Bear Aware

Black Bear

Overview Of Project

All three Special Education classes are participating in PBL: Wildlife School, Part I- Bear Aware. We have grades K-5, mixed ability grouping with about 80 students.

At the beginning of the school year students created K-W-L charts on either chart paper or the online site Padlet.com. With their classmates they discussed What They Know about black bears and What They Want to Know about them.

Next, students researched about black bears in the Sandia Mountains using articles, websites, information from organizations, and presenters.

Overall Essential Question

What can SA STEM Magnet students create to disseminate accurate information to help our community co-exist with the black bears that live in our ecosystem?

Essential Questions (EQ) are scaffold to guide students' progress to our overarching Question above.

Other EQs are:

• How does creating a class K-W-L chart help you keep track of your learning?
• What are eight (8) Team Focus Topics that will lead the teams to fulfill the PBL Essential Question?
• Do you have all the answers to the PBL Question? If not, who could help you locate the necessary information?

Trail Cameras

• Fiana Shapiro
• Colby Gardner

On January 24, two amazing presenters came to school to teach students about trail cameras and what to consider before making their purchase. The students were divided into two groups with one group with Fiana, an Environmental Educator, and one group with Colby, a Wildlife Biologist. Students asked questions and took notes. Next week, they will discuss what they learned and using our project's criteria, make a decision on which camera to purchase.

Standards

Marzano’s Instructional Strategies, DQ2, 12:

Helping Students Record and Represent Knowledge

ELA Standard: Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities and differences in the point of view they represent.

NGSS Standard: Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

A PBL Fueled By:

• Aps Education Foundation's Horizon Grant

Students Decide On Trail Cameras

Comparing and Contrasting Cameras

Students from Mrs. Rodriguez's classes created a chart to compare a variety of trail cameras. We decided on & researched nine main criteria that were needed to fulfill their PBL. We learned that photo resolution was more important for picture quality than megapixels. We learned that we needed a camera that would be triggered when both heat and movement were present. (Just movement = photos of blowing grass; just heat = of sunny grass)

Contacting the Trail Camera Company

The group's Focus Team for Trail Cameras gave their recommendation to the teachers. The teachers contacted the company we recommended. Then we wrote an email to TrailCamPro.com with our request. Here's our email:

Hi Marc,

Thanks for speaking with our teacher today. We are very excited to send you our proposal.

We are a special education K-5 group of 80 students. Our Project-Based Learning (PBL) activity is titled: Wildlife School, Part I- Bear Aware. We want to track black bear movement around our mountainous school campus. We have a grant of $1100 to purchase equipment. We had a wildlife biologist and an environmental educator give presentations about the trial cameras they use in the field. After 8 hours of our own research, we decided we wanted your camera because it best meets our PBL needs. Below is our proposal.

As you can see, we are a little over our budget. We are hoping you can work with us.

The billing and shipping address will be the same. Our school secretary will issue the Purchase Order once we finalize the cost.

We look forward to hearing back from you soon.

Thank you for your time,

Eva, Sara, Grayson, Aiden (The Trail Camera Focus Team)

Success Of Our Trail Camera Email

Marc worked with our Focus Team, and we were able to purchase two (2) !! of the better cameras that is triggered with both heat & movement. Our whole group is very excited!

Reply email from Marc:

Hey Eva, Sara, Grayson, Aiden,

I have attached your estimate. Let me know if you have any question.

Thanks, Marc Stokes TrailCamPro.com 3048 S. Clifton Suite 108 Springfield, MO 65807 1-800-791-0660

Designing A Tee Shirt

All 80 students had the opportunity to submit a tee shirt design to the tee shirt committee. The committee melded the suggestions into one design, and then submitted this design to the Gardenswartz Sports. Their artist created the final work for the tee shirt. The top image is the front of the shirt, and the bottom image is of the back.

Sandia Mountain Natural History Center

Jointly owned by APS and NM Natural History Museum

Mission: To work with New Mexico Communities to develop an ecologically literate citizenry.

The Sandia Mountain Natural History Center (SMNHC) leads ecological science programs on-site for all 5th graders in Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) and Rio Rancho Public Schools, as well as other area schools. Our experienced educators teach about the local ecosystem while leading hikes, hands-on activities, and insight through scientific research. We also offer 5th grade ecology programs statewide, public programs, and educational/community resources and outreach.

Our Amazing Field Experience At Smnhc

By Hudson Bookhout- 5th grade

On April 3rd of 2019, all 72 special Ed students and the three special Ed teachers had a field experience to the Sandia Mountain Natural History Center. Our hope was to learn more about trail camera set up and placement. This would be beneficial because we could then collect our own photos and videos of bear activity near our campus and add our finds to the general bear discussion. When we arrived at SMNHC, we split up into three groups, briefly discussed what we already knew about bears, and looked at preserved bear scat that had bear corn seeds and pinon nut shells. Then the guides took us on different trails to do our activities. We used a dichotomous key to see which trees grow in certain areas and to identify specific trees bears use for food.

We observed one of the trail cameras that was set up. The guide explained that they set up the camera next to a spring because animals would want to go there to get a drink. We saw bear scat next to a indentation in the forest floor surrounded by tall trees. These three pieces of evidence combined made us think it was a bear’s day bed. We took notes along the way and shared them with students who went on the other trails. We learned facts about bear behavior, including a lot about their diet and habitat. Similarly, we also learned some information about trail camera placement and met our goals for the experience. Hopefully, the future of this Bear Aware project will show that this field experience was important.