ESC Science Kit Rental: Wildlife Forensics Kit (8-12)

In the Connect and Wonder stage of the pre-activity, students can write or draw their responses on their graphic organizer. The graphic organizers are also available in Word format allowing teachers to modify the assessments to meet the individual needs of their students. Teachers may differentiate the instructional tasks for students using the various Duet Text options to compare and contrast video, texts, or video and text. The post-activity was developed to allow students a great amount of variety in choosing and presenting a research topic within the field of ecology. 

Inquiry is a fundamental building block of teaching and learning that empowers students to follow their sense of wonder into new discoveries and insights into the way the world works. The empowered learner calls upon information/inquiry skills to connect with what he or she knows, ask intriguing questions about what is not known, investigate answers, construct new understandings, and to share those understandings with others. Students need to use the skills of inquiry to learn.

The Wildlife Forensics unit has been developed using the framework and skills culled from the Stripling Model of Inquiry and the Empire State Information Fluency Continuum. This framework encourages active learning and the formation of new understandings. The Eat or Be Eaten pre-activity is based within the Connect and Wonder stages of the Stripling Model. Students will have an opportunity to connect with prior knowledge and gain context.  In Wonder, students will now have the language and background knowledge to develop good questions, formulate hypotheses, and make predictions. Your hands-on investigation with the kit rental or field trip is the Investigate stage. When you return to your school, the post-activity is based within the Construct, Express, and Reflect stages. Inquiry is cyclical.  It is okay to revisit a stage of the Stripling Model as additional questions are formulated, hypotheses are fine-tuned and students develop their desires to independently explore related topics. 

Stripling, Barbara K. "Inquiry-based Learning." In Curriculum Connections through the Library, edited by Barbara K. Stripling and Sandra

Hughes-Hassell, 3-39. Libraries Unlimited, 2003.

Wildlife Forensics applies scientific procedures to investigate wildlife-related crimes such as poaching and illegal hunting. Forensic scientists collect evidence from other wildlife professionals (example: game wardens or park rangers). The evidence can be examined for species identification, suspects at the crime scene and cause of death.

One procedure commonly applied by wildlife forensic scientists is DNA fingerprinting using gel electrophoresis. It is useful in determining a specific species of animal by isolating a particular string in the DNA sequence. By identifying the species by a DNA fingerprint, a forensic scientist can conclude whether or not the organism was harvested legally.

In this unit, students will begin to explore the principles of heredity and genetics by analyzing physical characteristics of rodents and demonstrate that offspring inherit their traits from their parents. Their study continues with a lab experience in DNA fingerprinting and gel electrophoresis as they determine whether or not a DNA sample came from a wild or domestic chinchilla. Students will further their analysis using a Socratic seminar to debate if and how humans should use this technology.

What is Teaching with Text Sets? 

Duet Model Text Set:

Throughout the unit, the use of text sets is presented as a model for integrating science and literacy. Text Sets can be used to organize the learning process by grouping texts including but not limited to fiction and nonfiction books, eBooks, journal and newspaper articles, audio and video files, and images. They can be multi-modal and multi-genre. Students can gain knowledge on a topic or a variety of topics using Text Sets by pairing two texts to initiate the process of comparing and contrasting the texts. In the pre-activity, the Duet Model is used

Solar System Model Text Set:

In the Solar System Model, the “sun” or center represents the content, theme or genre to be examined. Each of the “planets” in the solar system represents a particular text.  In this model, students are asked to examine 3 or more texts in relation to each other.  They gain a larger sense of content knowledge by comparing and contrasting the materials in each of the “planet” texts.

Sunburst Model Text Set:

In the Sunburst Model, the “sun” or center represents the content, theme or genre to be examined. Each of the “rays” in the sunburst represents a particular text. In this model, students are asked to examine 1 or more texts, “the rays”, in relationship to the “sun” text.  They gain a larger sense of content knowledge by comparing and contrasting the information presented in each text.