Students are working on getting ready to go out in the field for Vital Signs - We are learning how to
Collect Quality Data that Scientists Can Depend On!
Your science class will be participating in a Vital Signs project. The goal of this project is to collect quality data that scientists will use. To help prepare you for this task we will be previewing and practicing some skills you need.
Skills necessary –
- Photography
- Collect data and use the data to make a claim or argument : explain why you think you found or did not find your species.
1) Species in Focus – Critique some of the images posted on the VitalSigns website. Find TWO that you think are excellent, TWO that are OK, and TWO that are pretty poor. Take a screenshot of these photos and put them into a presentation, either Keynote or Google Slides. Click on the picture that goes with the entry. rather than viewing the tiny thumbnail on the page. Choose photos of the same species to critique.
- Use this link - http://vitalsignsme.org/best-evidence-photos to locate examples of excellent photos.
- Use this link http://vitalsignsme.org/explore/search to locate examples of okay and poor quality photos.
For each photo, take a screenshot of your examples, add them to your presentation, and include a few brief comment on your slides. Your comments should explain your ratings and answer the following questions.
- What do you like about the photo?
- What don’t you like about the photo?
- What does the photo show that would help someone identify the species?
- What would you do differently to improve the photo?
2) What makes great data? Evaluate claims, evidence, and reasoning. Vital Signs data is used by professional scientists, governmental agencies, the public, and students to better understand invasive and native species in Maine. For that reason, observations need to be of high quality. You are going to explore and decide what quality data looks like.
Find one example of poor observations/reasoning, one example of OK observations/reasoning, and one example of excellent observations/reasoning. You need to be able to explain how well the entries link their claim (found or not found) to the evidence presented. Are they good scientific arguments?
Use these links for examples of excellent reasoning:
Use this link to find examples of okay reasoning:
Be sure your examples are all for the same species.
Screenshot your examples, and add them to your presentation. Include comments about why you chose these slides as examples of poor, okay and excellent observations.
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