The Maine Lakes Conservancy Institute – Student Portal
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Transcript of The Maine Lakes Conservancy Institute – Student Portal
The Maine Lakes Conservancy Institute – Student Portal
Teacher Resource Section:Student Portal Description and Template Development
Process By Betsy BassTemplate Lake & Lake Watershed:
Wilson Pond, Wilton, Maine
Wilson Pond by David Karkos
Why have a Teacher Resource Section with a Template?
• To simplify the icon population process for the MLCI Student Portal for teachers
• To simplify the process of exciting and directing students to complete works to post on (populate) each icon topic area by:
A.) Supplying sample answers & resource lists B.) Supplying student activities that direct students towards discovering the answers to questions listed under each iconC.) Supplying teachers with rubrics to coordinate their programs with:- The Maine Learning Results (MLR) & - - The National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Students Photo by Betsy Bass
Purpose
• Topic: Lake Ecology• Grade Level: Middle
School – but can be adapted younger or older
• Curriculum: Environmental Science/ Ecology, but can be integrated with many other disciplines such as language arts, math, history, art, and others
Wilson Pond by Betsy Bass
What is the MLCI Student Portal ?
• The Student Portal is a site within the MLCI website: http://www.mlci.org/ where:
• Teachers can retain students enthusiasm about lake ecology and a long-term project
• By posting their work on a world-wide website• Where the students can also see other
students’ work!
Fish Fish
by Katie Haenn, Age 11
What are the Icons?• 1. Lake History• 2. Aquatic Plants• 3. Lake Life• 4. Lake Log• 5. Creative
Expressions• 6. Lake Lore• 7. Unique or Special
about Your Lake• 8. Community Initiatives
What Else Does the Student Portal Template Include?
• Process Development Document
• Icon Introduction• Resources• The Maine Learning Results:
Science & Technology Standards and Rubric
• The National Educational Technology Standards for Students and Rubric
• AcknowledgementsPhoto by Betsy Bass
Process Development
• Goal: What format would most benefit teachers?• Developed Format:
– 1. Answer to Icon Question – 2. Resource List:
• A. Interviews – people, organizations• B. Written Material – Journals, Books, Newspapers,
Published or Unpublished Documents, Letters, Speeches, Other
• C. Websites– 3. Student Activities to Help Discover Answers
Icon Introduction • Purpose• How to Use It
– Answers– Resources– Student Activities
• Standards: ISTE NETS & MLS• Pitfalls and Hints• Information Repository – Your
Local Library• Student Activity• Significance to Schools and
Lake Communities
Photo by Betsy Bass
Icon #3: Animal Life
• Who lives on your lake and what do they eat?
• Are there any introduced species?
• Are there beavers, loons, snapping turtles?
• What species of fish have been found?
• Can you diagram the basic food web in your lake? Try It!
Juvenile Cormorant by Betsy Bass
Icon #1: Lake History
• What is the origin of your lake?• When was your lake likely formed? • Why classify lakes and how is it done?• What type of lake do you have?• What is the geology of the region? • What surrounds your lake – mountain or ice features
like eskers or deltas?• Are there any archaeological sites, or hunting or
fishing camps?
1910 Photo, Wilson Pond
Printing Warehouse, Inc.
Icon #2: Plant Life
• Can you identify the plants in your lake?
• Do you know all the beneficial aspects of the plants in your lake?
• Are you on the lookout for invasive species
Pond Lily by Betsy Bass
Icon # 4: Lake Log
• Who, if anyone, monitors the water quality on your lake?
• How long have records been kept?
• Are there any trends? • How can you
contribute?• Has anyone looked at
how property values have changed over time?
Photo by Ship Bright, MLCI
Icon # 6: Lake Lore• Interview the residents in
your community for stories about your lake.
• What historical figures left a legacy?
• Are there any famous events that took place? Or, any notorious visitors who paraded the shores?
• Can you find the origin of the name of your lake or of any of its major points, islands, or peninsulas?
Icon # 5: Creative Expression
• What inspires you about your lake?• Are you a poet, a painter? • Share art about your lake with others…• What are some of the past and current artists and writers
in your community? Interview or research them!
Loon Photo
by David Karkos
Icon # 7: What is Special or Unique About your Lake?• Are there any dams on your lake?• What does the watershed look like? • And what (towns, agriculture, industry, logging) lies
upstream and in your lake’s watershed?• Are there any special projects involving your lake –
historically or on-going? • Is your lake a drinking water supply?• Has there ever been any ice harvesting – how much and
for whom? • Is there any public land around your lake – and, if so,
how is it managed?• Are there any conservation easements – if so, what kind
and on what much land?
Ice House on Wilson Lake
Postcard, 1910
Icon # 8: Community Initiatives
• Who’s involved in lake stewardship in your community?
• Do you have a lake association?• What do they do? • What could you do to help them?
Resources
• A. Interviews – people, organizations
• B. Written Material – Journals, Books, Newspapers, Published or Unpublished Documents, Letters, Speeches, Other
• C. Websites
Books by Wilton Author - Kathy Lynn Emerson
The Maine Learning Results(MLR)
• I. 6 Guiding Principles• For Grade Levels:
– Elementary Grades– Middle Grades– Secondary Grades
• II. Content Areas– * Standards
• * Performance Indicators• * Examples
Activity aligned with the Maine Learning Results
• Activity: Under Icon # 4: Lake Log • Question - Are their any trends? • “Have students compare and contrast secchi disc
readings (water clarity data) from before a municipal septic system was installed to after it was installed. Is there a change from before to after, and if so, what is the change and why might it have occurred?”
• Alignment: Science & Technology: B (Ecology):2,3,4;
• J (Inquiry & Problem Solving): 2,3,4; K (Scientific Reasoning): 8,9; L (Communication): 1,2,3; M (Implications of Science & Technology): 1,4,6,7
• Also – English Language Arts, Mathematics, & Social Studies Standards are relevant to this activity.
NETS - The National Educational Technology Standards for Students
• 1. Basic operations & concepts• 2. Social, ethical, and human
issues• 3. Technology productivity tools• 4. Technology communication
tools• 5. Technology research tools• 6. Technology problem-solving
and decision-making tools
Activity aligned with theNational Educational Technology
Standards for Students• Activity: Under Icon # 4: Lake Log
– Question - Are their any trends? – “Have students compare and contrast secchi disc readings
(water clarity data) from before a municipal septic system was installed to after it was installed. Is there a change from before to after, and if so, what is the change and why might it have occurred?”
• Alignment: – Students design tables, graphs, & spreadsheets– Students employ word-processing and graphics for report
writing – Standards: All six standards are relevant, however - 5 (research
tools) & 6 (problem-solving & decision-making tools) are strongly addressed.
AcknowledgementsI would like to thank the following people
and organizations. Unfortunately, not everyone who helped with this project can be listed here – but I thank all of you very much!
1. Your library is an excellent resource! Thank you to the Wilton Free Public Library and its Librarian, Vaughan Gagne.
2. Your Lake Association is also a tremendous resource! I would like to thank The Friends of Wilson Lake for their help.
3. The Contributing Artists and those we remember from the Past – I would like to thank Laurel Bottiggi Dube, Kathy Lynn Emerson, and David Karkos for their contributions and the early poets of Wilton.
Wilson Lake Photo
by Betsy Bass