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Subjects:
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Mathematics
Applied mathematics. Data analysis. Data collection. Real data. Statistics. |
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Science
Environment. Environmental awareness. Environmental impact. Life Science. |
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Integrated/interdisciplinary approaches |
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Educational technology
Computer uses in education. |
Resource Type:
Lessons & activities; Projects and investigations; Real data sources; Resource materials for math or science; Teacher guides. Media Type:
Internet resource.
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Abstract:
This World Wide Web(WWW) site is designed to have students monitor and report the number and type of animals that have been killed by motor vehicles along with information about the environmental conditions which may have contributed to the animal's death. The RoadKill Monitoring Project is applicable to students of all abilities and across many disciplines. It is part of Environet, a teacher enhancement project funded by the National Science Foundation and supported by Simmons College. The goal of this project is for students, through collecting and analyzing roadkill data, to acquire an awareness of the related environmental issues. Roadkill statistics are considered as evidence of the conflict patterns between human and wildlife existence. Teachers use the data to teach ecological principles, to portray information graphically, and to teach elementary concepts in statistical analysis. There are three levels of participation in the project. At the entry level, schools collect and report their data for assigned collection dates. At the exploratory level, participants complete entry level tasks and then analyze their data to identify potential wildlife activity patterns in the community and then report their findings. The research level offers additional opportunities for exploring such topics as the relationship between the change to daylight savings time and the number of roadkills either increasing or decreasing; the differences in the amount of roadkill on an urban road versus a rural road; and the effects of the phases of the moon, particularly a full or a new moon, on the amount of roadkill. Students at this level are encouraged to publish the results of their research in some forum. The site contains suggestions and activities for analyzing data through the use of graphs, simple statistics, maps, and compare-and-contrast webs. To participate in the RoadKill project, teachers must have access to a modem with connection to the Internet in order to submit data. Abstracted 6/99. (Author/JRS) |
