Students will select 3 plants from the floor, understory, and canopy database models and create a concept map that illustrates how life in the rainforest of the Pacific Northwest is interdependent. Students will insert their concept maps into a Word document, and include a written description, with at least one photograph and one illustration related to the topic. Students are required to include a bibliography with references to websites, books, and materials used.

    Faced with the task of creating a database model, we agreed that the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest would yield a wealth of data to draw upon. We also agreed to collect information on plants to narrow the scope of our study. Suggested fields for data columns were scientific name, family, genus, type, and other. We planned to use e-mail to share information or ideas about constructing the database in the week between class meetings.

    All three of us agreed that the process of searching for appropriate information, and constructing the database was time-consuming. The process, however, led to some discoveries of terms that I had not known before, such as "nurse logs", "biomass", and  "mycorrhizal", as well as refreshing my recollection of what coniferous and deciduous plants are. Early on in the process I wondered what questions or topics would be relavant to the data I was collecting. I used e-mail to suggest that we expand our data model to include insects, animals, and trees for a debate project on logging vs. conservation. Jim reminded me that we had agreed to do just plants in order to keep our project narrow in focus. I replied "OK", but still wondered where we were going with our research.

    During our next class meeting, we agreed that some of the scientific fields, such as family and genus, were not necessary. It was also suggested that the "other" data column may be an important field for establishing a student project. We spent most of the class time refining our databases, agreeing to post our work by Tuesday, and e-mailing our web addresses to one another so that we could make links to our data models.

    Upon completing the database for the rainforest floor, I realized that one thread that was evident throughout the research was that all living things in the rainforest are interdependent. This thought led me to think that students may be able to construct a concept map to illustrate some of the interdependencies, hence the Interdependent PNW Rainforest Project. Using Jonassen's "Rubric for Evaluating Knowledge Construction in Students' Knowledge Base", the project is probably somewhere in the middle, with students having to stop and think about relationships between plants that they select. The project may move closer to the right (constuctivist), should students select their own topics and create their own databases.

    Finally, I would recommend to students and teachers that they consider what questions are to be answered, and what the data is going to represent, before they begin to construct a database. "To build the data model, students must first decide what the appropriate content relationships are."1  Given a set of data fields that will support what is being represented, students will find researching and constructing the database as a meaningful exercise and a useful Mindtool.
 

1 Jonassen, David H. (1999). Computers as Mindtools for Schools: Engaging Critical Thinking, 2 Edition.

National Park Service, Rain Forest - Olympic National Park, http://www.nps.gov/olym/edurain.htm
Available (6-11-03)

Functional Roles of Epiphytes in Pacific Northwest Forests, http://oregonstate.edu/~mccuneb/FunctionalRoles.htm
Available (6-11-03)

Hill, Donna B.Sc. B.Ed. (1997). Wildlife of Pacific Northwest Costal Rainforest, http://www.naturepark.com/rainf.htm
Available (6-11-03)