Jordan Supercast

Episode 327: Snails Help Students Fast Track Their Knowledge in AP Environmental Science Class

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They are less than an inch long, weigh mere grams, and move incredibly slow with average speeds of 0.03 miles per hour. We are talking about snails, a soft-bodied mollusk called the Gastropoda.

On this episode of the Supercast, we take you to an Advanced Placement (AP) Environmental Science class at Mountain Ridge High School where small snails are having a big impact on students studying the ecosystem. Find out the role snails are playing in the AP course, and how the class is capitalizing on the snail-based learning.

Audio Transcription

Anthony Godfrey:

I heard that Miss Craig has described your particular project here as being healthy and gross at the same time.

Chase Barlow:

Yeah so basically she's talking about the fact that our tank is thriving a lot like we have a lot of activity going on in there and if you just look at it it's it's not a very clear water it's very murky and kind of gross. It doesn't smell very good either.

Anthony Godfrey:

Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They are less than an inch long, weigh mere grams, and move incredibly slowly with average speeds of 0.03 miles per hour. We are talking about snails, a soft-bodied mollusk in a class called gastrocato. On this episode of the Supercast we take you to an advanced placement biology class at Mountain Ridge High School where small snails are having a big impact on students studying the ecosystem. Find out the role snails are playing in the AP course and how the class is capitalizing on the snail-based learning.

(music)

Anthony Godfrey:

We're talking now with Miss Craig here at Mountain Ridge High School about her AP environmental science class. Thanks for taking a few minutes with us.

Ms. Craig:

Yeah of course anytime, thanks for coming out.

Anthony Godfrey:

Tell us about the project that has been going on and what's happening today with students.

Ms. Craig:

So in AP environmental science we're learning about the biogeochemical cycles. So things like carbon and nitrogen and phosphorus and water cycles and we started this project six weeks ago. So each group got a little aquatic habitat and each group got between six and eight snails depending on the group. They've just been monitoring the nutrients, keeping track of dissolved oxygen, trying to keep their snail habitats as healthy as possible for the last six weeks.

Anthony Godfrey:

So they've had to test hypotheses and figure out how exactly to do that.

Ms. Craig:

Yes. So each group after the two-week period after we collected some baseline data each group made a modification to their tank so they changed something that would impact the nutrient cycle and then we continued to collect data for four more weeks so that they could see how that change impacted the lifestyle of the snails.

Anthony Godfrey:

The only cycle that I really caught was the water cycle.

Ms. Craig:

Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:

So all of these different cycles — The phosphorus cycle, was that one of them as well?

Ms. Craig:

Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:

So all of these cycles are aspects of environmental science that they'll be tested on as part of the AP test.

Ms. Craig:

Exactly. Yep.

Anthony Godfrey:

So tell me about some of those other cycles. The water cycle I'm familiar with but tell me about some of the others.

Ms. Craig:

So nitrogen and phosphorus are critical nutrients that every living thing needs in order to be able to survive. It's part of your DNA, it's used in cellular functions. So we're measuring those critical nutrients. We're measuring dissolved oxygen levels as well which can help us keep track of the rate of photosynthesis and respiration rates, and how well the quality of overall quality of the water.

Anthony Godfrey:

Tell me about what's happening now today. They've each had their individual biome where they've been experimenting adding different factors into the environment to see how it impacts the snails.

Anthony Godfrey:

What happens now? They're combining everything together and what is that going to demonstrate to the students?

Ms. Craig:

So basically we've had a few unfortunate fatalities and some of the water is getting kind of murky. There are no filters on these biomes so at this point, after the six weeks is over, we're gonna combine them into one big habitat. We're gonna put a filter on there and then I have some students that are interested in earning their Sentinel Service Hours diploma, which is 80 service hours outside of school time, and they have volunteered to monitor the snails and try to keep that bigger tank as healthy as possible.

Anthony Godfrey:

So the snails who were part of the experiment now get to live on in a more regulated community environment.

Ms. Craig:

Yes, they're moving on up, they'll be living in a mansion, they'll have maid service that will come and take care of their water and clean it and everything.

Anthony Godfrey:

The survivors now get the reward of having the better environment.

Ms. Craig:

Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:

And is this something that you've done in years past?

Ms. Craig:

So this is only my second year teaching this class and I did do this experiment for the first time last year and this is the second time.

Anthony Godfrey:

How did the mansion stage of the snail experiment go last time?

Ms. Craig:

It was pretty good. We didn't have as many snails to begin with but they some of the snails survived long enough that I had to rehome them over the summer.

Anthony Godfrey:

Oh, so they made it through the entire school year?

Ms. Craig:

Yeah, some of them made it through the entire school year.

Anthony Godfrey:

How exactly does one rehome a snail?

