debate-lfrf/debate-lfrf.9803

Welcome, students and lifelong learners of all ages, to the "Backyard
Biodiversity" debate!

As project director for PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE and the LIVE FROM specials,
I'm lucky enough to get to travel to some pretty neat places: camping out on
the ocean ice in Antarctica and listening to seals singing deep below--that
was great! Then, taking a photo at the South Pole, I worried I'd left my
gloves off for too long--a few seconds--and had foolishly given myself
frostbite! Up in the stratosphere, aboard a jet plane converted into a
flying observatory, I marveled at how astronomers managed to make beautiful
images out of tiny shreds of energy. And now, late last year, I got to
travel up the Amazon, to the heart of the largest rainforest on Earth, and
sleep out in the forest--woken from time to time by the eerie sounds of
howler monkeys. ( To find out a little more about that experience, check out
my Journal under the TEAMS section of the LIVE FROM THE RAINFOREST web site:
http://passporttoknowledge.com/rainforest )

But I have to say that one of the absolutely coolest things I've experienced
during these 4 years of electronic field trips has been seeing what happens
when students collaborate with each other via the Internet in projects like
THE GREAT PLANET DEBATE (part of LIVE FROM THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE) or
THE PLANET EXPLORER TOOLKIT (during our Mars series.) It's always been
incredibly exciting to see the messages coming in from schools across the
U.S. and--sometimes--from around the world, making suggestions about how to
design an experiment, interacting with each other and their teachers and
with participating scientists and mentors engaged in real world research.

That's what we hope will be happening once again over the next few months.
First we'll consider just what "biodiversity" means, and then we'll enlist
rainforest researchers to tell us all how they survey it. We hope more and
more of you will be working together with us and each other, as the days and
weeks go by... and that you'll see your work, and that of your peers,
featured online and on TV in the 3 LIVE FROM THE RAINFOREST programs.

Welcome aboard... and let's make the "Backyard Biodiversity Survey" fun as
well as informative.

Onward and Upward,

GHS
Geoff Haines-Stiles
Project Director, PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE & the LIVE FROM... specials
"electronic field trips to scientific frontiers"
Real Science, Real Scientists, Real Locations, Real Time
vox: 973.656.9403 * fax: 973.656.9813 * mobile: 908.305.7061
alt. e-mail: ptkghs@aol.com
http://passporttoknowledge.com
Antarctica... Stratosphere... Hubble... Mars... Rainforest... the Arctic,
and more

SOME COMMENTS ON BIODIVERSITY, FROM DR. BILL LAURANCE, MANAUS,

From: Geoffrey Haines-Stiles
Subject: SOME COMMENTS ON BIODIVERSITY, FROM DR. BILL LAURANCE, MANAUS,
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 10:41:37 -0500
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Greetings, teachers and students!

As promised, to get the debate going, here are some thoughts from Bill
Laurance, one of the team leaders in the Smithsonian/INPA experiment on the
effects of forest fragmentation on biodiversity, which he e-mailed to us
specifically for this "debate-lfrf" group over the weekend. (Online you've
already met Dr. Laurance through his 2 Journals describing rainforest
research [and his well-founded fear of jaguars!] one of which we distributed
via Updates.)

We hope to have more input from more of the scientists on location in
Manaus, Brazil, in the days and weeks ahead. Let us, and them, hear some of
what YOU are thinking, and we'll work to get the inter-action and
co-llaboration (which, after all, literally means co-working) going!

Onward and Upward!

Geoff Haines-Stiles

***

MEASURING BIODIVERSITY

In its literal sense, "biodiversity" is the diversity of life, and that can
mean different things to different people. One of the commonest ways to
measure biodiversity is to simply count species. Anyone can do this. For
example, you could count the number of plant species growing in a city lot
and compare that to the number growing in a forest (to make a fair
comparison, you should use the same plot size in each area).

We might compare two different areas--such as our city lot and the
forest--but make two lists for each site: native species, and weeds or
exotic species. Often weeds, or invading species, in fact do very well when
their native environments are disturbed. And as many parts of the U.S. have
discovered, sometimes "more" (as in more deer, and more deer ticks), is not
necessarily a good thing! In this way, we find we're making value judgements
about species, as if some species were more important than others. Usually
we consider native species "good" and weeds or exotic species "bad."

There are yet other ways to measure biodiversity. Some people give special
importance to primitive species ("living fossils"), or to species that have
very small geographic ranges ("local endemics"), and thus are very prone to
extinction. Another way to evaluate species is by their ecological roles.
For example, "keystone species", such as jaguars and elephants, have a major
impact on the entire ecosystem, and thus are especially important to protect.

A final way to measure biodiversity is by studying the genes of species.
Geneticists have made enormous advances in the past few decades, and they
can work wonders. For example, it is possible to tell whether one
population of a species has been interbreeding with another population over
the past ten thousand years, just by taking a few blood samples and studying
the genes in the blood cells.

A final note about biodiversity: no matter now you measure it, it is
declining very, very rapidly today. Scientists believe that species are now
going extinct as fast or faster than when the dinosaurs disappeared--and
that was one of the most massive extinction episodes the earth has ever seen.

