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PhyloCards: a fun approach to exploring the local Wissahickon biodiversity, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PA

Author(s): Hilton Oyamaguchi1, Grant Brugger2, Rebecca Dalton3, Elizabeth Figiel3, Glenda Garcia3, Erin McCarthy3, Robert Sabatino3, Sanverdine Anna3, David Contosta4

1. Biology Department, Chestnut Hill College 2. Environmental Science Program, Chestnut Hill College 3. Interdisciplinary Honors Program, Chestnut Hill College 4. History Department, Chestnut Hill College

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Summary:
PhyloCards are educational trading cards that teach people about biodiversity, conservation, and ecosystem relationships. We used this educational tool to explore the Wissahickon Valley's biodiversity in Philadelphia, PA, and to engage our college…

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PhyloCards are educational trading cards that teach people about biodiversity, conservation, and ecosystem relationships. We used this educational tool to explore the Wissahickon Valley's biodiversity in Philadelphia, PA, and to engage our college students in learning more about our local species and environmental issues. This activity aims to teach about native and non-native species, food chains, and the human impact on the local ecosystem. The game integrates core ecological concepts like biodiversity and species interactions while touching on human-environment interactions.

Licensed under CC Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International according to these terms

Version 1.0 - published on 17 Jun 2024 doi:10.25334/58MD-0025 - cite this

Keywords

  1. species richness
  2. Pokemon Go
  3. biodiversity literacy
  4. trophic chain

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Description

Phylocard Deck Creation Project

This hands-on worksheet guides you through researching our local biodiversity and creating visual depictions through photography and art about your local biodiversity in the PhyloCards design format (Ng, 2024). The PhyloCards combine science, creativity, and environmental awareness (Ng, 2024). PhyloCards are more than just educational tools, they are a creative way to connect with the environment and learn about the diversity of life on Earth. By participating in this Phylocards production, our goals as a class are 1) to create a deck depicting our Biodiversity in the Wissahickon and its threats, and 2) Design our Wissahickon Valley biodiversity game to engage our students to learn about our local biodiversity.

PhyloCards are educational tools designed to engage individuals in learning about biodiversity, conservation, and the relationships within ecosystems (Ng, 2024). They were developed as trading cards in response to the Pokémon card mania. Children can identify Pokémon characters better than local wildlife, suggesting that conservationists need to find innovative ways to engage children with the natural world (Callahan et al., 2019). These cards not only provide information about the organisms or events they depict, such as scientific names and habitat requirements, but also encourage a deeper understanding of ecological principles and the importance of preserving natural diversity (Ng, 2024). This education tool can help fight the negative effects of reduced interactions with nature as we shift towards a more urbanized and virtual society.

Objective: Create a set of PhyloCards to understand and appreciate our local biodiversity in the Wissahickon, highlighting two plant species, one fungus, one animal, and two events (one positive and one negative) affecting the ecosystem.

Context: This lesson plan suits middle school, high school, and introductory undergraduate courses that discuss biodiversity, ecology, and conservation. The module would also work well for environmental education events, where students could be the facilitators.The PhyloCards were designed for and used in classroom settings to teach students about local biodiversity and ecological interactions.

In this lesson plan, you will find: 

  1. Worksheet to produce the PhyloCard deck
  2. Phylocard deck from the Wissahickon Valley 
  3. The Wissahickon Card Game board with the adapted instructions on how to play.

 

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