As a 6th grade teacher, I wanted students to be involved in “real science”, collecting ‘real data’, and being part of a scientific research project; that is what we have been doing at Exploris Middle School in downtown... [ view full abstract ]
As a 6th grade teacher, I wanted students to be involved in “real science”, collecting ‘real data’, and being part of a scientific research project; that is what we have been doing at Exploris Middle School in downtown Raleigh, NC, for 8 years now. In collaboration with the Centennial Campus Center for Wildlife Education-NC Wildlife Resources Commission, sixth graders have been tracking Eastern Box Turtles, collecting data of their movements, using tracking devices, and analyzing data by creating Arc GIS maps- The Where is Waldo Project. This project started by tracking an introduced turtle (Waldo) to the Lake Raleigh area after he had been hit by a car, and taken to recover at NCSU Veterinary Department. Since then, every year, sixth graders go through the complete scientific process, asking questions and finding answers, as they track Waldo and native turtles in that area. They have found very interesting information; students have been able to determine home range area, effects of moving turtles to other areas, and turtle mortality. When finding a turtle on the road, moving it to “a better, nicer place” is not the best thing to do, and the students have found out why. Another concern has been an increased in turtle mortality, due to humans activity.
This year, we continue with the process of asking more questions related to home range and mortality, and want to move on, by increasing our audience in data collection. We are about to add a project in the iNaturalist website, so that anyone can put in information about Eastern Box turtles, such as pictures and locations of the turtles found, sizes, and turtle mortality. This can add a new perspective of data collection to our students, as we continue ‘being scientists in the classroom’.