Ms. Craig:

Well, you make friends with middle school teachers.

Anthony Godfrey:

Okay, and you help persuade them of the varied uses they might have for these snails.

Ms. Craig:

Oh, they were excited to have them. They're like, "Oh, snails clean my tank, yes I'd love to take them."

Anthony Godfrey:

Oh, great, okay, so snails with a purpose.

Ms. Craig:

Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:

I love that. Is there a particular variety of snail that you're dealing with here? What exactly, just so for folks who might say, "I wonder what kind of snail that is? I need to Google that.”

Ms. Craig:

Yeah, so we have two different varieties of snails. We have pond snails, which our principal lovingly refers to as swamp snails. And then we also have the mystery snails. So they're the bigger ones that you can really see them moving around. Their antenna come out and they're a lot more active and fun to watch.

Anthony Godfrey:

The mystery snails?

Ms. Craig:

Mystery snails.

Anthony Godfrey:

Is that the actual term for them?

Ms. Craig:

There's a scientific name for them, but if you go shopping for them, you'll want to look for mystery snails.

Anthony Godfrey:

Mystery snails? Yes. Wow, okay. Snails with something to hide?

Ms. Craig:

Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:

Now, tell me just about AP Environmental Science overall. What do you hope, besides trying to do well on the task which is important, what do you hope students take away from this class?

Ms. Craig:

For me, the environment has always been something that I felt very passionate about, especially living here in Utah with our air quality and the Great Salt Lake levels diminishing. I feel like we, it's really important that we train some students to be able to work towards solving some of these problems and tackling some of these tough issues.

Anthony Godfrey:

With some know-how and with experiments that teach them that they can figure things out, perhaps that will be the result.

Ms. Craig:

I hope so.

Anthony Godfrey:

Maybe these students and these snails can solve those problems. I'd love to have those problems fixed.

Ms. Craig:

Yes, I would too. And I know these students are really, really bright and capable and they're passionate about what they're doing. So I have the ultimate confidence in their abilities.

Anthony Godfrey:

Now you say you've taught this class for two years now. Where were you before? What were you doing before?

Ms. Craig:

Physics, full-time physics.

Anthony Godfrey:

Full-time physics?

Ms. Craig:

Yep.

Anthony Godfrey:

And how do you like the switch from physics to environmental science?

Ms. Craig:

I love it. I still have four physics classes and two environmental science classes, so it's nice to branch out and do something different. I'm learning too and I've always loved to learn. I'm a lifelong learner, so this has been keeping me engaged as well.

Anthony Godfrey:

So as a physics teacher, you overcame the inertia that beset some of us and moved to something new.

Ms. Craig:

Yes.

Anthony Godfrey:

Alright, well that's impressive, and I know you're doing a great job. The principal, as I was walking to your class, had so many nice things to say and when I walked in it was instantly engaging for me and I didn't even know what was going on. But you can tell that great things are happening. So thanks for everything you're doing.

Ms. Craig:

Thank you. Thanks for coming by.

Anthony Godfrey:

Stay with us when we come back. More at Mountain Ridge High School.

Male Voice:

Never miss an episode of The Supercast by liking and subscribing on your favorite podcasting platform. Find transcripts for this episode and others at supercast.jordan district.org.

Female Voice:

In Jordan School District we like to support students in and outside the classroom along with their families. That's where the Jordan Family Education Center comes in offering support services and a wide variety of classes for students and their families free of charge. You can take a class called "Bluesbusters" for children feeling sad or worried. Just Breathe is a class that helps students reduce stress. Or how about a class that supports parents in helping their children make and keep good friends. There are also support groups and free counseling all provided by Jordan School District school psychologists and counselors. To find out how you can benefit from free family support services offered by the Jordan Family Education Center, call 801-565-7442 or visit guidance.jordandistrict.org.

Anthony Godfrey:

Hi guys. How's it going? We're talking with three students today from Mountain Ridge High School about their snails. Tell me, introduce yourself, tell me what grade you're in and tell me about these snails a little bit.

Sophie Burdette:

I'm Sophie Burdette. I'm a senior.

Kamelalila Lilo:

I'm Kamelalila Lilo. I'm a junior.

Clark Fowler:

I'm Clark Fowler and I'm a senior.

Chase Barlow:

I'm Chase Barlow and I'm a junior.

Anthony Godfrey:

Did you know each other well before this or have the snails brought you together?

Chase Barlow:

I think definitely the snails have brought us closer together to this unit.

Anthony Godfrey:

Okay well that's a beautiful thing. So tell me about what this unit has involved and what you've learned.

