Brook Wilke, Laurel Hartley Michigan State University The Missing Link Between Structure and Function in Biodiversity Education Difficulties at the K-12 Level ESA 2008 Brook Wilke, Laurel Hartley & Andy Anderson Michigan State University

Environmental Science Literacy The capacity to understand and participate in evidence-based discussions of socio- ecological systems. What scientific knowledge and practices should all students learn that will give them the capacity to be environmentally responsible citizens?

What does an Ecologist See?

What does an Ecologist See? A variety of plants, some of which they know the names of, most of which they could classify to a specific group (family) based on the plants traits. Specific plant species located in specific areas. They can provide an educated guess about the history of the area – why is this site a prairie? Exotic or invasive plants. Different species of animals, particularly birds, and many traits of these animals. They have a general understanding of the evolutionary and ecological factors that govern why the area is composed of the plants and animals it contains.

What does a 4th Grader See? An undifferentiated landscape

Our Research Question What are the steps that a student takes to become ecologically literate, particularly when thinking about a landscape and the biodiversity it contains.

Biodiversity Research Model Hypotheses about student understanding of biodiversity Assessments Students Model Revision

Learning Progressions Learning Progressions = descriptions of increasingly sophisticated ways of thinking about or understanding a topic. “Many standards and curricula contain too many disconnected topics that are given equal priority. Too little attention is given to how students’ understanding of a topic can be supported and enhanced from grade to grade. As a result, topics receive repeated, shallow coverage with little consistency, which provides fragile foundation for further knowledge or growth.” Taking Science to School (National Academy of Sciences, 2007) Our model is learning progressions, but during this process, we identify some key problems in student understanding of the diversity of life.

Framework - Scales Organism Population Ecosystem Life Cycle Evolution Growth Selection Reproduction Population Evolution Ecosystem Succession Individual Organism We’re beginning to see some patterns in student reasoning at the population and ecosystem levels, but by asking questions at these larger scales, we’re identifying problems at the level of the individual organism that limit understanding of larger scale processes. Population Ecosystem

Example – Potatoes What do you think the Europeans did to get their big, uniform potatoes from smaller, more variable Peruvian potatoes? Students invoke growing conditions instead of artificial selection / breeding. “I think, in order to get their potatoes more bigger they gave them the right amount of sun & water, or maybe their soil was better.” “They could have given it more care and the area where it was planted had more nutrients.” Students don’t see constraint placed on individuals by their genetic component.

Example – Pesticide Resistance Farmers often spray their crops to help prevent bugs from eating their crops. Over time, the bugs slowly become resistant to these sprays, and so the farmers have to use different sprays to protect their crops. Tell a story about how the bugs become resistant to the sprays. Approximately 5% of students correctly apply the principles of evolution (survival and reproduction) to explain the reason for the resistance to the bugs, instead citing the development of immunity by individual organisms. “The surviving bugs would have still lived in the fields. Their offspring would've been born into the chemical filled world, growing up in the fumes, and eventually their offspring would've been immune to it.” “It's like the bug is getting a vaccine like us getting a small amount of the disease and then them evolving.” Don’t see constraint on adaptibility of individual organisms – don’t see that most die and only survivors reproduce.

Example – Weeds Farmers till the soil to get rid of weeds. Why are weeds bad for crops? Competition for one resource only, and missing concept of niche/habitat. “They take up there [their] water and kill the plants.” Some students say that weeds are directly harming the crop plant (choking them out). “When crops are young they are very vonerble [vulnerable] so the weeds chock [choke] them.” “They take up room water and minerals and choke the other plants.” Question wording brings out competition. Constraints include habitat for plants, and limiting resources.

Example – Prairie Diversity Why are there so many plant species in a prairie? Why doesn’t the most “fit” species take over the entire area? Answers often include statements about plant species working together, benefiting each other, rarely citing niche differences or competition for limiting resources. “I believe there are so many plant species in the prairie because they all work together and provide necessities for one another. They form symbiosis’ in the prairie and benefit from them.” “There are so many species because they all feed off each other, to help produce more plants. The more close together they are the better and faster they grow.” Question wording brings out symbiosis

Common Theme = Constraints Organisms can’t do everything. Their structure and associated functions are constrained by: Phylogenetic Constraints Ecological (Abiotic and Biotic) Constraints

Constraints – Pesticide Resistance Farmers often spray their crops to help prevent bugs from eating their crops. Over time, the bugs slowly become resistant to these sprays, and so the farmers have to use different sprays to protect their crops. Tell a story about how the bugs become resistant to the sprays. Students don’t see the constraint on adaptability of individual organisms, and that organisms cannot pass on acquired traits Don’t see constraint on adaptibility of individual organisms – don’t see that most die and only survivors reproduce.

Constraints – Prairie Diversity Why are there so many plant species in a prairie? Why doesn’t the most “fit” species take over the entire area? Students don’t recognize abiotic and biological constraints placed on one organism by other competing organisms Question wording brings out symbiosis

Common Theme - Survivorship Ducks

Summary Organism Population Ecosystem Life Cycle Evolution Succession Growth Selection Reproduction Population Evolution Ecosystem Succession Individual Organism Population Ecosystem If students don’t understand constraints at the organismal level, they most likely won’t be able to understand larger scale processes such as evolution and succession?

What does a 4th Grader See? An undifferentiated landscape

What does a 4th Grader See? How often do our students actually visit and observe a prairie? “The task of science is both to extend our experience and reduce it to order… Only by experience itself do we come to recognize those laws which grant us a comprehensive view of the diversity of phenomena.” Bohr, quoted in Hawkins - 1991 Extending experience, reducing to order

Thank You Major Contributors Chris Wilson, Blakely Tsurusaki, Josephine Zesaguli, Edna Tan at Michigan State University National Science Foundation for funding the Environmental Literacy Project, LTER and the GK-12 Program Website: http://edr1.educ.msu.edu/EnvironmentalLit/index.htm MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Constraints – Potatoes What do you think the Europeans did to get their big, uniform potatoes from smaller, more variable Peruvian potatoes? Students don’t understand the genetic constraints placed on potatoes. Growing conditions (outside of phenotypic plasticity) can’t alter the color, shape and size of potatoes Missing the Genetic Basis of Life Students don’t see constraint placed on individuals by their genetic component.

Constraints – Weeds Farmers till the soil to get rid of weeds. Why are weeds bad for crops? Ecological constraints include limiting abiotic resources. Students may recognize one or two of these resources, but not a complete set that leads to the niche/habitat of an organism Question wording brings out competition. Constraints include habitat for plants, and limiting resources.