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ParkWise
> Teachers >
Nature > To
Hatch or Not to Hatch
> Unit Outline
Activity
3:
Describing Productivity
Students
use real data from research in Denali to understand and calculate
productivity.
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Unit:
To Hatch or Not
to Hatch?
Guiding Questions: How
can scientists measure the reproduction of golden eagles?
How do scientists study the relationship between the abundance
of hare and ptarmigan and the reproduction of golden eagles
in Denali National Park?
Critical Content:
Different ways to
measure reproduction and productivity.
Grades:
7-8
Duration: 45 -
60 minutes
Group size: 2 -3
students
Setting: classroom
Materials: A copy
of the Reproduction
Data Worksheet for Denali Golden Eagles for each group,
pencils, paper, either overhead transparencies for each group
or a poster board for the students to present their ideas,
pens, calculators, copies of Golden
Eagles in Denali.
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Before
you begin:
- Read the background
material "How
do researchers study golden eagle reproduction in Denali, and
what is reproductive success anyway?" in Golden Eagles in
Denali.
- Review the Definitions
in the Instructional Resources
- Be sure you are comfortable
with the terms: nesting area, territorial pair, nesting pair,
successful pair, fledgling, occupancy rate, laying rate, success
rate, mean brood size, and productivity.
- Review the worksheet
with the students, explaining terms and the layout of the data.
Also review what a rate is and how it is often calculated or presented,
give unrelated examples like mph.
Procedures:
Part I - Understanding how to measure productivity
- Students should be given the Reproduction
Data Worksheet for Denali Golden Eagles.
- Go over the worksheet with the students, explaining the terms:
nesting areas, territorial pairs, nesting pairs, number of successful
pairs, total number of fledglings.
- Review what a rate is and how it is often calculated or presented.
Give unrelated examples like miles per hour or meals per day.
- Tell each group to think of a way to describe: occupancy rate,
laying rate, success rate, mean brood size, and productivity.
Write out a way to calculate each of these.
- The groups should prepare a short presentation to give to the
class with their conclusions visually presented in the form of
an overhead or a poster board. Presentations should include examples
using the Denali golden eagle data.
Part II - Calculating productivity
Discussion Questions:
- What does each calculation tell you about golden eagles?
- What factors might affect the values of each of these rates?
- Grades 9-12: Are these functions linear or nonlinear
functions? How can you tell?
Extension:
- Calculate values of
the mean, maximum, minimum and range for each row of the worksheet.
Discuss the values and variation of the metrics
- Create graphs of each
metric over time. Put the years along the X-axis and the values
along the Y-axis. These graphs can be used in Activity
4: Productivity and Prey.
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