Alternative Assessment for Environmental Data

Overview

Jules Craft, a high school science teacher, recognized the need for alternative assessment formats through her participation in TRKE. She created a project-based assessment for her ecosystem impact unit that emphasizes student autonomy and experiential learning. Students collect, analyze, and interpret environmental data to evaluate and assess impacts on the environment and biodiversity.

Jules' overview of this assessment and how it fit into her unit is linked HERE. Scroll down to the Resources & Links section of this page to check out their specific materials.

Goals

• Engage students in authentic data collection and interpretation
• Provide student autonomy through project-based assessment
• Build comfort with data and uncertainty using real-world contexts
• Connect classroom learning to field experiences and statewide datasets

Implementation & Outcomes

• Implemented with 9th-12th grade students
• Activities included matter/energy flow modeling, a local brewery field trip, and Future Creatures engineering challenge where students imagined how environmental changes may impact ecosystems
• Students populated a shared spreadsheet, selected local impacts and proposed evidence-based solutions
• Community partners included WY Game & Fish, Sheridan County Conservation District, Sheridan City Planner, and others
• Future plans include: more pre-field environmental impact brainstorming, expanded product-format options, and inviting specialists/researchers to the field to guide students in interpreting and collecting data

Resources & Links

• Ecosystems Final Assessment
• Ecology Success Criteria
• Data Collection Spreadsheet and Local Resources
• Padlet Questions

Contact for More Information

For more details about this program or to learn how to incorporate similar activities in your school, please reach out to the TRKE program coordinators at smtcpd@uwyo.edu.