Daniel A.

Chapman 2 February 2014 Fieldwork Seminar Fieldwork Journal Active Food Web Activity This past week, with my i th period !lass, " en#a#ed in an a!ti$ity that ser$ed to rein or!e what we had been learnin# in the past week %ener#y low, photosynthesis, and !ellular respiration& throu#h a kinestheti! a!ti$ity. "n the a!ti$ity %appendi' "&, " assi#ned ea!h o the students in my !lass a (role) to play %sun, plants, and an assortment o animals&, had them !ir!le up around the sun, and then we as a !lass ormed a physi!al ood web. Throu#hout this a!ti$ity, we stopped o ten to re!o#ni*e the di erent pie!es o the ood web, and " was $ery intentional about usin# and en!oura#in# the use o our $o!abulary in our des!riptions and obser$ations o what we were seein#. Durin# the a!ti$ity " didn+t eel like " was #ettin# the en#a#ement that " was hopin# or, and the a!ti$ity took a bit lon#er than e'pe!ted, but we were able to #et throu#h all o it. As a means o re le!tin# on this a!ti$ity, " spent time analy*in# an obser$ation !hart that my ,enn -entor had illed out or me durin# the a!ti$ity %Appendi' ""&, and " assi#ned a .ui* the ollowin# day to assess the students+ retention o the !ontent rom the week. As obser$able throu#h the !hart, you !an see that despite my per!eption o the !lassroom, the ma/ority o my students were at least en#a#in# with the a!ti$ity, and a hand ul were answerin# .uestions %those who were assi#ned twos and threes&, and only a ew students were disen#a#ed or did not answer any .uestions %those who were assi#ned ones&. " think that it is $ery important, both as a tea!her and as a s!ientist, to be !are ul when usin# your own per!eptions as a means o e$aluatin# somethin#. 0e!ause " did not think that this time was worthy o the amount o time it took, " de!ided not to do it with my si'th period !lass, and instead !hose to spend our time doin# a partner readin#, .uestionin#, and dis!ussion a!ti$ity. 1hile " per!ei$ed that my initial a!ti$ity was not a su!!ess, and that it wasn+t worth the amount o time we de$oted to it, the !olle!ted data shows otherwise. The ollowin# day " #a$e the students a .ui* %Appendi' """& on our material, and while " tau#ht nearly the same material to both !lasses e'!ept or this a!ti$ity, my i th period did ar better than my si'th period. All o the .uestions on the .ui*, e'!ludin# three, were re$iewed throu#h and durin# the a!ti$ity that " had done with my students. The !lass a$era#e in my i th period was an astoundin# 234 %our hi#hest !lass a$era#e on a .ui* so ar&, while my si'th period earned a 424 !lass a$era#e. 1hile the a$era#e !ould be a e!ted by a !ouple o my

hi#her per ormin# si'th period students bein# absent on the day o the .ui*, " belie$e it is $ery probable that the supplemental a!ti$ity and the !ontent rein or!ement, espe!ially throu#h a means that we had not yet en#a#ed in this unit, was a ma/or a!tor in en!oura#in# i th period in their retention. " want to !ontinue workin# to inte#ratin# a!ti$ities like this, that ta!kle and hi#hli#ht di erent learnin# stren#ths and modalities, into my !urri!ulum, su!h that my students are able to intera!t with the !ontent throu#h a myriad o lenses. Appendix I: Diagram of Food Web Activity

Appendix II: Engagement !arge

Appendix III: !apter " #ui$