Glen Cove District Teams Up With Harvard University

As a result of participating in Harvard's Understandings of Consequence research project last year, the Glen Cove School District has been selected to pilot a new initiative known as EcoMUVE this year. The project is being sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.

This project aims to teach students about ecosystems in a fun and exciting way by exploring a virtual computer-based pond ecosystem. One goal is to teach students about the types of causal reasoning necessary to deeply understand ecosystem concepts and then transfer these concepts to new contexts. 

All eighth grade students at Robert M. Finley Middle School who were taking life science were eligible to participate in the project. Students in Mr. Steve Kocienda's classes began the project during the week of March 1, and Ms. Sheryl Palmer's classes started the week of March 8. 

Students explored the virtual world by visiting the pond ecosystem on several different days. On each visit, they took measurements of chemicals in the water, noted the air quality and weather, and gathered information about the population of various organisms. In addition, they recorded the data in their notebooks as well as online. 

As they explored the environment, they also clicked on various plants and animals, which gave them information about each organism, and then placed a picture of it in their online field guide. Students also encountered simulated virtual characters that offered them important information about what was occurring in the ecosystem.

The students later learned that the large fish in the pond all died overnight. While many assumed that there was an isolated cause for this, it was actually the result of a complex series of events and changes. The students then analyzed all of the data and information that they collected to determine why this happened.