Dr Bill Laurance

***

GHS
Geoff Haines-Stiles
Project Director, PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE & the LIVE FROM... specials
"electronic field trips to scientific frontiers"
Real Science, Real Scientists, Real Locations, Real Time
vox: 973.656.9403 * fax: 973.656.9813 * mobile: 908.305.7061
alt. e-mail: ptkghs@aol.com
http://passporttoknowledge.com
Antarctica... Stratosphere... Hubble... Mars... Rainforest... the Arctic,
and more

Let the debate begin

From: calderone@sysnet.net (Susan Hurstcalderone)
Subject: Let the debate begin
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 07:34:03 -0500
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Welcome to debate-LFRF. One of the first things we need to do is introduce
ourselves so that we know a little about each other. Although Eileen and
I will co-moderate, we would like the real speakers to be you, the
students. In that spirit, I would like to introduce one of my students,
Melissa, who will give you some idea about our "backyard".
"Hi, I'm Melissa. I'm 11 years old and in sixth grade at Blessed
Sacrament. We've been talking about our "backyard", we call it the
playground, It really is a parking lot. There is some green space
around the edges and around the school building. It looks like spring is
almost here. On Monday, the temperature was up to 73 degrees F. We went
outside and didn't need our jackets. However, on Tuesday the high
temperature was about 45 F. Today the high was only 36. We have all kinds
of plants starting to peep out. The daffodils are up but they haven't
bloomed yet. The National Park says the cherry trees will be blooming
early in a couple of weeks. They are concerned that the blossoms will be
damaged because the temperature is so low now.
If you want to put us on your map, we are at
longitude 77deg 4 min. 30 sec W
latitude 38deg 57 min 30 sec N
We would like to know where you are located. Tell us what's happening
where you live.

Beers Street Middle School - "backyard"

From: Eileen Bendixsen
Subject: Beers Street Middle School - "backyard"
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 11:18:42 -0500
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Hi,

I'm Amy. I am 12 years old and in the seventh grade at Beers Street Middle
School. In the back of our school is a beautiful open field with two
baseball fields, a pretty small playground with seesaws, swings, slides
etc. On the side of our school is a parkway filled with air pollution. The
flocks of birds are coming back and we just had a bad rain storm, so big,
big puddles are here. The temperature has dramatically decreased and we are
freezing down here. We haven't had any snow yet and everybody is getting
sick with the flu. We hope to have some normal weather soon!

We are located on the map at:
40 N degrees latitude
74 W degrees longitude

Introduction

From: Gianfranco Martinis
Subject: Introduction
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 00:51:36 GMT
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Hi,
My name is Gianfranco Martinis, I'm from Salta, Argentina. I am 15 years and
I like all kinds of project related with the Earth's nature and space.
I go to Belgrano High School, there we have a footbal camp, with glass and a
lot of trees around.
In the neightborad I live (called Tres Cerritos) there is a lot of exuberant
vegetation, Salta is a cituy in a valley, and I have hills every where
around my house.
Noe it finishing the summer, so the plants are starting to get dried, but
althougt everuthig is beutiful.
Usually the weather here is very beutiful, but last daysit was preety cold
and rainy.
Usually we have temperature of about 26 degrees C.

Best wishes from Salta, Argentina.

Hoping hearing soon from all of you.

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_/_/_/_/_/ _/_/ _/_/
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ Gianfranco Martinis
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ cpces04@salnet.com.ar
_/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ Belgrano High School
_/ _/ _/ _/ 4400 Salta - Argentina
_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ _/

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forwarded to debate

From: calderone@sysnet.net (Susan Hurstcalderone)
Subject: forwarded to debate
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 18:53:29 -0500
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Hi,
My name is Gianfranco Martinis, I'm from Salta, Argentina. I am 15 years and
I like all kinds of project related with the Earth's nature and space.
I go to Belgrano High School, there we have a footbal camp, with glass and a
lot of trees around.
In the neightborad I live (called Tres Cerritos) there is a lot of exuberant
vegetation, Salta is a cituy in a valley, and I have hills every where
around my house.
Noe it finishing the summer, so the plants are starting to get dried, but
althougt everuthig is beutiful.
Usually the weather here is very beutiful, but last daysit was preety cold
and rainy.
Usually we have temperature of about 26 C.

Best wishes from Salta, Argentina.

Hoping hearing soon from all of you.

