Title: Aquarium Project

Discipline: Life Science

Ability: 7^th Grade

Time: 4 days

NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards:

5.1, 5.5, 5.10, 5.8

Procedure:

The Aquarium project was a four day lesson that was broken up into 2 days of research on the group’s specific fish, one day of proposal writing and one day of peer reviews.

On the first day the “Request for Proposals and Instructions for Proposals Process” handout was given to the students. The students spent 3 days researching their fish and writing their proposal using reference books we had in the classroom and the Internet. On the 4ht day the students read the proposals from other classes and filled out a “Proposal Critique Form” for each proposal. The proposals were scored by the students on these critiques forms and the winning proposals were the ones that received the top scores. The tank designs from the winning proposals were used to create 6 aquariums in the classroom on which the students monitored the water quality on a weekly basis.

Included in this section are the handouts from the project, notes that were done in preparation for the project, examples of student proposals and critique forms.

Assessment of Aquarium Project:

This lesson went very well in most classes. Because so much time was spent preparing the students for this project, the students were very excited when it finally came time to do the research and write the proposals. Many groups made extra efforts to research the needs of their assigned fish. When it cam time for the students to critique proposals from other groups the students were very interested in what other groups had come up with. They were quick to note when they thought other groups did not care enough about the project based on their proposal, and also impressed when other groups included ideas in their proposals which they had not thought of. The project created an environment of competition because the students knew that the best proposals would win. We stressed that the best proposals would be the ones the students justified all their designs and included ways for the fish to spawn in the tank.

We stressed to the students that this exercise was as true to life as we could possibly make it in the classroom. The activity helped develop skills that the student will need their whole lives. These students will be judged and labeled for the rest of their lives, sometime based on how and what they write. This is an exercise in making the best possible impression with writing. A teacher made an analogy between applying for a job and this exercise. You would not hire someone who could not spell or write in complete sentences, or have good handwriting. We stressed to the students that a good proposal was one that was neat as well as researched. We also stressed that justifying answers and explaining methods is vital to a good proposal. If the students did not have full explanations for their methods than the reviewers (other students) would not know why it was put into the proposal.

This project really caught the students’ interest. Students were always constantly asking to work with the tanks once or twice a week. We did not have enough time in the school tear to complete all the lessons and fully set up the tanks. If this project is done again it should be started earlier in the school year.

Other comments/notes: Create space under each statement for the students to explain why they were giving the scores they did.

Add room for the students to explain the schedule that they created.

For statement 14, what if the fish is not sensitive? Change the statement.

Make sure all groups put the fish name and period on the form.

Make sure all the students write the same name of the fish on the application. Either scientific or common.

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