Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology: Betsy Colburn

Showing posts with label Betsy Colburn. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

What do We do with the Data?

Okay Now That We Have Collected the Data, What Do We Do with It???

A Brief Sketch of the Process:

1. Read database instructions to input fall data on our online database, by January 1st at the latest.

(See links below)

2. Send us a photo of your field site

as an attachment so we can add this to our database.
Photo is mandatory for Changing Forests project and optional for
other projects.

We only need 1 photo for each field site or plot. If you have
already sent one, you are all set.

3. Input Fall field data

4. Double check accuracy.

See Instructions link below for more on what to look for specifically.

5. Email Information Manager at: boose@fas.harvard.edu to upload once your data is ready.

This is important if you want to download/graph your data before dates below. Otherwise fall data will be uploaded on January 31^st and spring data will be uploaded on June 30^th.

6. Download Data

7. Graph Data to look for patterns

Graphs Using Harvard Forest Online Graphing Tool :

Graphs Using Other Graphing Software:

Attend the Looking at Data Workshop at Harvard Forest for help with all of this!

Thursday, December 15th

Harvard Forest

9am-3pm

Attend the Data Workshop and we will walk you through all of these steps if you are a first year Schoolyard teacher.

If you are an experienced Schoolyard teacher, we encourage you to input data on your own and then use the Data Workshop to polish your data literacy skills...go deeper into data analysis and/or representation.

How will the day be structured? One workshop will support Schoolyard Ecology teachers with beginning through advanced data management, graphing, and/or analysis skills. We will convene as one group, spend most of the day in break out groups by skill level (self-determined by teachers) and reconvene at the end of the session to see advanced teachers share graphs and other products they developed in the session.

Outcomes: Teachers/Educators will have materials and knowledge necessary to manage and graph project data. Educators will have materials to support students in better understanding what the data are revealing about study themes. Specific outcomes will vary depending on the experience level and goals of each participant.

When is it?  Thursday, December 15, 2016

Times:   9:00a.m. -3:00p.m.

Who is Invited?   This workshop is intended for teachers who are currently participating in a Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology project. We often accept requests from teachers looking to preview the program and/or collaborating non-profit or governmental agencies to attend.

Registration Process: Email Pamela at psnow@fas.harvard.edu with "Data Workshop Registration" in the subject line. Include in your email the following: your name, your school name, your project name, and the grade level(s) you teach.

What Level? In your registration email, include the level you identify with ( level 1-1st year, wanting guidance on data entry; level 2 second or more year-wanting to begin graphing using HF graphing exercises; level 3 wanting to graph/work with individualized goals, our own data or cross site data) Feel free to consult Pamela if you are not sure what level to register for. If you are selecting levels 2 or 3, please indicate what software program or hand graphing, etc. you intend to work with during the workshop.

Is This Worth my Precious Time Away from School???

Here is what teachers said last year about the workshop:

Teacher comments from 2015 Workshop:

"It was very helpful and it made me more confident in my understanding and usage of the data set. It also made me feel more confident in having my students use the data that they collected."
I exceeded my goal and accomplished much more: calculating growing season, data entry of vp and phenology data, introducing Erin to HF and integrating her into the system, opportunity to share and collaborate with teachers and HF staff
I have a better idea of the type of data that is available through the LTER database. I can identify reliable sources/complete data sources versus ones that have questionable reliability or ones that are incomplete.
I learn more and more each time I come out... I always bring something back to my classroom that I can directly use.
Graphs are wonderful and an important way to look at data. Betsy's presentation helped me to understand how to better look at graphs and how important it is to select the right graph for the data. For me graph reading can be challenging so any additional information and support I receive is so important. I suspect I am not the only person out there with graph reading challenges!

Links for Schoolyard Ecology Data Resources :

Database Instructions

Submit Data on HF Database

Sample Teacher-made Graphs

Harvard Forest Schoolyard Data Documents by Betsy Colburn

Slides from 2015 Looking at Data Workshop are posted on our website at:

Intro to Data Visualization by Betsy Colburn

Level I Data Workshop Presentation by Emery Boose

Show Me a Picture I'll Tell You a Story Presentation by Betsy Colburn

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Vernal Pool Student Projects

Concord Middle School Students worked in teams to create slide presentations about Vernal Pools as an enrichment activity related to their Schoolyard Ecology Vernal Pool project.

Teacher Tara Fernandez-Davila set the students the task of developing pages with a graph, an intro. to vernal pools, and one question of interest, using Google.docs. See samples of their work below. Comments from Project Ecologist, Betsy Colburn and Tara F.D. are interspersed with slides.

Notes from teacher, Tara Fernandez-Davila:

Students visited the vernal pool 5 times (typically) over the course of the year
Students spent just over a week in the spring working in groups to develop the slides. The slides include:
An overview of vernal pools
A graph of the data we collected from 2011-2015 (I'd like next years' students to analyze these graphs more)
A food web (developed by students using vernal pool field guides)
A personal question of interest. Their questions varied a lot from research-based questions to inferential questions that require long-term study. Time constraints made it difficult for my students to spend more time in one school year, but I'm excited to have these slides as a base for future students.

