PS 26-108 - Project Show & Tell: Using the Phenocam Network to Create Interdisciplinary Lessons that Engage All Students

Abstract: The timing of phenological events such as leaf out and senescence influence an ecosystem’s carbon, hydrologic, and nutrient cycling. The PhenoCam Network is a network of high resolution webcams that provide automated, near-surface remote sensing of canopy phenology across North America. These cameras generate continuous images that are computer analyzed for the amount of green foliage present. The resulting data sets offer insight into climate variability and the long term effects of climate change. Both the images and data sets are valuable tools for getting students excited about science through authentic research.

Project Show & Tell was created with three goals:

1. 
   Engage students with a real-world problem that is in the news—how is the growing season changing?
   
   


2. 
   Create interdisciplinary lessons that motivate students who don’t feel successful in traditional math and science classes.
   
   


3. 
   Empower students with data literacy skills that can amplify their voice and empower them to effect change.
   
   

Our approach was four-part:

1. 
   Support teachers with professional development, outside experts, and time to plan interdisciplinary units using phenology data.
   
   


2. 
   Take fourth- and fifth-grade students outside to investigate the timing of life cycle events for local herbaceous plants and deciduous trees..
   
   


3. 
   Use PhenoCam images and data to contextualize students’ schoolyard observations and help students see broader patterns/draw more accurate conclusions.
   
   


4. 
   Host a Data Jam where students choose how to “show and tell” the story of their data.
   
   

The project’s outcomes included a change in students’ attitudes towards math and science and improved data literacy for students and teachers. Surveys and journal entries showed that students were more interested in and excited about math and science after the project. Students who participated in the project also scored higher on state standardized tests in Measurement and Data and Life Sciences. Finally, teacher surveys and reflections showed that teachers were more comfortable teaching data literacy and creating lessons that asked students to apply data literacy skills and concepts across multiple disciplines.


The 2018 report on America’s Strategy for STEM Education notes that, “The most transformative discoveries and innovations take place at the junctures where disciplines converge.” Project Show and Tell demonstrates the power of an interdisciplinary approach, in which students use real data from the Phenocam Network to plan and carry out investigations of natural phenomena (science), represent and interpret data (math), compare regions of the United States (social studies), communicate clearly and persuasively (language arts), and create original works (art).