| Lab Name |
Monitor outdoor Brassica rapa plants
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| Subject Area |
Biology, Math
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| Grade |
9
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| Topic |
Scientific inquiry – germination and photosynthesis experiment
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| Experiment Title |
Using sensors to monitor outdoor Brassica rapa plants
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| Hardware |
COSMOS Toolkit, IoT Nodes with sensors (i.e., temperature, humidity, polluting dust, luminocity, CO2).
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| Software |
COSMOS Toolkit Framework, Chronograf.
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| Number of Sessions to teach the topic |
1-3 sessions (2-3 weeks project)
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| Educational standards to be addressed |
NYS Core Curriculum
- Key Idea 2
Beyond the use of reasoning and consensus, scientific inquiry involves the testing of proposed explanations involving the use of conventional techniques and procedures and usually requiring considerable ingenuity.
- Key Idea 3
The observations made while testing proposed explanations, when analyzed using conventional and invented methods, provide new insights into natural phenomena.
- Key Idea 5
Organisms maintain a dynamic equilibrium that sustains life.
NGSS
- HS-LS1-2
Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms.
- HS-LS1-5
Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy.
- HS-LS2-3
Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in ecosystems.
- HS-LS2-5
Develop a model to illustrate the role of various processes in the cycling of carbon among the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere.
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| COSMOS concepts to be used for the lab |
Real-time data, Chronograph formatting of results allow students to correlate environmental factors (temperature, humidity, light intensity, carbon dioxide, polluting dust) with Brassica rapa germination, photosynthesis and flowering.
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| K12 Educational Goals (How the educational goals are achieved through teaching using the experiment, how the topic is connected to the COSMOS concepts used) |
It develops a number of research-related skills (i.e. assess data and problem solve experiments), as well as understand how organisms interdependent on their environment.
They will develop a number of research-related skills (i.e., assessing Chronograf results and problem-solving experiments).
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| Short Description and Walk-through of the experiment |
- Research which school ground’s location: (east-2nd fl bridge, west-facing Hudson river park, south-dog park, north-Hudson river docks) you want to grow the Brassica rapa. Be sure to cite at least 1 article that supports your choice for this location.
- Research soil conditions: (i.e. fertilizer, number of seeds, soil depth, backboard). Be sure to cite at least 1 article that supports your choice for this location.
- Initial proposal: Discuss the reasons for the choices your team made in regard to the Brassica rapa garden location, growth requirements (soil), predicted key environmental factors, predicted growth rate and final growth stage characteristics.
- Data: Collecting data (2x/wk): Use sensors to record temperature, carbon dioxide, humidity and plant growth progress (i.e., number of plants, number of flowers, total leaf area, stem size, root size, total weight).
Communicating data: Upload your weekly data for days 1, 2, 3… 30 via Google drive spread sheet “2019 Econome - Using sensors to manage an outside garden.” (see example on following page).
Analyzing data: Discuss trends between environmental factors and the growth progress of your Brassica rapa garden.
- Final report: Data: photographs, number of plants, number of flowers, total leaf area, stem size, root size, total weight; conclusion – was your chosen location a good match for your plants’ requirements, what environmental factor was key to growth, what environmental factor was detrimental to growth, what would you differently in the future).
Presentation: 5-10 minute, 1-3 MS-Powerpoint slide summary of results to class (Highlight responsibilities A-E).
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| Testbed mapping of the experiment |
Testbed nodes-sensors can provide real-time data on temperature, humidity, and CO2 and help manage certain fragile or threatened ecosystems.
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