Michigan Content Standards Addressed in A Forestry Unit
http://cdp.mde.state.mi.us/mcf/ContentStandards/default.html
Standard I.1 Constructing New
Scientific Knowledge
All students will ask questions that help them learn about the world;
design and conduct investigations using appropriate methodology and technology;
learn from books and other sources of information; communicate their findings
using appropriate technology; and reconstruct previously learned knowledge.
Applications: Engage students in scientific research: ask questions, plan and conduct investigations, use appropriate tools and techniques to gather data. Research shows that students who conduct independent projects develop higher level inquiry skills.
Strand III. Using Scientific
Knowledge in Life Science
Scientifically literate
students and adults can use their knowledge to understand the world around them
and to guide their actions. Important types of activities that use scientific
knowledge include description and explanation of real-world objects, systems,
or events; prediction of future events or observations; and the design of
systems or courses of action that enable people to adapt to and modify the
world around them. In the life sciences, real-world contexts in which
scientifically literate people use knowledge are often described in terms of
systems and subsystems, such as cells, organisms, and ecosystems.
Standard III.1 Cells
All students will apply an understanding of cells to the functioning of
multi-cellular organisms; and explain how cells grow, develop and reproduce.
Cells are the basic living unit of which all organisms are composed.
Standard III.2 The Organization of Living
Things
All students will use classification
systems to describe groups of living things; compare and contrast
differences in the life cycles of living
things; investigate and explain how
living things obtain and use energy; and analyze how parts of living things are adapted to carry out specific functions.
Organization of living things occurs both across species (as in taxonomic organizations) and within organisms (their structures and processes).
Standard III.5 Ecosystems
All students will explain how parts
of an ecosystem are related and how they interact; explain how energy is distributed to living things
in an ecosystem; investigate and explain how communities of living things
change over a period of time; describe how
materials cycle through an ecosystem and
get reused in the environment; and analyze how humans and the environment
interact.
It is within ecosystems that communities of living things interact.
Key Words: Food web, food chain, interdependence, soil, decomposition; compare field and forest ecosystems; managed v. natural forest
Strand V. Using Scientific
Knowledge in Earth Science
In the earth sciences, real-world contexts are often described in terms of systems and subsystems, such as atmospheric systems, crustal systems, solar systems, or galaxies, which are useful in explaining phenomena, including volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, thunderstorms, and eclipses.
Standard V.1 The Geosphere
All students will describe the earth's surface; describe and explain how
the earth's features change over time; and analyze effects of technology on the
earth's surface and resources.
The geosphere includes earth's surface and geological processes.
Key Words: soil, erosion,
Standard V.2 The Hydrosphere
All students will demonstrate where water is found on earth; describe the
characteristics of water and how water moves; and analyze the interaction of
human activities with the hydrosphere.
The Hydrosphere includes all forms of water. Of particular interest in Michigan is the water environment in the Great Lakes region.
Key Words: rivers, ponds, wetlands, water cycle
Standard V.3 The Atmosphere and Weather
All students will investigate and describe what makes up weather and how it
changes from day to day, from season to season and over long periods of time;
explain what causes different kinds of weather; and analyze the relationships
between human activities and the atmosphere.
Weather is composed of patterns of moisture, temperature and pressure which move through the atmosphere.
Key Words: Microclimates, affects of weather on tree growth, weather and plant adaptations
LANGUAGE ARTS CONTENT
STANDARDS
English language arts education in Michigan incorporates the teaching and learning of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing.
Standard 1, 2, 3 Meaning and
Communication
All students will read and comprehend general and technical material.
Standard 4. Language
All students will use the English language effectively.
Standard 5. Literature
All students will read and analyze a wide variety of classic and contemporary
literature and other texts to seek information, ideas, enjoyment, and
understanding of their individuality, our common heritage and common humanity,
and the rich diversity of our society.
Standard 6. Voice
All students will learn to communicate information accurately and effectively
and demonstrate their expressive abilities by creating oral, written, and
visual texts that enlighten and engage an audience.
Standard 8. Genre and Craft
of Language
All students will explore and use the characteristics of different types of
texts, aesthetic elements, and mechanics--including text structure, figurative
and descriptive language, spelling, punctuation, and grammar--to construct and
convey meaning.
Standard 11. Inquiry and
Research
All students will define and investigate important issues and problems using a
variety of resources, including technology, to explore and create texts.
The thinking skills of inquir are used to formulate questions and hypotheses, analyze and synthesize information, and draw reasonable conclusions.
MATHEMATICS CONTENT
STANDARDS
Strand I. Patterns,
Relationships, and Functions
Patterns, relationships and functions comprise one of the most important themes in the study of mathematics. Mathematical thinking begins with the recognition of similarities among objects or events, proceeds to generalization and abstraction, and culminates in the ability to understand, explain and make predictions. Contexts that exhibit structure and regularity provide rich opportunities for describing the physical world, studying mathematics and solving problems.
Standard I.1 Patterns
Students recognize similarities and generalize patterns, use patterns to
create models and make predictions, describe the nature of patterns and
relationships, and construct representations of mathematical relationships.
Standard I.2 Variability and Change
Students describe the relationships among variables, predict what will
happen to one variable as another variable is changed, analyze natural
variation and sources of variability, and compare patterns of change.
