Under the Plywood Square Investigation

Connecting Outdoor Instruction to Innovative Learning Standards

(COIILS)

- Brad Harriman, St. Clair County Regional Superintendent of Schools. . .

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Under the Plywood Square

Developed and Edited by Michael Schneider

Description: Plywood squares are placed on the surface of the ground in different areas of the schoolyard over a period of several weeks. Students will carefully lift up the squares at defined intervals of time and count and identify the different animals that are now making this their habitat.
Grade Levels: 4-12 (Note: This experiment can be simplified or made more challenging depending on the developmental levels of your students. See Teacher Information.)
Approximate Time Involved: One 30-minute classroom planning session, 20 minutes to set out the squares, 20 minutes to identify and count animals, 20 minutes to enter data online, one or two 30-minute classroom sessions to examine results, state conclusions, draw inferences, and make recommendations. NOTE: The observation intervals are defined on the data collection form.
Teacher Information:
Schoolyards, wetlands, fields, woodlands, and other outdoor areas are homes for a host of small animals--insects, arachnids, centipedes, crustaceans, etc.--that you rarely see. A plywood square can be used to observe the presence of these small creatures so you can examine their numbers and varieties. You can also test your plywood square to see if different locations in your schoolyard will provide more and/or different organisms for you to observe and record. Important: The period of time needed to attract sufficient organisms will, in all likelihood, kill the vegetation under the plywood square. Please choose your locations wisely and make sure your schoolyard maintenance people are on board.
Challenging Your Students to Be Problem Solvers:

To make this experiment more challenging to your students, you might just want to pose a question such as: What types of animals would you expect to find if you turned over a log or piece of wood that had been laying on the ground for awhile? What location in the schoolyard might produce the most organisms found under that log or piece of wood? Design and conduct an experiment to measure the number and types of macro-invertebrates found living under a 30 cm. X 30 cm. piece of plywood left in different locations throughout the schoolyard over a measured period of time.

This should become a team exercise where your student groups might each develop and write a hypothesis, list the materials they would use, the number of each item, and a procedure. An excellent way to assess this activity is to have the teams repeat each other's experiment to see if they achieve the same results. This will also replicate the real world challenges facing a research scientist.
Student Instructions Available to download as a PDF file.
Needed Materials for Each Student Group: data collection form, 1 pair of work gloves, 2-5 magnifying glasses, animal identification charts or field guides (Golden Guides are inexpensive and fairly accurate identification books), felt-tip marker (indelible ink), 2 - 30 cm. X 30 cm. pieces of 1.25 cm. plywood (NOTE: If you plan to run several different tests in different locations, you may need more than the suggested amount of materials.)
Safety Notes: Wear the work gloves and use caution when lifting the plywood square. Though rare, there is always a possibility for a black widow spider or scorpion (southern states) to be present. NOTE: These animals are slow to attack and rarely bite unless you come in actual contact with them. Though it is uncommon under such a small piece of wood, snakes also like this type of habitat. NOTE: If you concerned about lifting the plywood square, use something like a bent coat hanger to lift one side and check it first.
Procedure :

Student Information: The following information will provide you with the steps for setting up your plywood square so that you can then make observations and record what you have found. It is important to hold all of the variables constant except for those that are being manipulated. Constant (or controlled variables) would be such things as: the size of the plywood square, the amount of time the experiment is conducted, how flat the ground surface is, the amount of weight that might be placed on top of the plywood, the methods used in the actual collection of data, etc. Manipulated (or independent) variables would be those things that we change to see if the response will be different, such as: experiment time lengths, location of the plywood square, season of the year, etc.) The responding (or dependent) variable for this experiment will be the number and variety of animals you observe living under your plywood square. NOTE: Temperature is one variable that will be difficult to control or intentionally manipulate in this experiment. However, from your observations, you may be able to infer as to whether temperature has any impact on the number and variety of animals found.
The reporting form for this experiment is set up so that each plywood square will require its own entry of data online. To make this process a little easier, it might be helpful to complete all of the entries that will be the same and then print out the form. Students can easily duplicate this identical information and then fill in the data that will be different (location, organism counts, etc.). NOTE: Since this is a comparison study, a control will not be necessary. However, if you feel you need a control, you might place a plywood square on the floor in your classroom - just don't blame me for what you find under it. Also remember that a good scientific experiment is repeated a minimum of three times so it is advisable to have three plywood squares in each location. NOTE: If this is not possible, you could compare data from year to year.
Steps to Setting up and Collecting from the Plywood Square