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*-*-*-*

_/_/_/_/_/ _/_/ _/_/
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ Gianfranco Martinis
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ cpces04@salnet.com.ar
_/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ Belgrano High School
_/ _/ _/ _/ 4400 Salta - Argentina
_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ _/

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Getting Started

From: calderone@sysnet.net (Susan Hurstcalderone)
Subject: Getting Started
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 23:40:16 -0500
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It was interesting to read Dr.Bill Laurance's comments on biodiversity and how
it can be used to compare living organisms in different areas. In Geoff
Haines-Stiles post of March 10, 1998, Bill said:

"In its literal sense, "biodiversity" is the diversity of life, and that can
mean different things to different people. One of the commonest ways to
measure biodiversity is to simply count species. Anyone can do this. For
example, you could count the number of plant species growing in a city lot
and compare that to the number growing in a forest (to make a fair
comparison, you should use the same plot size in each area). "

That made me think that maybe we need to do some comparisons before we
decide what we want to do for our Backyard Biodiversity Survey. Perhaps
that would help us decide upon the procedure we want to follow. I'd like
to hear some comments about doing the following:
*In your backyard or school yard, measure a one meter square.
[See Activity 2.2 One Square Meter on the Educators link of
Live from the Rainforest web site.]
*In that space, count the number of kinds of living organisms--any
plants [that includes mosses, algae, ferns] or animals [insects are
animals too!]
Report back to the list with those numbers and
*the weather conditions
*time of day the observations were made
*general description of the area
Decide in your class if this represents a diverse population of organisms
or not. Let's see if Bill's comment that biodiversity means different
things to different people holds true in our sampling.

Post your results to debate-lfrf by Friday, March 20, 1998.

Central East Middle School

From: Deborah Bambino
Subject: Central East Middle School
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 08:03:40 -0500
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Hi,
My name is Jimmy Vu and I'm 12 years old. I go to Central East Middle
School. The Middle School is located on Wyoming and B street.,in Phila. PA.
In the back of the school there is a paved yard and we go out to play.We
even have an Annex building with a little bit of grass around it. There is a
vacant lot next store, that we can observe.
The temperature outside is really cold. The temperature today is 24
degrees. We haven't had snow yet and we are starting to freeze.
Jimmy Vu
Deborah Bambino dbambino@philsch.k12.pa.us

Central East Middle School
210 E. Courtland St.
Phila., PA 19120
215-456-5603
fax: 215-456-5614

Signs of spring?

From: calderone@sysnet.net
Subject: Signs of spring?
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 06:54:00 -0500
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We have had some real temperature changes during the last week....from a
high of 73 F last Monday to days where the temperature did not reach much
above 32 F. Since our school is located at 38degree 58 min. latitude, we
are wondering about the temperature ranges other areas have had. What
about the spring plants? Have the spring bulbs appeared? Did you have
this kind of change in temperatures?

We've heard from Amy in New Jersey and Jimmy in Philadelphia. Are there
other schools that would like to respond? What is happening in Argentina,
Gianfranco?
We would like to hear from points West, South and further North from us.
Please let us hear from you.
Melissa
Blessed Sacrament School

Getting Started

From: Eileen Bendixsen
Subject: Getting Started
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 10:38:14 -0500
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Hi everyone,

My classes are starting their preparation for the "Backyard Biodiversity"
Survey. Last week we went outside to write a general description of our
backyard. You should have received Amy's description which was posted to
the list last week.

Today we are going outside again to take a closer look. Working in teams my
students went out with meter sticks and made a square with the meter
sticks. First we made general observations about our square meter. Then we
got down on our hands and knees, some with dissecting gloves in case there
was anything crawling around in there, to see what we could find. It is
still very cold in NJ at this time of year, so we weren't as successful as
we might be in a couple of weeks.

Over the next day or two, we have to share the phone line, my students will
be posting their observations to the list. Later tonight I will have
pictures of our trip outside on our classroom web page at
http://www.netlabs.net/hp/ebend/square.html Take a look!

We would like to hear from the other classes out there!

Eileen Bendixsen
Beers Street Middle School

Report from Beers Street

From: Eileen Bendixsen
Subject: Report from Beers Street
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 10:40:17 -0500
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Hi,

Our names are Chris, Mike, and Alan from Beer Street Middle School. It's
Monday the 16th at 9:09 am the temperature is 5C or 35F. We have had no
progress so far. Its cold, sunny, and a little windy. We have moved to
about 3 or 4 locations. The first location was grassy. The second was also
grassy but mostly dead. The third had only patches of grass. The fourth was
muddy we hope to have better progress next time.

Talk to you soon!

Report from Beers Street Middle School

From: Eileen Bendixsen
Subject: Report from Beers Street Middle School
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 13:24:23 -0500
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Hi,

We're from Beers Street Middle School. Our names are Angela, Stephanie,
Malinda, and James. We went outside and it was 5C, and 35F. It was sunny,
windy, and cold. We made a square out of yard sticks. In it we found 2
worms and we found another one underneath. We also saw a lot of grass.

Talk to you soon!!!

Stephanie, Angela, Malinda, & James

RE: Signs of spring?

From: Gianfranco Martinis
Subject: RE: Signs of spring?
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 02:54:34 GMT
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Hi to all,
Here the weather is really terribel.
Since two weeks it is rainy and very cold. Something strange for this time.
Usually the weather here is very nice, and the vegetation is really abundant.

Ok, I thinks thats all I can tell you.

Anything elese you want to know, please, no dount in ask me.

Best wishes.

