Ohio's Glaciated Paleoclimate
Leader
Lenore Teevan, School of Innovation/Springfield City School District
Demonstration
I will demonstrate and share the activity as well as the products created by the Environmental Science students. I will also help other teachers and informal educators to think of ways for them to adapt this activity to their regions so that the products will hold relevance for their students.
Abstract
I teach high school science at the School of Innovation, part of Springfield City School District. We are a Project-Based Learning (PBL) school. For our climate unit, students first learned about climate and feedback loops affecting climate. Students then chose a geological feature in our region (the Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer, the reservoir, Lake Erie, various ice-age animals whose bones/fossils have been found here) and related this feature to Ohio's paleoclimate during the Pleistocene Epoch. For their PBL projects, the students recreated Pleistocene biomes of their chosen animal, interviewed local historians and geologists and recreated rock layers. They are also preparing to write about it in the local newspaper.
Context
This activity was part of the climate unit in the Environmental Science class.
Why It Works
This activity is effective, innovative and worthwhile because students had a voice and choice in focusing on a personally meaningful aspect of Ohio's paleoclimate.