Watershed Dynamics
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The NSTA Symposium: Watershed Dynamics took place at the Sheraton Hotel in Hartford,
CT, on Saturday, October 22, 2005. Ten educators were in attendance, representing
the states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and
Connecticut. The presenters were Dr. Bill Carlsen, author of the NSTA Press publication
Watershed Dynamics, and Steve Kerlin assisted. The symposium focused on the topic
of inquiry-based activities related to the topic of watershed dynamics. NSTA would
like to thank all the participants and the presenters for a job well done!
After a delicious continental breakfast and an introductory administrative session
during which Flavio Mendez, Symposia and Web Seminars Program Manager at NSTA, familiarized
participants with the contents of their folders (including the agenda, college credit
forms, talent release form, and pre-assessment), Bill began his presentation by
sharing about his background and experiences and the reasons why he and his co-author
Nancy Trautmann decided to write the book. Bill followed his sharing by asking the
audience to talk a bit about themselves and to share the reasons why they were present
at the symposium and about their expectations for the symposium. Very quickly Bill
learned that there was a lot of expertise in the audience, including teachers that
have been doing environmental science for many years. Over the course of the symposium,
Bill took advantage of the group's expertise several times by deferring questions
from the audience to them and soliciting their participation.
Bill did two activities during the half-day symposium, both involving the use of
computers. Bill brought several laptops with him, which allowed teachers to work
in pairs with each team using one computer. The first activity was about remote
sensing. Bill first used his computer and the screen display to show, step by step,
what the teachers would be doing with their computer. He realized that if the teachers
had the computers in front of them, they would not do a good job of listening and
following directions. All the images and the software tool to analyze the images
that Bill used were downloaded for free from different sites on the Internet. The
first image he showed was an aerial photo of where he lives in Pennsylvania. The
image was an infrared image, where plants appear red in color. He showed the audience
the Penn State University football stadium, the campus, the house where he lives,
and a nearby golf course. He also pointed out the football stadium at his son's
high school, which is made of artificial turf and does not look red on the infrared
image! Bill explained that when students are working for the first time with aerial
photos, it is best to begin with a photo of their community that shows landmarks
that the students can recognize easily. In fact, he said, even before the students
look an aerial photo, they should begin by doing a ground tour of the area around
the school and the target watershed and taking a lot of field notes.
Finally, it was time for the teachers to turn on their computers and begin their
exploration. All the groups looked at the same image of a rural region in Pennsylvania.
This image was not an infrared image, but an aerial photograph. The image included
a road, something that looked like a farm, and a stream. Together the teachers analyzed
the image and talked about possible effects of human activity on the stream. It
was very interesting to watch the teachers working like detectives trying to solve
a mystery, speculating on the effects of the human activity on the stream, based
only on a still photograph taken from an aircraft. Bill and Steve did a great job
moderating the discussion and asking questions that made the teachers observe the
image more carefully. At the same time, they walked around the room assisting the
teachers as they studied the image.
After a break, Dr. Carlsen continued with the second activity about computer modeling.
Using a different software tool, the teachers spent time changing initial conditions
on a problem to see how the end result would change. Computer models are used extensively
in many fields of science, from weather forecasting to the analysis of aquatic populations
in streams. This activity taught the value of computer modeling as a tool for scientific
discovery that can be used to prevent or lessen damage to populations and personal
property in case of natural disasters. The teachers enjoyed the two activities very
much, and they left the symposium with the knowledge of where to find the free software
and images needed to bring similar experiences to their students.
Want to see more photos taken during the program? Check out the photo gallery and
browse the program's agenda and the presenter's biographical information
For more information contact symposia@nsta.org
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Underwritten in part by NSTA Press |