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_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/_/ _/_/
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ Gianfranco Martinis
_/ _/ _/_/ _/ E-Mail: cpces04@salnet.com.ar
_/ _/_/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ Belgrano High School
_/ _/ _/ _/ 4400 - Salta - Argentina
_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ _/

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Our Picutures Are Online

From: Eileen Bendixsen
Subject: Our Picutures Are Online
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 22:52:42 -0500
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Hi,

We had a very exciting day going out and beginning our work for the
"Backyard Biodiversity" Survey. We will be posting more of our messages to
the debate list tomorrow.

The pictures are now on my web page. My classes will be adding text and
additional pictures by the end of the week.

The url is http://www.netlabs.net/hp/ebend/square.html

Eileen

Our Picutures Are Online

From: "Ailinne Espinoza"
Subject: Our Picutures Are Online
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 11:47:36 PST
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Hi! Our names are Ailinne Espinoza and Irina Bromberg and we would like
to participate in your debate. We are in the seventh grade at the Mott
Hall School in New York City. At the beginning of the year (early fall,
early October) our class went to our school's backyard and collected
organisms along with the plants we found them on. Our backyard is
directly behind our school. While the seventh grade collected organisms
in the area the fourth grade did an identification of plants in the
area; including the labeling and identification of trees and flowers.
For further information on the fourth grade area study check out our
school's web site at:

http://www.mhs.csd6.k12.ny.us.com
and click on "Explorations of Our Urban Environment"

After doing this experiment with our class and reading your web site we
have decided that as our science fair project this year we will be
working with insects and other arthropods. We will examine the
organisms our class collected in early fall and match them up with the
flower we found them on. After this is done we will pin them and then
identify them. Then we will collect more organisms, match them with
their flower, pin them, identify them and label them. Then we will
compare these organisms with the ones we found in early fall. After this
we will ask ourselves questions like:

1.- Why was this organism alive in fall and not now?
2.- What is the relationship between the climates? organisms? where we
found them?
Etc.

Please write back to us and tell us your comments, ideas, and

questions. We will be glad to answer back. Thank-you.

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

Biodiversity

From: Marilyn Weiser
Subject: Biodiversity
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 14:19:10 -0600 (CST)
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Dear colleagues,
Eileen asked me to re-post (I shared it on 'discuss-lfrf') this
poem....I think it would be great to share this with other classrooms
and/or parents.
Marilyn Weiser

Also, does anyone have a lesson plan for teaching boys and girls how
astronauts plan menus while in space? Please respond to
mweiser@sendit.nodak.edu. Thanks.

Biodiversity Rap-up
by Brian Lloyd

Wake up, everybody.
Really open your eyes.
Look outside the door--
Youll see a major surprise.
Its cooler than the Shaq Attack,
Its hotter than Spike Lee.
Its got more sounds and got more moves
Than even MTV.

Yeah, Im talking bout the places
That span across this planet,
And the host of crazy critters
That we often take for granted.
You dont need a diploma
>From a big university
To learn the word for all this life
Is BIODIVERSITY.

BIODIVERSITY means difference
In three kinds of scenes:
In HABITATS, in SPECIES,
And in our basic GENES.
Dont freak if this sounds tricky,
Stay cool, because Ill claim
That all of this is simpler
Than your average video game.

HABITATS are places
Made up of special features--
Vegetation, nutrients,
Climate, soils, and creatures.
>From Senegal to Central Park,
>From Haiti to Hong Kong,
A healthy range of habitats
Helps life keep going strong.

SPECIES are the animals
And plants that fill our nations--
>From cockatoos to kinkajous,
>From melons to carnations.
Species pollinate our crops,
Theyre mascots for our teams,
They give us food and medicines,
They dazzle life and dreams.

GENES are what determine
How populations vary--
How tall we are, how strong we are,
How intelligent, how hairy.
A healthy, varied gene pool
Makes all of life more brilliant,
And species in the face of change
Are adaptable, resilient.

Now I hate to be a downer,
I hate to burst your bubble.
But you ought to know the truth:
Biodiversitys in trouble.
The reason? People everywhere
Pollute and build and grow.
The wildest life will be in malls
Unless we stop, you know.

A world with only cities?
A little dull, Id think.
A world with only roaches?
Now that would really stink.
A world without a range on genes?
Now that would be a grim one.
Imagine every human being
A clone of Homer Simpson?

Protect our many races,
Said Martin Luther King.
Protect the tribes and forests
Of the Amazon, says Sting.
>From decades past to present day
The rally cry has grown:
Diversitys what lifes about--
We cant survive alone.

Refrain:
Deserts, peat bogs,
Passion fruit, and tree frogs.
Spiders, seaweed,
Centipedes, and sheep dogs
Mule deer, killdeer,
Crocodile, and ginkgo.
Diversitys dull?
No, I dont think so.

Correction to our web address

From: "Ailinne Espinoza"
Subject: Correction to our web address
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 14:56:55 PST
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We sent a message about our school study of our backyard, but we made a
mistake in the address. We put ".com" on the end by accident. Our
correct school web page address is

http://www.mhs.csd6.k12.ny.us
and click on "Explorations of Our Urban Environment"

Sorry.

