Angie Rivenshield
CEIRP Project
During my CEIRP
Fellowship I have developed two units: one on plant allelopathy,
and another on soil science. I am currently using the soil
science activities with John Culpepper's students in the honors
9th grade Earth Science course at Ithaca High School, in Ithaca, NY.
Soil Science
In
this unit students learn about basic soil science, and then explore
some unique characteristics of soils found in urban areas. The materials
provided here include a basic outline of the unit and a few protocols
(for example, "testing porosity," and "compaction").
When this unit was used with students, it also included a variety
of laboratory handouts, a PowerPoint presentation, and field trips.
Click here to view the activity in PDF format,
or click here to view it as an HTML (web-based)
document.
Allelopathy
The word allelopathy derives from two separate words. They are allelon which means, "of each other", and pathos which means, "to suffer". Allelopathy refers to the chemical inhibition of one species by another. The "inhibitory" chemical is released into the environment where it affects the development and growth of neighboring plants.
In this activity students will learn about allelopathy and some plants that exhibit allelopathic tendencies. Then they will work with protocols that measure allelopathic properties of leaves, nuts, soils, and roots. Finally, they will have the opportunity to conduct their own allelopathy research.
Click
here to view the activity in PDF format, or click
here to view it as an HTML (web-based) document.