CARVER ELEMENTARY LONG TERM STUDENT RESEARCH AND SYMPOSIUM
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At Carver, student research is the heart of Outdoor Education. Our fourth and fifth graders conduct long-term, independent ecological investigations using GLOBE Program protocols to study real phenomena in our schoolyard ecosystems. Students design their own questions, collect and analyze data over time, and communicate their findings through symposium-style research posters, following the Bryan County 5E instructional model. This process is rigorous, student-led, local phenomena based, inquiry-driven, and standards-aligned, and it directly supports Georgia Milestones by strengthening scientific reasoning, data analysis, and evidence-based communication. With only ethical guidelines and a shared research template, every project is unique and personally meaningful, reflecting authentic peer-reviewed scientific practice and preparing students to present their work at a public Student Research Symposium during Earth and Arts Night. The end goal of student research is to connect students with nature, introduce green careers, develop scientific habits of mind, and strengthen student-led Argument Driven inquiry.
RESEARCH RATIONALE AND FOCUS AREAS
Why are we doing research in our stormwater bioswale system?
Our data, specimen, and species DNA collected by students are being shared with several research projects including research being conducted in the Ogeechee River Basin by the Georgia Southern Freshwater Ecology Lab, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division, and the the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the National Geographic MacroBlitz.
At Carver, students conduct research in the ditch because it is a real, living system where questions matter and evidence can be collected over time. Student research is organized around six focus areas: presence and absence of organisms, abundance and patterns, habitat quality, human impact, change over time, and method testing. Students want to know what lives in the ditch, where organisms are found, and whether some places support more life than others. They investigate how water conditions, habitat features, and nearby human structures influence living things, and how these patterns change after rain, across seasons, or with repeated observation. Students also study their own methods by testing and improving trap designs and sampling strategies to ensure their data are reliable. We collect data to move beyond single observations and build evidence that can be compared, analyzed, and discussed. Student data are used to develop claims supported by evidence, to create research posters and presentations, to contribute to long-term datasets about our campus ecosystems, and to inform stewardship decisions about how we care for the ditch as part of the Ogeechee River Basin. Our research also collects data for our campus biological survey.
Focus Area 1: Presence and Absence: Is anything living here, and where?
Focus Area 2: Abundance and Patterns: How many, and does it change?
Focus Area 3: Habitat Quality: What conditions support life?
Focus Area 4: Human Impact: How do people affect this system?
Focus Area 5: Change Over Time: What happens if we wait and watch?
Focus Area 6: Method Testing: Does our method work?
Students choose their area of focus, record their research statements, and write their research question. This gives student researchers focus and purpose.
Focus Area 1: Presence and Absence
Focus Area 1: Presence and Absence
Is anything living here, and where?
In the study, one of the most consistent goals is helping students move from “I saw something” to systematic evidence of presence or absence. Traps allow students to detect organisms that are not always visible.
Why traps are used
Why traps are used
Many organisms hide, move at night, or live underwater
Traps act as a sampling tool, not a guarantee
Traps reduce bias from only observing what is easy to see
Data students are collecting
Data students are collecting
Whether organisms are present or absent
Where organisms are found and where they are not
Repeated evidence over time
Research questions
Research questions
What organisms are present in this location?
Where are organisms most often found along this ditch/stream?
Does this habitat support living organisms?
Focus Area 2: Abundance and Patterns
Focus Area 2: Abundance and Patterns
How many, and does it change?
This research emphasizes that environmental understanding depends on patterns, not single observations. Counting and comparing builds pattern recognition.
Why traps are used
Why traps are used
Traps allow consistent sampling over time
They help compare one place to another
They make patterns visible through repetition
Data students are collecting
Data students are collecting
Counts of organisms per trap
Differences between locations
Changes across days or weeks
Research questions
Research questions
Which area has the most organisms?
Does the number of organisms change over time?
Are organisms more common near or far from a culvert?
Focus Area 3: Habitat Quality
Focus Area 3: Habitat Quality
What conditions support life?
The study highlights connecting environmental conditions to biological outcomes. Students learn that organisms respond to their environment.
Why traps are used
Why traps are used
Traps connect organisms to specific conditions
They help compare habitats with different features
They link physical observations to biological evidence
Data students are collecting
Data students are collecting
Organisms present
Water clarity, flow, temperature
Surrounding features like vegetation or pavement
Research questions
Research questions
What habitat features are linked to more organisms?
Do clearer waters have more living things?
How does water flow affect what lives here?
Focus Area 4: Human Impact
Focus Area 4: Human Impact
How do people affect this system?
A major finding of the study is that environmental education becomes meaningful when students connect human actions to environmental outcomes, using evidence.