Strand II. Geometry and
Measurement
Standard II.3 Measurement
Students compare attributes of two objects or of one object with a standard
(unit), and analyze situations to determine what measurement(s) should be made
and to what level of precision.
Measurement reflects the usefulness and practicality of mathematics and puts students in touch
Strand III. Data Analysis
and Statistics
We live in a sea of information. In order not to drown in the
data that inundate our lives every day, we must be able to process and
transform data into useful knowledge. The ability to interpret data and to make
predictions and decisions based on data is an essential basic skill for every
individual.
Standard III.1 Collection,
Organization and Presentation of Data
Students collect and explore data, organize data into a useful form, and
develop skill in representing and reading data displayed in different formats.
Knowing what data to collect and where and how to collect them is the starting
point of quantitative literacy. The mathematics curriculum should capitalize on
students' natural curiosity about themselves and their surroundings to motivate
them to collect and explore interesting statistics and measurements derived
from both real and simulated situations. Once the data are gathered, they must
be organized into a useful form, including tables, graphs, charts and pictorial
representations. Since different representations highlight different patterns
within the data, students should develop skill in representing and reading data
displayed in different formats, and they should discern when one particular
representation is more desirable than another.
Standard III.2 Description and
Interpretation
Students examine data and describe characteristics of a distribution,
relate data to the situation from which they arose, and use data to answer
questions convincingly and persuasively.
Students must be able to examine data and describe salient characteristics of the distribution. They also must be able to relate the data to the physical situation from which they arose. Students should use the data to answer key questions.
SOCIAL STUDIES CONTENT
STRANDS
Strand II. Geographic
Perspective
Students will use knowledge of spatial patterns on earth to understand
processes that shape human environments and to make decisions about society.
Standard II.2 Human/Environment
Interaction
All students will describe, compare, and explain the locations and
characteristics of ecosystems, resources, human adaptation, environmental
impact, and the interrelationships among them.
Understanding human/environment interaction enables one to consider how people rely on the environment, how they alter it, how it may limit what they are able to do, and the consequences of actions for both people and the natural environment.
Standard II.4 "Regions, Patterns, and
Processes"
All students will describe and compare characteristics of ecosystems, states,
regions, countries, major world regions, and patterns and explain the processes
that created them.
Applications: Compare to northern temperate forest to rainforest environments; history and consequences of past logging practices in UP and Michigan; compare native and managed forests for biodiversity, productivity, economics; compare value of different tree species; compare economic consequences of long-term and short-term management scenarios.
Standard III.3 Democracy in
Action
All students will describe the political and legal processes created to make
decisions, seek consensus, and resolve conflicts in a free society.
Applications: Land use planning; endangered species, conservation easements, forest v. farmland v. subdividing
Strand IV. Economic
Perspective
Students will use knowledge of the production, distribution, and
consumption of goods and services to make personal and societal decisions about
the use of scarce resources.
Applications: Forest management and stewardship
Standard IV.I Individual and
Household Choices
All students will describe and demonstrate how the economic forces of scarcity
and choice affect the management of personal financial resources, shape
consumer decisions regarding the purchase, use, and disposal of goods and
services, and affect the economic well-being of individuals and society.
Applications: Use of renewable forest resources (pulp for paper, timber, etc.)
Standard IV.3 Role of Government
All students will describe how government decisions on …public goods and
regulation impact what is produced, how it is produced, and who receives the
benefits of production.
Applications: Environmental regulation; public v. private property rights (air, water, soil, endangered species, wildlife, etc.)
Strand V. Inquiry
Students will use methods of social science investigation to answer
questions about society.
Inquiry, an essential component of effective decision-making, is the process of investigating problems of significance to society. Some problems can be sufficiently examined through the lens of a single discipline. Other problems, by their very nature, encompass more than one discipline. If citizens are to make sound decisions in efforts to solve social problems, they must learn how to pursue data, think critically, and communicate their findings effectively.
Standard V.I Information
Processing
All students will acquire information from books, maps, newspapers, data sets,
and other sources, organize and present the information in maps, graphs,
charts, and time lines, interpret the meaning and significance of information,
and use a variety of electronic technologies to assist in accessing and
managing information.
Standard V.2 Conducting
Investigations
All students will conduct investigations by formulating a clear statement of a
question, gathering and organizing information from a variety of sources,
analyzing and interpreting information, formulating and testing hypotheses,
reporting results both orally and in writing, and making use of appropriate
technology.
Strand VI. Public Discourse
and Decision-Making
Students will analyze public issues and construct and express thoughtful
positions on these issues.
Standard VI.I Identifying and
Analyzing Issues
All students will state an issue clearly as a question of public policy, trace
the origins of the issue, analyze various perspectives people bring to the
issue, and evaluate possible ways to resolve the issue.
Standard VI.2 Group Discussion
All students will engage their peers in constructive conversation about matters
of public concern by clarifying issues, considering opposing views, applying
democratic values, anticipating consequences, and working toward making
decisions.
Standard VI.3 Persuasive Writing
All students will compose coherent written essays that express a position on a
public issue and justify the position with reasoned arguments.
Strand VII. "Citizen
Involvement"
Students will act constructively to further the public good.
Standard VII.I Responsible
Personal Conduct
All students will consider the effects of an individual's actions on other
people
Application: Public v. private good; use and protection of renewable v. non-renewable resources