Initial Publication Date: October 17, 2025

The Wetlands pcMEL

The Wetlands pcMEL asks students to consider different viewpoints on the uses of wetlands, a socio-scientific issue. Some people value what wetlands offer the local environment, such as habitats for all types of organisms and a place for floodwaters to collect away from where people live. Others perceive them as property to develop or as a breeding area for mosquitoes. The Wetlands pcMEL uses two different conceptual models of a socio-scientific issue that focus on value to society, as opposed to two different models of a scientific phenomenon.

The Models

Model A: Wetlands provide ecosystem services that contribute to human welfare and help sustain the biosphere.
Model B: Wetlands are a nuisance to humans and provide little overall environmental benefit.

Show me information about the models.

Student Handouts

Wetlands Model Plausibility Ratings (Acrobat (PDF) 144kB Jun25 25)

Wetlands MEL – Diagram (Acrobat (PDF) 185kB Jun25 25)

Explanation Task (Acrobat (PDF) 52kB May6 24)

Lines of Evidence

Evidence #1: Wetlands play a role in the global cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur. Wetlands change these nutrients into different forms necessary to continue their global cycles.
Evidence #2: Flooding is a natural occurrence in low-lying areas and wetlands are places where floodwaters can collect.
Evidence #3: Wetlands contribute 70 percent of global atmospheric methane from natural sources.
Evidence #4: Many wetlands are located in rapidly developing areas of the country.

Student Handouts

Wetlands pcMEL – Evidence Texts Color (Acrobat (PDF) 1.7MB Jul8 24)
Wetlands pcMEL – Evidence Texts BW (Acrobat (PDF) 746kB Jul8 24)

Virtual MEL

The Google Drive folder below contains MEL resource documents in the Google formats. In order to maximize the flexibility of our activities, the MEL Project Team wanted to make more resources compatible with virtual settings. We have made our MEL scaffolds available in Google formats, so that they can be copied, modified, and uploaded more easily on a variety of platforms and devices. Please note that to access all the materials for each MEL scaffold, you will need a Google account. View the README file first.