Ailinne and Irina

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

Central East Middle Update

From: Deborah Bambino
Subject: Central East Middle Update
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 07:40:11 -0500
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Hi,
My name is Phuong Le from Central East Middle School. On March 17,1998
around 1:30 my class went outside and observed the yard of our school. It
was 48 degrees F. outside but it was sunny and clear. When we were outside
we saw grass, pebbles, rocks, woodchips,leaves, soil, a red feather,
plastic, and a glass bottle buried under a tree.
Today it is raining so we won't be going outside to observe the yard.
Phuong Le
Deborah Bambino dbambino@philsch.k12.pa.us

Central East Middle School
210 E. Courtland St.
Phila., PA 19120
215-456-5603
fax: 215-456-5614

For Class Debate

From: calderone@sysnet.net (Susan Hurstcalderone)
Subject: For Class Debate
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 07:39:47 -0500
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Hello BB Researchers,

We seem to be getting some information on current weather conditions in
various areas. That probably means we all think that knowing about local
weather conditions is important when studying the organisms that live in
it. Now let's take a look at the area we are examining.

How large an area should be surveyed by the entire class?

Consider these issues:

Should all classes be using approximately the same size area in which to
conduct their biodiversity survey?

If so, what size should that area be--approximately?

Should classes examine that area and take the survey more than one time?

Would there be valuable information gathered by using the same area and
gathering information over a longer period of time? Should we go to the
same area to gather data once a week? For how many weeks? More than
once a week?

Discuss these with your class and post your answers by Friday, March 20th.

Let's see if we can get answers from classes that are located:

*North of the Mason-Dixon Line

*In a mountainous region

*Near a beach

*Where snow has fallen in the last week

Let's all get our US maps handy.....let's see if we can locate the region

the answers come from.

Central East Middle

From: Deborah Bambino
Subject: Central East Middle
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 07:55:44 -0500
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Hi,
My name is Sopholly Thach from Central East Middle School. Around
February it was supposed to snow but instead it rained. Yesterday my class
went outside, we were observing the front yard of our school. We saw grass,
pebbles, rocks, woodchips, leaves,soil, a red feather, plastic and a glass
bottle that was buried underground.Yesterday was 48 degrees F. but it was
sunny and clear. We examined the front yard around 1:30pm.
Sopholly Thach
Deborah Bambino dbambino@philsch.k12.pa.us

Central East Middle School
210 E. Courtland St.
Phila., PA 19120
215-456-5603
fax: 215-456-5614

I NEED YOUR HELP

From: Gianfranco Martinis
Subject: I NEED YOUR HELP
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 18:38:57 GMT
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Hi to all,

I wrote all you five days ago, and until now I am waiting for your answers.
I reply again because four days ago I had a power failure and lost
everythingh, so I think that I had lost messages from you.

Here I a sending you my old message, call HELP NEEDY, please, an you take
just a little of your valius time to reply it to me?.

It is for get a schoolarship of the Space Camp.

I really need your help to prube that I am on this list.

Hopping with all my heart your help.

Thanks a lot in advance for your help and time

Sincerly,

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_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/_/ _/_/
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ Gianfranco Martinis
_/ _/ _/_/ _/ E-Mail: cpces04@salnet.com.ar
_/ _/_/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ Belgrano High School
_/ _/ _/ _/ 4400 - Salta - Argentina
_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ _/

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biodiversity survey

From: "COLEMAN, HEIDI"
Subject: biodiversity survey
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 11:18:21 -0400
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Hello everybody!

I took my classes outside yesterday to take advantage of the
beautiful weather (the only day this week) to do the biodiversity
study. I took all three classes outside so I have three sets of
results but all three are very similar.
I had intended to let the students send the messages themselves, but
most of our computer lab is down today (figures), so I am doing it
with only one student. She has entered the findings below:

Hi my name is Rhonda I am in Ms. Coleman's science class. Yesterday
when we went out in first the temp was 18c and the time was 9:30 EST.
What we found was
Field grasses
leaves loak
tree seedings
vines
dead tree/bruck /stump
wild strawberry plant
pebbles
broken stems
dandelions
mosses

The second class went out at 10:30 AM EST, and the temp was 20 degrees
C. They also found (different things from the first class): mold,
briars, new growth on a tree, pine needles, water puddles, fungus,
poison oak, worms, moss, and heard frogs and birds chirping.

The last class went out at 1:30 pm, and the temperature was 25
degrees C. They saw (different from the other two classes) ants,
holly leaves and bushes, clover, a pine tree, berries, a worm, a
beetle, and some trash.

Heidi Coleman
E-mail: hcoleman@caa.k12.nc.us
"What a long strange trip it's been"

info you might want to see

From: "COLEMAN, HEIDI"
Subject: info you might want to see
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 11:25:27 -0400
Back to top

Hello again everyone!

