Applicant and/or teacher sponsor:
Laurel Condon, Devin Faye Reynolds
Student Groups /Teachers/ Community Members/ Partnerships Involved:
Results of project will be shared with students Grades 3-6 at Arena, Manchester, Horicon and Kashia Elementary, as well as other NCRCN schools.
Steve Jurist
Ed Ramos, Sandy Longstreth and Trish Miller
California Department of Fish and Game
UC Davis Veterinary School
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Number of students affected:
Approximately 250+
Length of project:
1997-98 school year
1. Brief description of the project:
We are testing how a Pet aquatic turtle receives, processes and prioritizes sensory information. We are testing the turtles' responsiveness to sound, vibrations and light. We will use a scale from 1-10, 10 being non-responsive, and 1 being very active, or responding quickly. If the turtle responds quickly to any of the three particular senses that indicates that the turtle prioritizes it above the others. To test sight we will isolate the turtle and subject it to different levels of light, starting with the lowest first. For this we will need the dimmer switch. To test sound we will isolate the turtle and use the audiometer to subject the turtle with different levels of low-frequency sounds. We will start with the lowest level sound first, then slowly raise it. To test the turtle's resonse to vibration we will use a bass speaker. Slowly we will increase the intensity of the bass, until the turtle responds to the vibration. With the conclusion of this experiment we hope to find out how the turtles' brain processes sensory information into perceptions.
2. Connections
How does the project connect with our theme of people, history, and place?How does the project interact with the community?
How will you evaluate or assess the community impact?
How does the project connect with other NCRCN sites?
Elementary and Junior High students will be learning about the basic senses, only the results will come from a turtle. The students will be interacting with turtles themselves and possibly learning how to keep and take care of them. Our project may reveal new information to turtle specialists, or people interested in learning more about turtles. The information we gather will be shared with other NCRCN members, and hopefully we can collaborate with them for projects in the future.
3. Student Learning
How will the project improve student learning?How will you evaluate or assess what students have learned?
What kind of data will you collect?
Will you have an Action Research question?
How will students be involved in the evaluation of the project?
How does the project invite student planning/student choice?
How will students share their project and learning with others at their own site, other sites or within the community?
Will your project have a service learning component? If so please describe.
The students will become aware of the senses they use and take for granted everyday. The students will be able to physically interact with the turtles and can perform tests as well. Students will most likely take the information out of the classroom and share it with their friends, family and parents. Just by presenting the information and data, we feel we will reach at least fifty percent of the students.
4. Support
What kind of support would you like from the coordinator/TSA?What kinds of funds will you need for the project? Please supply a general budget. (Staff development, release time for planning, transportation, materials.)
What other sources might provide additional funding for the project?
The turtles are large enough so that salmonella won't be a problem. We have had the turtles for over a year, and we know all about their way of life. We know what they eat and their routine behaviors.
Ann Slattery will help us set up appointments with Ed Ramos from Fish and Game, and to locate and make available an audiometer.
Transportation will be needed when we make our presentations to the various schools. When the project is complete, Ann Slattery will help us contact other NCRCN schools.
For the project, we will need many supplies. We will need supplies and funding for the habitat and for instruments concerning the actual experiments. Some of the instruments needed are already available to us in the classroom. The things listed below are items that we will need:
Food for the year $20
Gravel for tank $8
Underwater plants $20-40
Objects for tank (bridge, large rocks, etc.) $15-30
Magnum 250 Canister Filter $60
Thermometer $7
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Maximum amount: $165
Minimum amount: $130
Amount requested is $165.