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Title

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1Environment-Richness Relationships in Ephemeral and Permanent Wetlands: Guided Inquiry with Graph Interpretation (Abstract) | TIEE 1Biological Diversity in Wetlands: Applying the Scientific Method

Authors

Old VersionNew Version
1Amanda M Little (University of Wisconsin-Stout) 1Orissa Moulton ()
2Kaitlin Bonner (St. John Fisher College) 2Orissa Moulton ()

Description

Old VersionNew Version
1<p>This activity was designed to give students an opportunity to answer their own questions about richness-environment relationships and linear models using ephemeral ponds. The students compare differences in species richness-environment relationships between permanent<b> </b>and temporary wetlands using site-specific data collected as part of a large, long-term study of 57 permanent and ephemeral wetlands to generate and test hypotheses.</p>  1<p>This exercise, implemented in Fall 2018 in Texas A &amp; M University at Galveston Introductory Biology I (200 students), is an adaptation of the original teaching module &ldquo;Environment-Richness Relationships in Ephemeral and Permanent Wetlands: Guided Inquiry with Graph Interpretation&rdquo; by Dr. Amanda Little.&nbsp;</p>
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3<p><meta charset="utf-8" /></p>  3<p>&nbsp;</p>
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5<p dir="ltr">The data that students will be working with is part of the Chippewa Moraine Ephemeral Ponds Project, a five-year study of 57 wetlands in western Wisconsin. The data available to students includes two years (2013 and 2014) of environmental, plant, and aquatic macroinvertebrate data. Species/taxa richness metrics are included for macroinvertebrates and plants. All of the data is provided in annual mean format. 2013 was an average precipitation year (mean wetland water depth = 7.5 cm, SE = 1.4 cm), but 2014 was significantly above-average (mean wetland water depth = 28.5 cm, SE = 3.2 cm, P &lt; 0.001, paired T = 2.00, df = 56). More advanced students may be interested in comparing relationships between years and speculating as to why these differences may be due to altered hydrology.</p>  5<p><strong>Amanda M. Little. February 2018. Environment-Richness Relationships in Ephemeral and Permanent Wetlands: Guided Inquiry with Graph Interpretation&nbsp;<em>Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology</em>, Vol. 13.</strong></p>
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7<p dir="ltr"><meta charset="utf-8" /></p>  7<p>This laboratory adaptation modifies a sophomore level Ecology exercise into a freshman-level introduction to the Scientific Method, appropriate for students at the start of their first semester of an Introductory Biology sequence. The exercise is designed to take place within a 3-hour laboratory section. Through this exploration of a real biological and environmental dataset, students learn the vocabulary and format of the Scientific Method (question, hypothesis, prediction, replication, independent and dependent variables, controlled variables) and follow a guided tutorial for processing diversity and environmental data using Microsoft Excel (data organization, graphing, and statistical testing). By placing this laboratory exercise at the front of the course, an expectation for team collaboration, careful work, and rigorous exploration of scientific content can be made transparent to new students.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
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9<p dir="ltr">Aquatic macroinvertebrates were sampled three times during each growing season using surface-associated activity traps placed on the perimeter of each wetland. Wetlands were sampled using three traps (ephemeral ponds) or five traps (permanent wetlands), because the permanent wetlands were substantially larger than the ephemeral ponds. Wetland water chemistry was assessed three times during each growing season using field multimeters. Total phosphorus (U.S. EPA 1978), soluble reactive phosphorus (O&rsquo;Dell 1993) and chlorophyll-a (Arar 1997) were also measured three times per season, and determined in the laboratory. Finally, plant data was collected using quadrats once per growing season in late July through early September.</p>  9<p>This adaptation from the original version&nbsp;has two main objectives, listed below along with specific changes made.</p>
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11<p dir="ltr"><strong>Please cite as:&nbsp;</strong></p>  11<ol>
   12   <li>Reduce biological and quantitative complexity for use in the Introductory Biology laboratory classroom</li>
   13</ol>
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13<p dir="ltr">Amanda M. Little. 2017. Environment-Richness Relationships in Ephemeral and Permanent Wetlands: Guided Inquiry with Graph Interpretation.&nbsp;<cite>Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology</cite>, Vol. 13: Practice #5 [online].&nbsp;<a href="http://tiee.esa.org/vol/v13/issues/data_sets/little/abstract.html">http://tiee.esa.org/vol/v13/issues/data_sets/little/abstract.html</a>.&nbsp;doi:10.25334/Q4MQ2X</p> 15<ul>
   16   <li>Utilized only 1 year of data (2013 only)</li>
   17   <li>Consolidated diversity data to broad categories: Invertebrates and Plants</li>
   18   <li>Gave students access to 6 most easily described environmental metadata variables (Area, Canopy, Dissolved Oxygen, Nitrate, Total Phosphorus, Water Depth)</li>
   19</ul>
   20
   21<ol>
   22   <li value="2">Provide explicit technical guidance for manipulating data in Microsoft Excel</li>
   23</ol>
   24
   25<ul>
   26   <li value="2">Students may refer back to this lab as a reference guide for sorting, plotting (boxplot), averaging data, as well as performing a simple statistical comparison of means (t-test)&nbsp;</li>
   27</ul>
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   29<p>In future adaptations for the Introductory Biology classroom, the following changes might be appropriate:</p>
   30
   31<ul>
   32   <li>Improve guidance for Graduate Teaching Assistants, including photo-based background information on Wisconsin wetlands, references for generating and interpreting graphs and statistical tests, and pedagogical support for guiding group communication and success</li>
   33   <li>Replace Wisconsin wetlands data with a locally relevant diversity dataset for more thorough student engagement (for Galveston, TX, this could mean estuarine, bay, or reef fish communities or salt marsh plant communities)</li>
   34</ul>

Attachments

1 link — Link to TIEE publication and teaching materials for Environment-Richness Relationships in Ephemeral and Permanent Wetlands: Guided Inquiry with Graph Interpretation (Abstract) | TIEE 1 file — publication_453_1097/Amanda Little - Cover_Image.jpg
2 file — ./Amanda Little - Cover_Image.jpg 2 link — Link to TIEE publication and teaching materials for Environment-Richness Relationships in Ephemeral and Permanent Wetlands: Guided Inquiry with Graph Interpretation (Abstract) | TIEE
3 file — ./Moulton/Scientific Investigation_Intro Slides_27August2018.pptx
4 file — ./Moulton/Scientific Method in Wetlands_Effectiveness Survey Questions_September2018.docx
5 file — ./Moulton/Scientific Method in Wetlands_Laboratory and Teaching Guide_4Jan2019.docx
6 file — ./Moulton/Scientific Method in Wetlands_Student Reviews_September2018.pdf
7 file — ./Moulton/WetlandData.xlsx
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