Hello, Double-O STEM Club agents! We need your special STEM skills for this important mission. Manny needs your help with a problem in his neighborhood.
Think about these questions as you watch the video. Write answers in your Double-O STEM Club notebook.
In this Community Garden Pest Management Solutions case, students will use library resources to complete the following tasks listed below. The learner version of the case can be found using this link.
Learners will need a place to take notes as they brainstorm and research solutions to the problem. Although questions are presented in the agent section of the online chapter, this course also includes a downloadable handbook for each case with brief activity descriptions, questions, thinking prompts, and white space for taking notes. This is presented as an "agent handbook," as learners are acting as new agents helping the main character with the mission/problem. Librarians may choose to download and print this handbook for learners or have them do it. Alternatively, librarians may decide to have learners type answers on a computer or provide learners with a folder in which to place the printouts or spiral notebook in which to write answers, sketch ideas, etc.
The following link to the handbook is also available to students in their student version of this book.
Double-O STEM Club Agent Handbook: Community Garden Pest Management
For your convenience, the student version of each activity is located in the "Think," "Create," and "Share & Grow" sections of this book.
Learning Objectives
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) - Engineering
American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Standards - Inquiry
Learning Activities
This activity introduces the case and the charge to propose an urban garden plan for a vacant lot of 100 X 80 feet. Problems associated with the case involve creating a plan to maintain the garden. Secondary problems include determining how to clean up pollution, determining what to plant seasonally, helping the garden become self-sufficient, managing pests, and so forth. During this activity, Double-O STEM Club agents will identify main and secondary problems affecting the case and develop questions based on those problems for library research.
Materials
Setup
This activity includes whole-class and group discussion. Set up an area that allows the librarian to introduce the case and share examples via internet websites. Provide agents with notebooks and writing instruments and encourage them to capture ideas (through words and illustrations) as they work on this case. Allow agents to brainstorm problems associated with the case and questions that may require additional research. Capture main ideas on a whiteboard, easel pad, or other medium. Be sure to ask agents if there are aspects of other cases they have completed that might apply in this case.
Activity 1: Discussion
Now that you have seen the video, work with other Double-O STEM Club agents to think about the problem and a solution.
Guiding Questions:
Learning Objectives
Next Generation Science Standards - Engineering:
American Association of School Librarians Standards - Inquiry:
Although gardening can yield delicious fruits and vegetables, it can also attract unwanted pests (e.g., rabbits, rodents, bugs, fungus and mildew). Fortunately, gardeners have dealt with these pests for thousands of years and several techniques exist to reduce their effects on crop production. Individually or in small groups, Double-O STEM Club agents will leverage library materials, including the internet to research pest management practices. They should strive to locate practices that are environmentally friendly. Agents should summarize findings in their handbooks and be prepared to present and discuss with the group.
Materials
Setup
Prior to the lesson, set up a seating arrangement that allows for whole and small group discussion around a hands-on activity. Focus the seating arrangement on the tool used to capture ideas.
Activity 2: Pest Management Research
Use library resources to answer your research questions. Talk with your fellow agents about the best places to search for your answers. We can’t risk mission failure with missing information, so be sure to take notes.
Guiding Questions:
Learning Objectives
Next Generation Science Standards - Engineering
American Association of School Librarians Standards - Inquiry
Based on library research, and/or group discussions, Double-0 STEM Club agents will determine the evaluation criteria used to examine pest management prototypes. A draft evaluation checklist or rubric should be developed to help agents know what they should strive to accomplish as they develop and test prototypes. Do not provide more than 8-12 criteria.
Materials
Setup
Prior to the lesson, set up a seating arrangement that allows for whole and small group discussion around a hands-on activity. Focus the seating arrangement on the tool used to capture ideas.
Now that you've researched pest management barriers, it’s time to think about how to measure the effectiveness of possible solutions. Brainstorm evaluation ideas that you might use to test prototypes. Discuss answers to the guiding questions in this section with other Double-O STEM Club agents. Remember to take notes.
Guiding Questions:
Learning Objectives
Next Generation Science Standards - Engineering
American Association of School Librarians Standards - Inquiry
As individuals or in small groups, have Double-O STEM Club agents create a scale drawing of the gardens, paths, compost areas, tool storage, and other areas in their 100 x 80 square-foot space. The drawing should include a corresponding key to indicate where gardening features (e.g., raised beds, pots, vertical planting, trellises) will be placed in the space. Agents should present their plans to other agents and incorporate feedback and additional ideas into future plans.
