Modeling WallCology: Technology Scaffolds for Building, Predicting, and Reasoning Around Models of Simulated Ecosystems

• In Event: 32.029 - Supporting Science as a Modeling Practice in the Classroom Through the Lens of Next Generation Science Standards

Abstract

Objectives. We engaged students in a complex sequence of individual, small group and whole class modeling and investigative activities. The project centers around the notion of Embedded Phenomena (Authors, 2006) in which a complex phenomenon is embedded in the physical classroom environment (i.e., walls, floor or furniture), providing a focus for student inquiry. We describe the role of modeling as students investigate the Wallcology phenomenon, in which simulations of digital insect ecologies are embedded in the classroom walls. Computer monitors (called “Wallscopes”) are affixed to the walls, providing “x-ray” views to reveal different habitats (wood, plaster, and brick), physical characteristics (temperature) and a variety of vegetation (mould, scum), herbivores and predator insects (see Figure 1). These species and their environmental conditions are governed by underlying biological models produced by a population biologist. The models drive the simulation, resulting in a tacit but discoverable set of conditions including food web relations, habitat preferences, and environmental sensitivities (e.g., certain species thrive on brick surfaces, or at higher temperatures). Students must deduce these regularities through inquiry activities, guided by a curricular sequence or “script”.
Theoretical Framework. A pedagogical model called Knowledge Community and Inquiry (Authors, 2012) guided our design of activities, tools and materials. Because the various walls (and their respective ecosystems) differ in environmental conditions, insect species and population levels, students working on one wall must depend on their peers working on the other walls to uncover the underlying food web and ecological models. KCI curriculum emphasizes such dependencies, following previous learning community models (e.g., Brown & Campione, 1996).
Methods and Data. The 10-week curriculum began with students individually recording food web relationships, then collectively assembling a whole-class food web to support their further investigations. Ultimately, students must use their derived models to inform their response to environmental “catastrophes” (e.g., habitat destruction or climate change) that occur within their assigned walls. The models guide their decisions about manipulating the species and habitats (e.g., through trapping or seeding of species). This paper reports on two years' progress in designing supports for students in this challenging task. We begin with a review of the overall curriculum sequence, the role of modeling as a necessary process within that sequence, and the specific activities and scaffolds that supported student modeling. We review limitations in Year 1, and how those informed a targeted intervention to help students develop modeling knowledge and expertise.
Results. In Year 1, we found that students spent a disproportionate amount of time creating food webs and models before arriving at whole-class consensus. This left little time for students to actually work with their models. In Year 2, we designed explicit supports for modeling, including a tablet application where students explore feeding relationships (food chains), competition and indirect relationships (e.g., effects along a trophic cascade). This allowed students to interact with richer representations and concepts in a controlled context, preparing them for complexities of their Wallcology ecosystems and the inquiry activities that would require model-based decisions.

Authors

• James D. Slotta, Boston College

• Michelle Lui, University of Toronto - OISE

• Rebecca Cober, University of Toronto

• Tom Moher, University of Illinois at Chicago