Quantifying Terrestrial and Marine Species Biodiversity in

Pelham Bay Park

Eric ShannonAPES Teacher

The Brand New AP Environmental Science (APES) Program at Discovery

High School…

• Brand-new AP program• APES requires a great deal of lab hours, ideally

many field hours as well• Pelham Bay Park is only about an hour by

public transit, 20 minutes or so if I can obtain a bus from my school.

General Goals for this Trip

• Students will observe firsthand marine and terrestrial biodiversity.

• Students will engage in multiple techniques used to estimate biodiversity (transections, “catch and release,” quadrant gridding, etc.)

• Students will apply a mathematical model to estimate populations within an area based on data they themselves obtain.

About Pelham Bay Park

• More than 2,500 acres– Largest public park in NYC

• Last stop on the 6 train– To get to Orchard Beach, another short (4 minute)

bus ride

From my school to Pelham Bay Park

My Project

• Entrance activity (WebQuest) with critical review of various articles and video on estimating biodiversity.

• Two complete 4-hour lab activities to take place in Pelham Bay Park that will require common household items and that will focus on methods of estimating biodiversity

• Exit activity involving gathering all data from the two lab activities for a class-wide presentation, as well as creation of presentations in pairs.

What APES standards would this trip address, you ask?

• Students will be performing hands-on scientific inquiry and experimental design.

• Students will be analyzing the abiotic factors of waves, light and heat on ecosystems through interactions of energy and matter.

• Students will be directly investigating the interdependence of organisms, the organization in living systems and the behavior of organisms.

• To properly analyze the abundance and distribution of living organisms in the target ecosystem, students have to understand energy transfer in the earth system and geochemical cycles.

• In using a variety of sampling equipment and statistical analyses, students will need to understand the abilities of particular technological designs.

• Students will be documenting population growth and environmental quality in the target ecosystem, as well as observing human impacts on the environment.

What APES standards would this trip address, you ask? (cont’d)

Trip Brochure/Permission Slip

WebQuest

Sample of Articles from WebQuest

Lab Activities

Exit Projects/Rubric

Location Scouting