Note from Pamela Snow, Schoolyard Ecology Coordinator:

Ecologist Betsy Colburn and I discussed the fact that the food webs are trickier than one might expect because there are so many species involved and many of the species overlap multiple times in their food chain connections. I believe it is still a worthwhile exercise as long as you make it clear to students that none of the food webs they created are totally complete or specific to the pool you are studying as each vernal pool community would vary somewhat. I like including this aspect in order to have students look closely at the complex way in which organisms are interrelated. Next time, students may perhaps add a note at the bottom of each food web/chain slide indicating that this diagram does not represent every organism or every interrelationship in this vernal pool community (which of course is all we can expect at this level).

Sample Graph Slides:

The graphs in figures 1 and 2 make a nice contrast-same set of data, very different looking results! Great examples for comparisons.

Betsy Colburn

Project Ecologist

Comparing the graph in figure 3 with those in figures 1 and 2 above, shows how scaling on the X axis makes an enormous difference in the result!

Betsy Colburn

Project Ecologist

This graph is nice in that it shows diameter on each date clearly, and also somewhat gets around the time-scaling problem by showing each year individually with distinct colors for the months.

Betsy Colburn
Project Ecologist

Notes from Project Ecologist Betsy Colburn regarding graphs:

They (graphs) show very clearly how variable the pool diameter and water depths are over time in a given year, as well as how they differ from one year to the next. Students could put a few words on the slide explaining what the graph shows (for example, do you consider that the pool depth is pretty stable, or pretty variable, during the time when it is flooded?) In relation to the line graphs, it is interesting that the patterns are not the same in the different graphs of pool diameters over the years, even though (presumably) the students used the same set of data. And, the question of the scale used on the X axis makes a big difference. Depending on how the data are put in and how the computer chooses to make the graph, the distances between points on the graph might not represent the relative distances in time between the sampling dates. There are lots of things that can be done with looking at these graphs and comparing and interpreting them!

Note from Pamela Snow:

Graphing a real data set is complex and challenging work for middle schoolers and we are very pleased to see such an array of approaches to this task. Isn't fascinating to see how each group of students approached the work so differently? In talking with Betsy Colburn, we decided that these graphs provide an exciting learning opportunity. We have chosen not to provide specific corrections/edits to any of the graphs here, but instead encourage teachers to encourage a class/group discussions between students and teachers, to see if issues re: accuracy or the ways in which types of graphs or the way they have been displayed might enhance or take away from the ability to effectively interpret the data. Having this set of graphs available for the entire class to look at perhaps next year, and think about which one(s) they think most effectively tell the story of what was happening with water levels/diameters at this pool is a wonderful teaching resource. I could imagine some rich discussions and learning coming from this. I agree with Betsy's recommendation to add a short description of what students think the graph is showing next year.

Some broad issues to consider as represented in the set of graphs above and in the larger collection on our website:

Are the axes labelled?
Is the reader able to clearly see the information in the graph? We saw issues with the axes here. Many of the dates on the x axis on these slides appeared too small to read even when expanded to maximum size the blog would allow.
Look at the scale of the time axis to see if it properly reflects the time between observations.
If choosing a line graph, remember to remove the lines connecting long time periods such as the winter. Lines in areas where data was not actually recorded can show relationships between data points that don't actually exist.
Often bar graphs are a better choice for data sets such as this one that have long stretches of time (between Nov. and May) with no data.
Graph type such as a pie graph would not make sense given the particular story about water depth and diameter students are telling with this study.

After Slides were Completed:

I had my students do a peer review of the slides today to gather information from each other. It has been a great process so far, but as a first attempt, I hope Betsy will understand the simplicity of their analysis. I think these slides will serve as a great starting point for students to study next year because now they will have some resources to launch from for further/ deeper investigation. Exciting!

-Tara Fernandez-Davila

General Comments From Betsy Colburn on Student Work:

Tara, I am impressed by the multiple years of data and the results of the measurements, as well as the broad scope of the biological/ecological investigations you have your students carrying out. It is clear that the students are deeply engaged in these studies, and I hope you are finding them useful in meeting some of your goals as an educator. Do you find that having several years’ worth of data on water depths and pool diameters helps you and your students in interpreting what you see going on, biologically, in the pools? It will be interesting if, as you suggest, next year’s class looks more at the data and the year-to-year (and within year) variations in depths and diameters!

I enjoyed going through the slide shows the students prepared. Most of these slides are well laid out and easy to read, with good, clear text. Most of the photographs do a very good job of accompanying and illustrating the written information.

Some of the slides would benefit from having the sources of information cited on them; others do have the sources right there. I think this is preferable to having the sources cited at the end of the slides, in the case of scientific/biological information. On the other hand, the description by Aaron, Adam, Josh and Garrett in the last slide of their slideshow, summarizing how they obtained their data (primarily from field work at the vernal pool), was useful for clarifying that their reports were largely self-generated, as opposed to having come from online research.

I enjoyed seeing what the students observed, and learning how they interpreted their field measurements. Great slide show! Thanks, Betsy

Wow! What rich learning you students and teachers are sharing with us. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for letting us get a peek at your good work!

To Learn More:

See ALL of the Slides developed by Concord Middle School students on our website atthe link below. Scroll down to the vernal pool section under "Fernandez-Davila":

http:// Student Work Samples; Vernal Pool Slides

See the field site location and data from Concord Middle School and our other vernal pool partner schools at: https://maps.google.Vernal Pool sites and data