Why traps are used
Why traps are used
Traps reveal indirect effects of runoff and disturbance
They allow comparison near and far from human structures
They provide biological evidence, not opinions
Data students are collecting
Data students are collecting
Organisms near roads, drains, lawns
Differences upstream vs downstream
Evidence of pollution alongside biological data
Research questions
Research questions
Are there fewer organisms near storm drains?
How does trash or runoff relate to what lives here?
Do human-built structures change where organisms live?
Focus Area 5: Change Over Time
Focus Area 5: Change Over Time
What happens if we wait and watch?
The comparative study emphasizes long-term observation as essential. One-day data does not show systems.
Why traps are used
Why traps are used
Traps can be placed repeatedly in the same location
They support long-term data sets
They allow students to revise thinking
Data students are collecting
Data students are collecting
Repeated measurements
Trends across time
Seasonal or weather-related changes
Research questions
Research questions
How does this site change over weeks?
Does rainfall affect what organisms are found?
Are there patterns across seasons?
Focus Area 6: Method Testing
Does our method work?
Focus Area 6: Method Testing
Does our method work?
The study values student decision-making about methods, not just results. This is authentic scientific practice.
Why traps are used
Why traps are used
Traps are tools that can be improved
Students can test designs, placement, timing
This builds experimental thinking
Data students are collecting
Data students are collecting
Trap success rates
Design comparisons
Method reliability
Research questions
Research questions
Which trap design collects the most organisms?
Does trap location affect results?
How can we improve our method?
Passive and Active Sampling Protocol Examples
Students first determine if they will have passive or active sampling protocols. Some students choose both protocols.
Students define passive sampling protocols as using bait and "the trap does not move." Traps are often left overnight.
Students define active sampling protocols as "the trap moves and usually does not have bait."
The "Alexander" Method
Alexander developed a passive sampling method that successfully collects leeches and microfish. He contributes his success to the design of his trap: organisms can swim in but they can't swim out. In his model, Alexander duct taped a funnel to a fish bowl. In his next iteration, "the upgrade," he wants to test a different kind of bait and not use cat food. From his experience, cat food smelled bad, was messy, and made the water "nasty." Other students have copied his method and have revised it with different materials, bait, and survey location. Because of its success, we call this the "Alexander Method." Alexender has shared his documentation for other students so that they can duplicate his method. Because this trap was under water for a long time, Alexander considered air breathing organisms (turtles, amphiuma) and made sure that the opening to the trap was small so that turtles and amphiuma can not enter.
First iteration of "The Alexander Method"
passive sampling method
First iteration of "The Alexander Method"
passive sampling method
Alexander's diagram, material list, and iteration notes
Alexander's diagram, material list, and iteration notes
A 5th grade student duplicates the Alexander Method.
A 5th grade student duplicates the Alexander Method.
Planning The Investigation and Research
Students select their partners, their organism of focus, and decide where they will conduct their research.
Students decide if they will conduct active or passive sampling, make material lists, and write a description of their survey method.
Students will draw what the trap looks like and a diagram of how the trap works.
Developing the Research Focus, Variables, Data, and Claims
When students want to change something about their research, they work through an iteration plan.
Students document the iteration process.
Students learn about variables in research and determine what they will change in their research. For some students, location is the only variable that changes.
Throughout the process, students learn to ask each other questions and to also peer review their work. These are the questions students use to develop their thinking.
Students develop their claims. By using these sentence starters, students are able to guide their thinking and develop their claims. This develops their scientific habits of mind.
At Carver Outdoor Education, students track Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) to monitor the relative abundance of organisms in our bioswale, wetland, and forest ponds. Using a standardized method with one net or trap and a carefully measured effort time, students collect and record real field data on species such as crayfish and other aquatic life. By calculating CPUE, students move beyond simple counting and begin to think like field scientists, analyzing patterns, comparing habitats, and using evidence to explain changes in our ecosystem. This ongoing monitoring strengthens our long-term campus dataset and helps students make informed stewardship decisions that support biodiversity in the Ogeechee River Basin, nurturing both scientific thinking and a deep sense of wonder and connection to nature.
Students practice safety and ethical guidelines when using traps with living organisms.
To provide students with access to creating and using traps, we put a sample of the ditch in a container in the wagon for students to explore.
We review the posters of our scientist partners from the Georgia Southern Freshwater Ecology Lab, Reggie Turner and Henna Gavem. Reggie and Henna visit our campus throughout the year to collect scientific data for their research on amphiuma and crayfish. They teach students field methods and share their research updates. Our students use Reggie and Henna's posters as sample and example templates in developing their own research posters. We also duplicate many of their survey methods and use their methods as foundations for developing our own methods.
This is the poster template for our final symposium posters. After initial planning, student teams will be at different points in the process. For example, some student teams will complete iterations for several months. Some students will become disinterested and will abandon their research. Some students focus on the template and complete each step of their research, documenting their experience along the way.
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