1. NOTE: In order to have sufficient period of time to encourage organisms to congregate under the plywood square and maintain the same amount of time between data collection intervals, the investigation will need to begin on a Tuesday. Data collection will then occur on Friday, Monday and Thursday.
2. Click on “Login to Enter Data” at the Under the Plywood Square Investigation web page link provided above (Note: You will need you user name and password to do this). Once you are there, click on “Add New”. What comes up is the data collection sheet that will be used in this investigation. Complete any pertinent information and also choose the appropriate choice listed in each dropdown box (Ex. The location for your square). Print the form and place it on your clipboard. Click "Add" so that your form, and your completed work to this point, will now be in the list when you return to enter your data.
3. Now that you have your data collection form, you can use it as a way of collecting and storing needed information before, during, and after the investigation.
4. On a Tuesday, go to your chosen location in the schoolyard and look for places that are relatively flat and will not get a lot of human interference for a two-week period. NOTE: Don't forget to make sure your schoolyard maintenance people are aware of what you are doing and okay with it - the vegetation under the plywood square will likely die.
5. Use the marker to write your team name in the corner of the plywood square.
6. Your first observation of your plywood square will be on Friday.
7. Review your "Safety Notes" before you begin. Find your team's plywood square.
8. As you gently lift one side of the plywood square, your partner(s) should begin using the "data collection form" to tally the variety and number of animals they may see both on the bottom of the board and on the ground under it.
9. Carefully lay the plywood completely on its top next to the plot and finish identifying and tallying the animals that are present.
10. When you are done, carefully place the plywood back in its original location by simply laying it back into the originally covered spot.
11. Repeat above steps 7-10 on Monday and again on Thursday.
12. When your investigation is complete, remove the plywood square so the vegetation can recover. Part of your responsibility may be to replant the area.
13. Be sure to enter all of your collected data onto your printed data collection sheet.
14. After group and classroom discussions have occurred, login to enter your data online at the correct location. NOTE: Only numbers must be inserted into the boxes where data is being entered and then used in an Excel chart or graph. Words can be used in other boxes where the information is not being quantified.

15. Choose your group's investigation from the existing list and choose "Edit". Enter your remaining data that was collected over the three days and any other requested information that has not yet been entered. Click "Update".

16. Once all classroom data is submitted you can download all submitted "Under the Plywood Square" data and develop charts and graphs in Excel by following the general directions provided at "Downloading and Analyzing Collected Data Using an Excel Spreadsheet"

Below is a list of questions that can be used to stimulate student discussions. If your students are at a developmental level where you are able to challenge their higher level thinking skills, then only present them with the first set of questions from each group below. Use the second list of questions as a way to stimulate thinking when you students seem unable to expand their knowledge on their own.
Examining Local Results

Discussion Questions that Require More Critical Thinking Skills:

What were your conclusions for this experiment?
What could your infer based on your conclusions?
How would you design this experiment differently the next time?

Discussion Questions that Require Less Critical Thinking Skills

What types of animals did you find under the plywood square?
What common characteristics did these animals have?
How many different groups of animals were present? Name them.
What animals preferred the bottom of the board? What animals preferred the surface found under the board.
Did the outside temperature have any impact on the number of animals caught?
What types of animals may not like hiding under the plywood square?
Would you expect to find the same animals under the plywood square all year round? How could you test your assumptions experimentally?

Examining Local and Online Results

Discussion Questions That Will Require Critical Thinking Skills to Compare Local Data to the Online Data of Others

How did your results compare with the results of others?
What conclusions can you make when you compare your results with the results of others?
What inferences can you draw from your additional conclusions?
What changes would you now make in this experiment based on the information you now have?

General Discussion Questions that May Occur as a Result of Comparing Local Data to the Online Data of Others

Where is the geographic location of the schools who have provided online data?
How did the types of animals you identified compare with those identified by others?
What external factors may have contributed to different animals being identified in other schoolyards?
What similarities existed among those schools that identified the same types and numbers of animals?
Did others have the same amount of success in the same locations? If not, what could be the reason for the differences?
Performance and Multiple Choice Assessment Options

Critter Links

Entomological Society of America This site has a special "kids" page for insects.
Monarch Watch Participate in a migratory census of butterflies.
Butterflies, Moths, and Cool Bugs Browse the collection of insects from the Havana Junior High School annual Adopt-An-Insect Project.
Iowa State Department of Entomology This is a good source for information on insects, including some insect recipes.
Children's Butterfly Site This butterfly site is maintained by the United States Geological Survey.
Young Entomologists' Society, Inc. If you really like to explore the insect, spider, and minibeast world, check out this site and become an amateur entomologist.
More links to Schoolyard Habitat Information

Schoolyard Habitat Links Learn more about developing and maintaining schoolyard and backyard habitats by visiting these links.
Copyright, 2005
by Prism Press
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED The text of this publication or any part thereof, may not be reproduced or transmitted in any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the authors.

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