OCELOTS

Resource Type

• Implementation Plan and Teaching Notes

Courses

• Ecology

Course Level

• Introductory

Bloom's Cognitive Level

• Foundational: factual knowledge & comprehension
• Application & Analysis

Vision and Change Core Competencies

• Ability to apply the process of science
• Ability to use quantitative reasoning
• Ability to tap into the interdisciplinary nature of science

Vision and Change Core Concepts

• Information flow, exchange and storage

Four Dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) Framework

• Core Ecological Concepts
  • Organisms
    • Abiotic and biotic features of the environment
  • Community
    • Species diversity – biodiversity – dominance
    • Behavioral ecology
  • Ecosystems
  • Landscapes
  • Biomes
    • Biome types – tundra, boreal forest, deciduous forest, grassland, shrubland, desert, tropical rainforest
  • Biosphere
• Ecology Practices
  • Natural history
    • Making observations and connections
  • Fieldwork
  • Quantitative reasoning and computational thinking
    • Statistics
    • Data skills – inputting and data-mining / meta-analysis/ data visualization
    • Data analysis and interpretation
  • Designing and critiquing investigations
    • Study design, familiarity with basic modes of ecological inquiry (description, comparison, experimentation, modeling)
• Human-Environment Interactions
  • Human dependence on the environment
  • Human accelerated environmental change – there is no pristine ecosystem nor total equilibrium
  • How humans shape and manage resources/ecosystems/the environment
    • Conservation biology
• Cross-cutting Themes
  • Spatial & Temporal
    • Biogeography

Class Type

• Lecture
• Discussion Section
• On-line

Class Size

• 1-50

Audience

• Life Sciences Major
• Physics or Engineering Major
• 2-year College
• 4-year College
• University

Lesson Length

• Multiple class periods

Key Scientific Process Skills

• Asking a question
• Formulating hypotheses
• Analyzing data
• Interpreting results/data

Pedagogical Approaches

• Case Study
• Other

Principles of How People Learn

• Motivates student to learn material
• Focuses student on the material to be learned

Assessment Type

• Assessment of individual student performance
• Exam/quiz, in class
• Answer short answer question(s)
• Informal in-class report