My principal just gave me some information directly relating to the
Costa Rican rain forest. I am in North Carolina, and I don't know
what availability other states will have, but Blue Ridge Electric is
giving out a Teacher's Resource Kit in celebration of Earth Day. In
it are two large posters (a map of Costa Rica and a list of
threatened plants and animals) and five pages of questions and

answers for debate in a classroom. I must admit some of it is
propaganda from electric companies, but nonetheless it does have some
good information and ideas.
Here are several addresses for Blue Ridge Electric that you might be
interested in contacting for the information.
Caldwell District Office
PO Box 112
Lenoir, NC 28645
(704) 754-9071

Watauga District Office
2491 US Hwy 421 S.
Boone, NC 28607
(704) 264-8894

Ashe District Office
716 Mt. Jefferson Rd.
West Jefferson, NC 28694
(910) 246-7138

Alleghany District Office
304 S. Main St.
Sparta, NC 28675
(910) 372-4646

Hope all is well with all of you! Have a great rainforest adventure1

Heidi Coleman
Heidi Coleman
E-mail: hcoleman@caa.k12.nc.us
"What a long strange trip it's been"

Re: biodiversity survey

From: "Laura Lou"
Subject: Re: biodiversity survey
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 19:20:43 -0500
Back to top

As I write this there is a horrid ice storm going on. The week has been
cold, rainy and, even when it wasn't raining, muddy. We have chosen a site
to survey that is a projection of the woods on the other side of the campus
fence. The whole site is like a little 5m x 10m peninsula surrounded by
lawn. With a student teacher delivering the science for these two weeks,
LFRF is suspended for a bit. We still planned on taking one of the three
classes out to survey, but not until the weather clears.

However...WE ARE READY!

Laura Bashlor
Shumate Middle School

From Size to Time

From: calderone@sysnet.net (Susan Hurstcalderone)
Subject: From Size to Time
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 18:06:06 -0500
Back to top

Last time we decided to conduct our surveys using a square meter.....It
seems that many of us still are experiencing a wide range of weather
conditions and those conditions can change rapidly. However, those that
did make it outside used a square meter in which to conduct their surveys.
Now lets look at how long a time period we should spend collecting data
when we do go out to conduct the survey.

How long a time period per observation will you use when you survey your
area?

_____time per observation

Is it important to have everyone using the same amount of time? Why or
why not?

What data should be collected?

Should we count every thing we find?

What if we find something that was living but is not living now? Do we
count it in our survey?

How do we count plants? Is each plant counted separately? Or do we count
only the kinds of plants? For example, grass. Do we record 987 grass
blades or 1 kind of grass? What do you think we should do?

How should data be recorded?
common name
scientific name -- genus and species
family name

This time, can we hear from a class that:

*is south of the Mason-Dixon Line

*falls along the 45 degree of latitude [+ or - 5 degrees]

*lives in an area which has a team in the final four

*has had sunshine for two days in a row

*likes to be outside for class activities

Try to have your posts online by 3:00 p.m. est Wednesday, March 25th.

Have fun........

Susan

Debate Archives

From: calderone@sysnet.net (Susan Hurstcalderone)
Subject: Debate Archives
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 01:30:50 -0500
Back to top

A warm welcome to our newcomers on debate-lfrf. The website [if you
haven't seen the "new" expanded site, visit at:
http://passporttoknowledge.com/rainforest ] is officially up and running.

The archives of debate can be found on the website by going from the front
into Interact, followed by Collaborative Projects. There you will find a
link to browse DEBATE-LFRF-DIGEST Archives. They are easily accessible and
provide a quick guide to all prior debate conversations and information.

With the teachers' guides on their way, we're all getting excited about the
project. Let us know about your ideas for the Backyard Biodiversity
Survey. Feel free to contact either of us with any questions or problems.
We're looking forward to an energetic online project and debate.

>From our backyards.....where the weeds are outnumbered only by the cobbles
and gravel....

Eileen and Susan

Eileen Bendixsen
calderone@sysnet.net (Susan Hurstcalderone)

Backyard biodiversity

From: Anne Marshall
Subject: Backyard biodiversity
Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1998 13:02:40 -0700
Back to top

Hi! We are students in a charter school in Chandler AZ, a suburb of
Phoenix. We are in a 4th, 5th , 6th grade classroom and we are Kyle,
Adam, Erin, Kristy, Heather, TJ, Andrew, Brianna, Sagan, Ashley, Jake,
Jacqee, Tyler and Ariel. Yesterday, Tuesday, March 24 at 1:30 p.m. MST
we went to a field north of our school. We don't really have a
playground yet. It is under construction as this is the first year of
our school and we are in a strip center. This field has been used
privously for agriculture and is slated for development. Chandler is
located at 33� 17 min 45 sec N, 111� 54 min 53 sec. W. It was 85�
yesterday, sunny and warm. We found 3 dad lady bugs and one live one.
We found a lot of grass and ragweed, some small pods, cracked earth
(Unusual because we have had lots of rain this spring) pine needles
(under thepine tree), epbbles, beetle, a huge made-made rock (old
concrete), thorns and bird droppings. We expected to see more bug than
we idd alothough some of the girls collected a bund of tiny green bugs
on their socks. We live in the desert which is as far away from the
rain forest as you can get. Friday we are going on a field trip to a
graden show which will include an 1800 sq ft tent with over 1000
butterflies-at least 12 types. We will let you know what it's like!!
Bye for now.

PS Jake says x=25%

Survey Design Consensus Begins Next Week!

