Environmental Detectives, GEMS Teacher's Guide (7-9)

Contact Information

Phone: 510-642-7771
Fax: 510-643-0309

Street Address: Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California Berkeley, 1 Centennial Drive
Berkeley, California 94720-5200

Last Updated: 11-21-2004

Compendium Resource

Reviewer Comments

General Content
"Very in-depth hands-on exploration."

Pedagogy
"Great use of logic, reasoning, higher level thinking skills."

"Lots of hands-on involvement."

Teacher Usability
"Requires a lot of teacher preparation time."

"Will need very skilled classroom management to keep this moving along and students on task."

"Excellent instructions, materials list, and timelines."

Focus on Communities
"All three texts comprise a thorough delivery of understanding of aquatic and marine communities."

EE Program/Resource ss Details

Provided by: Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) University of California, Berkeley

Description: In this challenging unit, built around a fictional environmental-damage scenario, students learn of the interconnectedness of the natural world and the complexity of many environmental problems. Students consider pollution from many sources, perform chemical and biological tests to finger the "culprit(s)," and track changes in predator-prey relationships.

Activities address both National Science Education Standards and Benchmarks for Science Literacy. Appendices include resources, assessment suggestions, and literature connections.

Web Address: http://www.lhsgems.org

Program/Resource Type: Activity/Learning Kit, Curriculum, Publication

Audience Served: 5, 6, 7, 8

Cost: $25.50

EE Focus: Biodiversity, Economics, Ecosystems-General, Ecosystems-Watershed, Environmental Justice, Pollution Prevention, Stewardship, Technology & Society, Water

Academic Focus: History/Social Sciences, Mathematics, Science

Counties Served: Statewide

View Sample Pages (PDF)

Report Card

Overall Grade
General Content
Presentation
Pedagogy
Teacher Usability
Community

A
A
A-
A+
A-
A

Discipline Emphasis

Science
History/Social Science
Health
Mathematics
Visual/Performing Arts
Language Arts
Industrial/Vocational Ed.
Foreign Language