Things to instruct agents to consider when creating their drawings include:
Present your plan to other agents and incorporate feedback and additional ideas into future plans.
Materials
Setup
Focus the seating arrangement so agents have space to draw but can still see each other in classroom and small group discussions. Place writing instruments in a central location where agents can get them on an as-needed basis. However, this activity also includes small and whole-group discussion. Make sure the seating arrangement allows for whole and small group discussion.
Activity 4: Garden Drawing
Create a scale drawing of the gardens, paths, compost areas, tool storage, and other areas in your 100 x 80 square-foot space. The drawing should include a key that indicates where gardening features (e.g., raised beds, pots, vertical planting, trellises) will be placed in the space. Share your plan with other agents and incorporate feedback and additional ideas into future plans.
Guiding Questions:
Learning Objectives
Next Generation Science Standards - Engineering
American Association of School Librarians Standards - Inquiry
Accordion body.
During this activity, Double-O STEM Club agents will use materials provided in the library to prototype pest management structures (e.g., fencing, screens, plant selection barriers, motion detectors) based on previously conducted library research. Agents will then present their prototypes (and their rationales for development) to the large group.
Materials
Setup
Make sure agents will have access to computer resources for internet, database, and library catalogue research. Set up an area where whole and small groups can congregate. Use this area to introduce the activity, provide examples, brainstorm and consider criteria to examine, and develop and present findings.
Activity 5: Pest Management Prototype
Time to start building! Based on prior research and using library-provided resources, create a model pest management structure for your garden. Have someone in your group write down the design decisions you make along the way.
Guiding Questions:
Learning Objectives
Next Generation Science Standards - Engineering
American Association of School Librarians Standards - Inquiry
During this activity, Double-O STEM Club agents will receive feedback on their pest management prototypes (if they have not already done so during the design activity) and use that feedback to make revisions. Following revisions, they will continue to seek feedback and improve their prototype.
Materials
Setup
This activity involves whole and small group discussion around a hands-on activity. Prior to beginning this activity, set up at a table in a space that allows room for agents to display their prototypes for peer review; to discuss feedback and ideas among the group; and to refer to activity instructions and take notes in their handbooks. Agents should also have access to computers and the internet to perform further research as needed. As an option, agents or librarians may want to take photos of their prototypes for later reflection.
Activity 6: Prototype Feedback
Share your ideas with other agents in your club and answer the guiding questions on the right. Examine the recommendations and decide what you can do to incorporate them into a new prototype. Be sure to write down your design decisions.
Guiding Questions:
Learning Objectives
Next Generation Science Standards - Engineering
American Association of School Librarians Standards - Inquiry
Near the end of this case, Double-O STEM Club agents will showcase their work (plans, composters, seedlings, data analyses). Agents will describe their proposed garden area and structures, the design decisions used to develop them, how testing and reflection improved their product, and how they would continue to perfect the model if given the opportunity. Presentations can be given live, video recorded and uploaded online, written and illustrated, or a combination of these approaches. Use this session to celebrate accomplishments and creative thinking.
Materials
Setup
This activity includes individual and group discussion. Prior to the lesson, set up a seating arrangement that allows for whole and small group discussion around group presentations. Make sure to decorate the presentation space with celebration materials. Provide agents with their notebooks, photographs and videos of prototypes and testing examples, summaries of evaluation criteria for their prototypes, and a copy of their best prototype. Also provide tools for groups to develop a short presentation about their work.
Activity 7: Showcase and Reflection
Great job, agents! I knew I could count on you to solve Manny's community garden pest management problem. Now it is time to share your designs. As a group, share your prototype (make a new one if yours was damaged during testing).
Guiding Questions:
Learning Objectives
Next Generation Science Standards - Engineering
American Association of School Librarians Standards - Inquiry
Celebration
Excellent community garden pest management designs, agents! Watch the video below to wrap up this Double-O STEM Club mission.
This content is provided to you freely by EdTech Books.
Access it online or download it at https://edtechbooks.org/double_o_stem/CommunityGardenPestControlSolutions.