From: Eileen Bendixsen
Subject: Survey Design Consensus Begins Next Week!
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 07:13:04 -0500
Back to top

Dear Debate-lfrf Members,

We have one more thing we need to discuss before we begin our discussion
next week on how to put together the final design for the survey. One of
our suggestions for the survey is to have the students go out and take
their survey and then two weeks later go out and take it again to see what
changes they observe. In order to do this accurately it will be important
that the students survey the same square meter. An idea that we came up
with is to replace the meter sticks with string. The groups could then pick
a natural landmark that would remain stationary (a rock or a particular
patch of plants) or place a marker in the ground and use that as the
center. The string could then be placed around the landmark in the form of
a circle. The problem this presents is that it is more difficult for the
students to graph a circle than a square. If we place the string in a
square how important is it that the corners be square? Will the groups be
able to recreate their square meter as easily as they can with the circle?

As we begin to move into the final stages of our survey design it is
important that we hear your suggestions. One of the best things about PTK
projects is their flexibility to be implemented in a wide range of grade
levels and classroom situations. Each classroom has its own unique
characteristics and we want this project to be a rewarding experience for
you and your students. Communication is what helps us accomplish this goal.

If you have any questions or concerns about this activity please feel free
to contact us. Send an e-mail message to Susan Hurstcalderone
or Eileen Bendixsen and we will
promptly respond.

Susan Hurstcalderone and Eileen Bendixsen
Co-Moderators, debate-lfrf

Re: Survey Design Consensus Begins Next Week!

From: "Eileen Bendixsen"
Subject: Re: Survey Design Consensus Begins Next Week!
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 07:50:43 PST
Back to top

Hello,

Our school backs up on the Garden State Parkway and one of the town
recreation fields is on the side. We could not leave out the strings
either. The string would be picked up when you finish collecting your
data at the first visit. We need to come up with an easy way for
students to be able to go back to the same spot to survey the second
time. That is why I suggested the landmark as the center. Something that
would not change in two weeks, so that the students know where to place
the string the second time.

Deb's idea about making maps is an excellent idea. Does anyone else have
any good suggestions that have worked for them in the past?

Eileen

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

THANKS TO ALL

From: Gianfranco Martinis
Subject: THANKS TO ALL
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 18:50:01 GMT
Back to top

Hi to all,
I just wanted to say Thanks to all who sent me a message, I
really apreciate what you have done.
I am sure your help is going to help me a lot to get the
schoolarship.

For those who couldn't sent me the message (for any reason), they
are on time.

Ok, I think that I have alredy disturb you too much.

I remaind you that anything you could need from me or Argentina,
no doubt in contact me.

Best wishes fromn Salta, Argentina

*-*-*-*-*-*--*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/_/ _/_/
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ Gianfranco Martinis
_/ _/ _/_/ _/ E-Mail: cpces04@salnet.com.ar
_/ _/_/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ Home Address: 220 Los Ceibos Street
_/ _/ _/ _/ 4400 - Salta - Argentina
_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ _/

*-*-*-*-*-*--*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

central east middle

From: "Mrs. Hammonds class"
Subject: central east middle
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 12:01:22 -0800
Back to top

Hi, our names are Allison and Chelsea. We're from Rancho Santa Fe School.
We're in San Diego county, Rancho Santa Fe is north of San Diego. We have
been having cold (about 50) and hot (about 70) and rain and wind from the
El Nino. Our school buildings are made of stucco with red tile roofs. We
have six buildings. At our school we have a soccer field, track, gym,
basketball court, library, computer lab and music room. Our school has a
lot of grass, trees and flowers. They are blooming because it's spring.
Our latitude is 34 degrdees and our longitude is 170 degrees.

Re: From Size to Time

From: "COLEMAN, HEIDI"
Subject: Re: From Size to Time
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 00:29:57 -0500
Back to top

I believe we need to do this in 15-20 minute observations if we have
any time limit on them. The main reason I see a need for a time limit
is to not allow too many "mobile" insects to roam around and confuse
those trying to count. Another reason may be to not eat up too much
class time.

The data that should be collected is time, temp, location (lat and
long), surrounding landforms or markers (roads, forests, lakes, etc).

All things living and dead should be included. They were once (and
really still are) part of the ecology and are therefore part of the
biodiversity of the area.

Common name is great, but some family name or genus/species should
also be included because common names vary for the same species from
place to place.

My school is located in North Carolina, and we have Chapel Hill going
to the final four (I think they are going, aren't they?). We are west
of them, however- in the foothills of the Appalachians.
We also have had sunshine for 2 days (no more) in a row, and all my
classes love to go outside every day if they could!

I hope this is what you needed!

Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 18:06:06 -0500
To: debate-lfrf@passporttoknowledge.com
From: calderone@sysnet.net (Susan Hurstcalderone)
Subject: From Size to Time
Reply-to: calderone@sysnet.net (Susan Hurstcalderone)

Last time we decided to conduct our surveys using a square meter.....It
seems that many of us still are experiencing a wide range of weather
conditions and those conditions can change rapidly. However, those that
did make it outside used a square meter in which to conduct their surveys.
Now lets look at how long a time period we should spend collecting data
when we do go out to conduct the survey.

