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 Article:
Think Outside the BoxThis article is from Issue Ecosystem Services Natural Inquirer - Vol. 12 No. 1.
* Note: All editions of the Natural Inquirer starting with Volume 5 and including future editions require the newest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 in order to be downloaded. We have upgraded in order to ensure greater accessibility to PDF files. Please click on the following link if you need to upgrade your Adobe Acrobat reader: Upgrade now to Adobe Reader 6.0. It is a free upgrade. Listed Below are some sections of the journal that may help you teach this article. Each link is a pdf file.Welcome SectionNote to Educators & Journal Lesson Plan Reflection Section Answer Guide Additional Resources for this Article:
"Science Topics" covered in this article:
"Thinking About Science Themes" covered in this article: Sometimes scientists examine existing data in a new way to figure out a problem or understand what should be done next. They might also look at the way other scientists have done research in the past to see if trying a new way might provide more useful information. One way scientists do these things is to read, discuss, and observe what has already been done. In this study, scientists wanted to better understand and predict the spread of invasive species. Invasive species are usually nonnative species that change the environment, the economy, or human health. To make better predictions about where invasive species will spread, the scientists looked at how scientists currently predict the spread of invasive species. After the scientists studied how predictions are currently made, they made suggestions for improving the method. Making more accurate predictions about the future will help scientists better understand the environment, manage ecosystems and the economy, and protect human health. No matter what they are studying, scientists always look for better ways to do their research. Specific "Thinking About Science" Themes:"Thinking About Environmental Themes" covered in this article: The scientists in this study were concerned with the spread of invasive species and their impact on the natural environment. To understand the spread of invasive species, the scientists needed to study the problem at many different levels in the natural environment. In science, we call the different levels scales. Studying invasive species in a local community would be an example of a small scale study. In a small scale study, scientists study the habitat immediately surrounding the plant or animal. Studying invasive species by State, region, or the whole world would be a much larger scale study. As the scale of a study gets larger, less detail is examined. Environmental scientists sometimes focus on the larger scale to examine how large areas containing plants and animals interact with the land. Think of something you have studied in school that could be examined at several different scales. Specific "Thinking About the Environment" Themes:NSE Standards covered in this article:
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