RET PARTNERSHIPS SUMMER 2016

What is killing the soybeans? (And how do we stop it?)

Will Swain - Biology Highland Comm. Schools

Practice Elements:

S1 Ask questions and define problems

S3 Plan and carry out investigations

S4 Analyze and interpret data

NOS Science is a way of knowing

NOS Science address questions about

the natural and material world.

NOS Science is a human endeavor

Crosscutting Concept Elements:

Patterns, Scale, Structure and

Function, Cause and Effect

Disciplinary Core Idea:

DCI LS1-A, Genes can influence traits

DCI LS1-C & LS2-B Matter cycles

DCI LS3-B environment can influence

traits

Target Grade Level: 10

Learning Performance:

Design, plan, and carry out

multiple investigations looking

for patterns in the data that tell

us under what environmental

conditions we see expression of

SDS symptoms in different

genetic lines of soybeans.

The Lesson begins with a photo from a field near

Ainsworth, (a small town in our district that has high

amounts of SDS (Sudden death Syndrome) in Soybeans.

The question posed to students is very open ended.

“When you see this photo, what questions do you have?”

All student questions are recorded on the board. These

questions become the basis for the first lesson, “Types of

questions and how to best answer them.” How to best

answer a question depends on the type of question. The

objective of this discussion is to show that some questions

come down to beliefs, some are solved through

consensus, but for many question the only way to get to

the truth, is to do science.

Once we have picked out the good science

questions, the next step is sorting into “what is already

known” from “what is not yet known.” This requires the

help of those in the field. I will bring in Meagan

Anderson, the ISU field agronomist for southeast Iowa, to

discuss what is currently known about SDS and why it is

such a problem for farmers in the area. Then I will ask her

“what pressing questions need answered?” After that,

we will pick 4 things we want to know and we can then

design experiments to find those answers.

At this point in the unit, I will introduce vocabulary

like variable, control, hypothesis, prediction. Students

will work in teams to design their experiments. The

Leandro Lab will supply; beans of different lines, the Fv

(a fungus that causes SDS) and other supplies. Once

designs have been developed students will evaluate

each other’s designs. When the groups are ready, we will

conduct the experiments. We will collect data and

interpret that data.

While the beans are growing students will gather

information about the nitrogen cycle by reading the

Chapter in “Omnivore’s Dilemma- There goes the Sun”.

This will be used to introduce the Nitrogen cycle and

roles of organisms in the ecosystems to cycle nutrients.

Connections to the Next

Generation Science Standards

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RET PARTNERSHIPS SUMMER 2016

One aspect of your lesson Phenomena The anchoring phenomena is

the photo with the dead beans.

What is killing them (Which we

answer very early in the unit)

and how can we stop them from

dying? (Still an open question.)

Other Resources Iowa State University Field

Agronomist

Science Partners I would like to thank the

Leandro Lab for their partner-

ship with my lessons going

forward. They have already

provided me with various lines

of soybeans, Sorghum grains

that are inoculated with Fv and

some that are sterile along with

other misc. equipment that is

necessary to purse this

phenomena. The project

changes over the years I am

sure that they will provide what

is need for this unit.

Additional Unit Plan

Information: http://bit.ly/2a4TeCF

Teaching Practice explicitly in the context of learning DCI’s

requires a more thoughtful approach to assessment of practice.

Traditionally many teachers have assessed science content (or

DCIs) with quizzes and practices with lab reports. My belief is

that the lab report is a weak assessment of experimental design

and analysis of data. At best it tells you if one person in the

group understands, (and that student may simply be parroting

what they heard in class.) The practice of design and data

interpretation must be assessed individually with novel design

and data interpretation problems. I have shared 2 examples:

Design Question: Mr. Swain has 9 total bee hives, 4 in one

location, 5 in another. He has determined that 8 of the hives are

invested with mites. There is a new mite treatment (treatment R) on

the market and he wants to know if it works better what he had

used 3 years ago when he had this problem. (treatment A)

1. Design an experiment for him so he can get the

information he needs.

Data Question: Mr. Johnson had 30 bee hives all of which had

mites. He treated 8 with apistan( A) and 16 with thymol (B) 6

remained untreated.(C)Results after treatment (A)6 mite free (B)9

mite free(C)2mite free.

2. What conclusions can you draw? Explain in detail why

you did (or did not) draw your conclusions. Use math

The grading of these questions would be enhanced with a rubric

to which the students have access during or before the quiz.

(e.g. correct use of science vocabulary, control of variables,

using math in order to compare data sets of different sizes, etc.)

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