadian Arctic?

Informational Texts Example: Plants vs Pollutants


Client Letter 1 Provides a realistic context Provides the problem Usually a letter from a fictitious client The first dataset is included with the letter and

any additional materials that students need to solve the problem

Client Letter 2 Provides a “twist” to the original problem. The client usually presents a scenario in which

new data need to be considered.

Problem Scenario: Client Letters 1 and 2


Open-ended – not a clear choice stands out Adding a column of qualitative data helps make

this more open-ended If students use simple ranking procedures, it’s

good to have ties so then students must prioritize Typically around 5 columns of “plant types, etc.”

and 5 rows of attributes (e.g., plant size, remediation capability)

Dataset 1


Dataset 2 encourages students to test their models and modify them if necessary to fit with new data.

The simplest Dataset 2 adds a couple more rows of data.

An additional column, or attribute, can be added for consideration as well.

Dataset 2


Goals Publish original, high-quality MEAs on CPALMS Aligned with Common Core Math and ELA Freely accessible to all educators on CPALMS Written so that they are easy to follow for the

novice teacher

CPALMS Innovative Initiatives with MEAs


Problem Scenario Data

Brainstorming

SC.912.L.17.16: Discuss the large-scale environmental impacts resulting from human activity, including waste spills, oil spills, runoff, greenhouse gases, ozone depletion, and surface and groundwater pollution.


Get involved with the CPALMS MEA Innovative Initiatives and get paid for writing MEAs:

Email Melissa Dyehouse for more information:[email protected]

How to get involved

mailto:[email protected]


For questions related to MEAs and MEA Development Initiative, contact: Melissa Dyehouse, CPALMS MEA Coordinator

[email protected]

For questions related to phytoremediation, MEA content, or science standards, contact: Adam Santone, Science Specialist

[email protected]

For more information



Model-Eliciting Activities:

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