How long a time period per observation will you use when you survey your
area?

_____time per observation

Is it important to have everyone using the same amount of time? Why or
why not?

What data should be collected?

Should we count every thing we find?

What if we find something that was living but is not living now? Do we
count it in our survey?

How do we count plants? Is each plant counted separately? Or do we count
only the kinds of plants? For example, grass. Do we record 987 grass
blades or 1 kind of grass? What do you think we should do?

How should data be recorded?
common name
scientific name -- genus and species
family name

This time, can we hear from a class that:

*is south of the Mason-Dixon Line

*falls along the 45 degree of latitude [+ or - 5 degrees]

*lives in an area which has a team in the final four

*has had sunshine for two days in a row

*likes to be outside for class activities

Try to have your posts online by 3:00 p.m. est Wednesday, March 25th.

Have fun........

Susan

Heidi Coleman
E-mail: hcoleman@caa.k12.nc.us
"What a long strange trip it's been"

LFRF Backyard Biodiversity Survey Sign Up From

From: "Eileen Bendixsen"
Subject: LFRF Backyard Biodiversity Survey Sign Up From
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 05:51:54 PST
Back to top

Dear members of the LFRF Discuss and Debate Lists:

The online collaborative activity for this Passport to Knowledge module
is about to begin. Actually, teachers and their students have been
discussing the best ways to carry out the surveys for several weeks.
Now is the time to begin registering your class and undertaking the
actual surveys. Please fill in the following form and email it to:
surveys@mail.edc.org -- this will register your class(es) for the
project and it will help us fine tune future collaborative activities.
Also note that even if you decide not to have your students participate
in the field work phase, you can still participate by using the
accumulated data from other classes to join in on the challenge phase

where the data will be analyzed by students to answer questions and draw
inferences.

=================================================================
Send responses to surveys@mail.edc.org

I plan to participate: Yes___ Not sure yet____ No_____

IF YES, then please complete this short participant profile:

Teacher Name:
School Name:
Grade Level(s):
Number of classes who will be participating:
Total number of students:

If NO or NOT SURE, skip filling in the profile and
please take a moment to check of one or more reasons.

No or Not Sure: for the following reason(s)

___ Not working with students
___ Not appropriate for my age level
___ Not appropriate to the curriculum we are using
___ Not time enough to fit into our spring schedule
___ Not interested in participating in a collaborative
activity at this time
___ Unsure of what is expected or how much time it might take
___ Logistical problems taking students outside
___ Notice of the activity and its steps has come too late
for this semester

Thanks for your help. Remember that even if your class does not
participate in the data collection, you can still use the accumulated
data from the participating classes to join in the final stage of the
activity.

More information about the Biodiversity Backyard Survey and an archive
of all of the messages from the Debate mailing list leading up to the
survey launch can be found on the Live from the Rainforest web site
http://passporttoknowledge.com/rainforest

==============================================================

Robert Spielvogel
Center for Children and Technology
Education Development Center

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

backyard biodiversity

From: lrvrmr@sioux-center.k12.ia.us
Subject: backyard biodiversity
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 17:49:03 -0500
Back to top

Greetings from Kinsey Elementary in Sioux Center, Ia

My three fourth grade science classes spent their 30 minute periods outside on Monday because we knew there was more rain and snow coming today. Tomorrow we will have some time to examine what we found and will send in a report. Each class did three separate square meters in a specified section of the playground which is very large. If we aren't too late please count us in. Sorry we can't be involved in the video conferencing but don't have the necessary equipment and know-how.

Laura Vermeer

Re: backyard biodiversity

From: Eileen Bendixsen
Subject: Re: backyard biodiversity
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 18:35:01 -0500
Back to top

Laura,

You are definitely not too late and that is true of anyone else who has not
had a chance to go out and start investigating. Next week we will move into
the next phase which will be data collection. Participation is still open
and will continue to be open throughout the month of April. We will accept
your data whether you can go out and collect once or twice. Even if you are
unable to go out and collect data you can still participate in the final
activity when we interpret the data. We encourage you to participate in as
much of the project as you can.

Weather is always a problem with outside data collection projects. We have
been fortunate in New Jersey this winter with very little snow and mild
temperatures. A week ago this past Sunday we had five inches of snow, our
only snowfall, and now for the past six days we have had temperatures
around 80 degrees and they are talking about how many records we've set. By
next week we will be watching the weather reports to choose the best day to
go out and collect our data. Hopefully it will be as nice as it is this week!

Eileen

At 05:49 PM 3/31/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Greetings from Kinsey Elementary in Sioux Center, Ia
>
>My three fourth grade science classes spent their 30 minute periods
outside on Monday because we knew there was more rain and snow coming
today. Tomorrow we will have some time to examine what we found and will
send in a report. Each class did three separate square meters in a
specified section of the playground which is very large. If we aren't too
late please count us in. Sorry we can't be involved in the video
conferencing but don't have the necessary equipment and know-how.
>
>Laura Vermeer
>
>
>
>