OSEI II - Carbon Cycle Project
—by Catherine Cramer
OSEI II and the Fairhaven School District are working together to introduce the carbon cycle into each middle school grade, thereby approaching a common theme from the various earth, life and physical science frameworks. ``The carbon cycle project shows how we can integrate between grades,’’ said Bob Chen of UMass and OSEI II Project Leader. ``Students keep revisiting the subject from different angles, and that promotes real learning.’’ The goal is to find a measurable way for middle school students to ‘see and understand’ organic and inorganic carbon and how it is the backbone of life, by demonstrating the transformation of carbon as it moves through the carbon cycle.
Science advisors Dr. Dan Repeta of WHOI and Dr. Curtis Olsen of UMass Boston have been working with teachers and the district science coordinator to develop the carbon cycle curriculum. (click here to read about one of Curtis Olsen's research projects, an NSF-funded project to identify the impact of the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center Terrorist Attack on sediments and sedimentation in New York Harbor) Focusing on the global carbon cycle and using oceans as a unifying theme, teachers developed the concept of Larry and Louise Carbon. These characters will be re-introduced each year to develop an integrative curriculum that will span and link the 6th through 8th grades. Students will follow Larry and Louise Carbon from their birth in the 6th Grade Earth/Space curriculum, beginning with their origins in space and moving through the long-tem geologic rock cycle; then follow them into the short-term carbon cycle of photosynthesis and respiration in the 7th Grade Life Sciences curriculum; and finally explore their consumption and ultimate rebirth in the 8th Grade Physics and Energy curriculum, as ocean sediments are transformed into fossil fuels, which are then released back into the atmosphere via combustion.
This multi-year approach underscores the pivotal role that oceans play in the carbon cycle, and in all life processes, and bridges many disciplines. The 6th grade carbon cycle curriculum is in place and will be introduced in December, 2004. Experiments with different species of algae that link cell growth to carbon uptake and that are suitable for 7th and 8th graders are currently being tested. ``The goal is to get the experimental components worked out and run through quite soon,’’ said Dr. David Welty, Science and Technology Coordinator for Fairhaven Public Schools and OSEI facilitator. ``The carbon curriculum should be introduced in those grades in the middle of the year.’’
Teachers will complete an assessment that will provide quantitative data as to the impacts of the carbon cycle curriculum. ``Ultimately we’d like to be able to bring the carbon cycle into all of our components,’’ said David Welty. ``This is a curriculum subject that can operate on many different levels.’’
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Photo: Carol Baldasari, an outside evaluator from Lesley University, observes as a team of Fairhaven Public School teachers Fairhaven investigate a carbon cycle activity.