Daphnia on Drugs and the Eight Intelligences Link

Prepared by Joan K. McLaughlin-Johnston

This laboratory is an enjoyable, safe, hands-on learning experience for students. As a consequence of its adapted cooperative learning format and constructivist procedural sep-up, it addresses many learning styles and ability levels that may be present in a diverse classroom population.

• Students work in teams of four, subdivided into two pairs of" researchers".
• Each team is responsible for equipment, chemicals, work stations, data collecting, creating data tables, graphing, statistical evaluation, etc.
• Because there are so many activities to be done, students need to work out assignment of "responsibilities" within their groups.
• The constructivist format allows for most ,if not all, teams to handle their own diverse grouping in a number of creative ways.

It has been observed that during the lab and subsequent follow-up activities, the following Learning Intelligences have been addressed.

LINGUISTICS



• Students using this laboratory module need to be able to address written directions accurately and to interpret them correctly, both orally and in writing with the rest of their team. Typically, the students who are most comfortable in these areas are the ones most willing to take on this aspect of the lab and are, not surprisingly, very successful doing so.

  LOGICAL-MATHEMATICAL

  
  
• During lab students collect and analyze data in the form of numbers (pulse rates, concentrations of drug, averages, etc.) Students with these abilities "teach" (via modeling) other team members what to do and how to set up their own evaluations.

  SPATIAL

  
  
• What do you do with all the data collected during the lab? Students must be able to translate data (numbers) into graphic representations, such as, charts, graphs, diagrams, etc. Students who excel in this area work cooperatively in their team so that all partners know how to set up their own part of the work.

  BODILY-KINESTHETIC

  
  
• There are frequent directed movements in this lab. Students must be able to move carefully and deliberately for: equipment aquisition, slide and specimen set up, careful application and removal of "drug" to and from the specimen,etc. Students who are facile in this area are usually "doing" alot of the actual hands-on work.

  INTERPERSONAL

  
  
• In a group setting, successful, smooth interfacing among participants is crucial. Students with the ability to address issues, field-out responsibilities, respect other people's feelings, smooth out minor annoyances, keep the team focused on task, etc. can have a full time job when working with less socially-adept peers. This laboratory setting gives them the opportunity to shine.

  INTRAPERSONAL

  
  
• Fourteen to sixteen year old students often are expected to behave maturely in a science setting. In a team-lab approach, each student must do his/her job well for the team to be successful. Since students like to be successfull, self-knowledge of their own strenghts and weaknesses is crucial for dividing up the lab tasks initially. From the quiet "nerd" to the "class clown" students are usually very perceptive about their own abilities and when it's appropriate to use them.

  NATURALIST

  
  
• Recognizing and being able to discern minute, yet, critical differences is an asset in a lab setting. Combining this with the ability to classify these observations into an organized format for future referencing is a skill typical of students with Naturalistic intelligence.

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