Assessment Strategies

Here are a number of strategies and activities you might use to help uncover student misconceptions, the level of student learning and areas students might need further instruction.

Pre-Assessment

Teachers can enter into discussion with their student through a think/pair/share activity prior to viewing From Animal Waste to Human Waist.
Ask questions like:

What are some of the uses for horse manure?
If compost is suggested, ask them what they know about compost piles. Why does it get hot? What happens in a compost pile? (reference episode Cooking with Compost to go further into this discussion).
Can manure be used as a food source? How and why?
What about the waste of other animals? Can all animal waste be used a food source?

Pre-Assessment and Post-Assessment Activities

Pre-Assessment Question: How/Why is animal manure important as a food source and in food production?
(Teachers: Look for an understanding of using manure as a fertilizer. Materials that are present in manure can enrich the soil, thus allowing plants to grow. In addition, look for less common uses of manure that will be discussed in this episode, such as using manure as a food source for grubs that can then be used as food for humans or as food for chickens.)

Post-Assessment Question: How is animal manure important as a food source and in food production?
(Teachers: Look for evidence that the students have an understanding of manure as a food source for grubs that can be used directly as a food source for humans and as a food source for chickens.)

Pre-Assessment and Embedded Assessment Activity

Give One, Get One Instructions

Give One, Get One is a strategy to help students look for details. The tables are passed out to the students before the video is shown. As the students watch the video, they need to fill in three boxes with information from the video. At the conclusion of the video, the students get up from their seats and fill in the remaining boxes with information that has not yet been recorded on the table. Each classmate may add only one fact to another classmate’s table, but may add facts to as many tables as they wish. At the conclusion of the activity, the students should have a good collection of the facts found in the video.

Give One, Get One Worksheet

Embedded Assessment:

Have students do the activities found on this web link, Energy Transfer and Efficiency to calculate the amount of energy being transferred.(http://www.biologyguide.net/bya5/bya5-14-7.htm )

2% of light energy is converted to chemical P.E. by photosynthesis
Rest is lost through reflection from leaves / heat loss / not all wavelengths are utilized / light strikes non-photosynthetic structure
10% of that are passed on along trophic levels
Rest is lost in respiration / as heat/feces/urine

Have your students use the web resources to:

Find a recipe that uses grubs as an ingredient. Copy the recipe (remember to site your source!) and explain why or why not you would use this recipe.
Find a site where you can buy grubs over the Internet. Compare the price to a pound of meat that you might buy in a local grocery store. How does the price compare to vegetarian protein sources, such as tofu?

Post- Assessment:

CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE QUESTIONS:

Support this statement, using evidence from the video: "Cow pastures and horse stables are gold mines of nutrients."

SCORING:

4 points: The answer will contain at least 4 of the following: Manure found in cow pastures and horse stables can be returned to the soil as fertilizer that is rich in nitrogen; manure can be a source of nourishment for earthworms and grubs; earthworms and grubs may be eaten by other animals, such as raccoons and birds; earthworms and grubs can be fed to animals that humans might use as food, such as chickens; grubs can be eaten directly by humans.

3 points: The answer will contain at least 3 points from the above list.

2 points: The answer will contain at least 2 points from the above list.

1 point: The answer will contain at least 1 point from the above list.

MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS:

1. Animal manure can be used to produce food for humans. Which of the following is a way to use animal manure in food production?
            a. Manure can be used as fertilizers for plants.
            b. Manure can provide a good environment for earthworms that enrich the soil.
            c. Manure can be a food supply for insects that are eaten by humans.
            d. Manure can be used as described in choices a, b, and c.

2. Grubs are animals that are involved in many different food webs. What are grubs?
            a. Grubs are worms that live in the soil.
            b. Grubs are the larval forms of beetles.
            c. Grubs are bacteria that decompose dead animals.
            d. Grubs are microscopic organisms that decompose animal waste.

3. Grubs contribute to food webs in a variety of ways. Which of the following is a true?
            a. Grubs decompose dead animals to release nutrients into the soil.
            b. Grubs store water that can be used for plant growth.
            c. Grubs can be eaten by many different animals, transferring energy to the next level of the food web.
            d. Grubs release protein into the soil that helps fertilize plants.

ANSWERS: 1D, 2B, 3C

Origami Answer Sheet for Students