EcoCasting: Investigating aquatic ecosystems using models
Dr. Kemi Jona, Office of STEM Education Partnerships
Northwestern University
The EcoCasting Project: Ecological Forecasting: Framework to Evaluate the Effects of Multiple Stresses on Lake Michigan Food Webs and Guide Remediation is supported in part by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under grant NMFS‐HCPO‐2009‐2002033 to Kimberly Gray. However, any opinions, findings, conclusions, and/or recommendations are those of the investigators and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Administration.
Office of STEM Education Partnerships
• Our mission: Connecting students,
teachers, and parents to the world-class
science and education resources of
Northwestern University and other higher
education institutions
• Partner with faculty and researchers to
develop and deliver educational outreach
related to their research
• Develop our own grant-funded research
projects
• Long-term goal: Create sustainable
STEM education programs for K-12
teachers and students.
Office of STEM Education Partnerships
Strengthening
K-12 STEM
Education
• Teacher training and development
of research-based curricula
• Providing out-of-school learning
opportunities for students
• Supporting faculty participation in
K-12 programs
• Facilitating partnerships that
support STEM education
Teaching Systems Thinking to
Understand the Hydrosphere
• Students understand
environmental issues within
greater context of an entire
ecosystem
• Specific case study: Calumet
Harbor is a unique ecosystem,
exhibits symptoms of issues that
affect larger Great Lakes
ecosystem (invasive species, toxic
pollution)
Characteristics of Systems Thinking
• EcoCasting addresses all:
• ability to identify components of a system
• ability to identify relationships among components
• ability to organize components and processes w/in a hierarchy of
relationships
• ability to make generalizations
• ability to identify dynamic (i.e., not static) relationships w/in
system
• understanding hidden dimensions of system (those not apparent
at first glance, such as groundwater in the hydrosphere)
• ability to understand cyclic nature of systems
• thinking temporally: retrospection and prediction
NRC: Practices for K-12 Classrooms
1. Asking questions and defining problems
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics, information and computer
technology, and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations (for science) and designing
solutions (for engineering)
7. Engaging in argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
EcoCasting Project Summary
• Environmental Engineers
in the Lake Michigan
region are studying fish
and foodwebs for PCB
toxin accumulation.
• Anomalous data found in fish
gut analyses prompted them
to reevaluate accepted
foodweb models
• Original study performed in
Calumet Harbor, next step is
to replicate analysis in Green
Bay
Calumet Harbor:
A Highly Altered Great Lakes Ecosystem
• Legacy of PCB
contamination.
Chicago,
IL
• Invasive Species:
• Round Goby
• Zebra Mussels
• Quagga mussels - watch
Traditional Food Webs
• Aquatic food webs
typically have 4
“levels.”
• Energy (nutrients) are
transferred through
predator-prey links
from base to top
predator.
• Contaminants
bioaccumulate along
these routes.
Actual Food Web Structure of Calumet
Harbor
S
M
L
How Detritus, Seasonality and Fish Size
Affect Calumet Harbor Food Web
Results: Feedback Loops
Amplify PCB Bioaccumulation
Recycling of nutrients in harbor
creates Trophic Feedback
Loops that increase PCB
biomagnification.

Round goby accumulation
trends run counter to expected
notions of increasing
concentration with size.

Important implications for
public health, since round goby
are prey to popular sport fish
EcoCasting Development
Science
Technology
Curriculum
• Data collection and analysis of PCBs in invaded
aquatic ecosystems (Calumet Harbor)
• Designed 3 online models for
student investigation
• Created activities to teach Ecosystem content to
high school classes
• All activities available to download from
http://ecocasting.northwestern.edu
EcoCasting for Students
Content
Technology
Grade Level
Agent-based
models (NetLogo)
High school
Biology and/or
Environmental Sci.
Aquatic food webs
Bioaccumulation
Invasive Species
Curriculum Outline
Activities
1. Is Fish Safe to Eat, or is it a Toxic
Risk?
2. Aquatic Food Chains, Food Webs, and
Modeling
3. Bioaccumulation
4. Invasive Species
1. Is Fish Safe to Eat?
Introductory Activity
NOAA EcoCasting 2010
Scientists say Gulf spill altering food web
• KWL Chart
By MATTHEW BROWN and RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, Associated Press Writers
• Reading and response
to article on the 2010
BP oil spill
This June 15, 2010 photo provided by the University of California Santa Barbara, shows pyrosomes- cucumbershaped, gelatinous organisms fed on by endangered sea turtles, pulled up after a deep cast in the vicinity of the oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists are seeing early signs that the massive Gulf spill is altering the food web, by
killing or tainting creatures that form the foundation of marine life and spurring the growth of others more suited to a
fouled environment. (AP Photo/David L. Valentine, Department of Earth Science, University of California Santa
Barbara)
WedJul14,9:04amET
2
2. Aquatic Food Chains, Food Webs, and
Modeling
…In reality, the way organisms eat is more like that old
children’s poem, “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed
a Fly…”
Periphyton
crayfish
Smallmouth Bass
6
• Shows image of
the model so
students can
check progress
Question:AnswerontheStudentResponseSheet
• Student
reflection
questions
• Instructions on
how to use and
observe the
model
3. Nowthatthemodelissetup,whichorganismismissingfromtheimage?Whyis
this?
3. Clickonthe
buttonintheupperleftcornerofthescreentostartthemodel
running.Thisbuttonwillbothstartandstopthemodelfromrunning.
Watchwhathappenstothepopulationsizeforeachoftheorganismsasyouletthe
modelrun.Youwillneedtofocusyourattentiononthelinegraphlabeled“Population
Size”ontheleftofthescreen.
*NOTE:Letthemodelruntoatleast100onthetimeaxisinthe“PopulationSize”
graphbeforestoppingitorrecordinganyobservations.*
© 2010 Office of STEM Education Partnerships, Northwestern University
Investigation IV: Invasive Species – Student Guide, Part 1 – 12 pages
Sample page from
EcoCasting Curriculum
NOAA EcoCasting 2010
EcoCasting Models
• NetLogo agent-based models allow students to
manipulate the food web and investigate
bioaccumulation and invasive species
• Posted online as Java web-applets
Aquatic Food Chains
http://ecocasting.northwestern.edu/NetLogo/Food%20Chai
n.html
Bioaccumulation
http://ecocasting.northwestern.edu/NetLogo/Bioac
cumulation.html
Invasive Species
http://ecocasting.northwestern.edu/NetLogo/Invasi
ve%20Species.html
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Standards
• Illinois State Standards
• NRC’s National Science
Education Standards
• Addresses many goals
of “A Framework for K12 Science Education:
Practices, Crosscutting
Concepts, and Core
Ideas” (July 2011)
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(()*/" " 2*! 13‐&0
• College Readiness
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Standards Aligned
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EcoCasting Resources
To download curricular materials and find
links to models, visit:
http://ecocasting.northwestern.edu