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GK-12 at Gull Lake Community Schools
What's New!
Furthering the partnership between KBS and community schools, the Board of Education of the Gull Lake Community Schools approved the creation of an outdoor learning area on school grounds near the newly built high school. The area surrounds a water retention pond and will be used by several grade levels to study topics such as classification of organisms, water chemistry, and adaptations of organisms to different environments. This year, each of the 8 GK-12 fellows will partner with a Gull Lake teacher to develop an inquiry activity to use in the outdoor learning area. |
Project Overview
Our goals for Gull Lake GK-12 are to:
- Improve classroom content through the development and refinement of lessons, with emphasis on, though not restricted to, ecological content.
- Develop outdoor resources to enrich classroom content.
- Improve teaching skills for the fellow through mentoring by partner teachers.
Visit Gull Lake Community School's website
Read Gull Lake's GK-12 plan for the 2006-2007 school year
Read Gull Lake's GK-12 plan for the 2007-2008 school year
Partner Teachers
Schoolyard Ecology
The teachers involved in the GK-12 project at Gull Lake Community Schools recently obtained approval from the Board of Education to set aside a designated outdoor learning area. The next step is to develop curriculum materials to use this area across all grade levels. One important goal for setting up the area is to show how different topics, such as chemistry and biology, are tied together. For example, with the retention pond in the area, water quality may be examined in an earth science or chemistry class, while a biology class could focus on examining the organisms living in that water. Bringing the organisms back into the classroom also means they can be used in student experiments, changing the pH or adding fertilizers to simulate runoff from lawns or farms. Younger grade levels can examine different plants to learn about botany, examine the different plants from the wet areas near the retention pond and compare them to plants upslope to examine adaptation, or observe birds to study behavior. In addition to this future potential, the area has already been used by 5th grade to practice mapping skills and by 10th grade biology students to examine issues of estimation, sampling, and diversity. By using the same area throughout their education and across disciplines, the students will be able to develop an appreciation for the complexity of the natural world through their own experience.
Lesson Plans
Ecology of disturbance: Implications for the water and nitrogen cycles
Abstract: Students will be introduced to using data in Excel, specifically in the context of how humans impact different natural processes. The exercise uses data from Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest to show the impacts of clear cutting on stream flow and nutrient dynamics. Students will make graphs and develop interpretations based on those graphs about the impact of humans on nitrogen and water cycling.
Files: Lesson Plan, Excel Data File, Extensions
Optimal Foraging
Abstract: This activity introduces the idea of foraging behavior and optimality, as well as the context dependence of behavior. After a short introduction, students will forage for candy in groups, and results from the initial activity will be the focus for further discussion.
Files: Optimal Foraging Lesson Plan, Optimal Foraging Worksheet
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