Sophie Burdette:

So this unit was mostly about aquatic biomes and the factors that affect the biomes and to make this snail biome we started with an empty tank and we added gravel, algae, elodia which are aquatic plants, micro crustaceans, two mystery snails and then four smaller pond snails.

Anthony Godfrey:

Oh I see the micro animals right there. They are very active. It's kind of like when my dog sees us packing and they know they're going on a trip, these guys seem to know that something is up. Something's happening today.

Sophie Burdette:

They're attracted to attention.

Kamelalila Lilo:

Yeah they want it. Then afterwards, before we change any factor about the tank, we kind of just like test it out how the water is before and how like the control system is before you change anything and then we decided to add like more micro crustaceans to see like how that would change the aquatic biome.

Anthony Godfrey:

What are some of the changes that you've noticed as you introduced to other factors into the biome?

Sophie Burdette:

Well as you can see they're a bit dense of population.

Anthony Godfrey:

Yes, yes.

Sophie Burdette:

And highly active. Also the water has gone a lot murky which is not a good factor but the snails seem to be hanging on.

Anthony Godfrey:

Yeah. By hanging on you mean still alive. Surviving.

Sophie Burdette:

Yes. Surviving.

Anthony Godfrey:

Yes. Surviving this apocalyptic biodome that you have created. So tell me more about the snails.

Kamelalila Lilo:

Our two mystery snails that we have in there are Shaquille O'Sneil and then Brinley's Snail. Brinley's Snail was brought into our tank after her beloved partner died and she was left with a clutch of babies and so she brought, she was brought into this tank to kind of have the babies have them hatch. And also —

Anthony Godfrey:

Oh wow.

Chase Barlow:

You see him?

Anthony Godfrey:

Am I supposed to say that it's cute?

Chase Barlow:

I don't you know that's up for your —

Anthony Godfrey:

Here I'm gonna use my phone to get a little bit closer.

Anthony Godfrey:

We could also put them under the microscope.

Anthony Godfrey:

Yeah. Oh yeah that is very cute.

Sophie Burdette:

Paco. That's Paco. Everyone is Paco. Every baby's name is Paco.

Anthony Godfrey:

Where did that come from?

Sophie Burdette:

Two minutes ago when I made it.

Anthony Godfrey:

Okay.

Sophie Burdette:

Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:

So you went with what felt right?

Kamelalila Lilo:

Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:

I get Shaquille O'Sneil but why Brinley?

Kamelalila Lilo:

We weren't the ones to name her. So she kind of just came in.

Anthony Godfrey:

She was Brinley. The name chose her. You didn't choose the name. Okay fair enough.

Sophie Burdette:

We had a shell like Presley. Unfortunately he passed away pretty early on.

Anthony Godfrey:

That's unfortunate. You know big stars sometimes shine bright and then burn out. I heard that Miss Craig has described your particular project here as being healthy and gross at the same time. Tell me what that means.

Chase Barlow:

Yeah so basically she's talking about the fact that our tank is thriving a lot. Like we have a lot of activity going on in there. But the ammonia levels are probably way too high to be healthy. And if you just look at it it's not a very clear water. It's very murky and kind of gross. It doesn't smell very good either. So yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:

How do you think the snails feel about their environment this morning right now? If I could understand snail thinking.

Clark Fowler:

Well really putting myself in the snail's shoes, I'd say, “Like dude, it's way too like crowded in here, you know. Maybe we should get some more room.” And maybe give them some more algae too because they look a little, they look a little pale and a little stark.

Anthony Godfrey:

I would guess though that they appreciate your efforts to this point to make sure that their life is not only enjoyable but meaningful as well.

Clark Fowler:

I would have to concur.

Anthony Godfrey:

There is a lot of meaning to it. On that note what exactly have you learned from this? About science, about snails, about the world and about each other.

Clark Fowler:

Well first of all I think it's really cool that our teacher was willing to let us do this and kind of find out all about habitats on our own, because our tank was doing really poorly. We had a snail die and then we had super high levels of ammonia which is what happens when something dies. So we said we can fix this and so we added a bunch of other elements. We added micro crustaceans. We added the new snail. And we saw the change that came from it. So I just think it's cool that we got to see that first-hand and do it ourselves.

Anthony Godfrey:

So you apply some scientific knowledge of your own with some help and you're able to make their world at least a better place. And maybe that can apply more broadly. How about for you two? What did you learn from this?

Kamelalila Lilo:

I think it's really brought us four together. It's been very fun being co-parents in a very four way over these hundreds of little critters.

Anthony Godfrey:

Co-parents? I have not heard that term before.

Sophie Burdette:

Strangers to co-parents right away. It was beautiful.

Anthony Godfrey:

Strangers to co-parents. The environmental science story. So tell me what happens next with these creatures?

Kamelalila Lilo:

For most people in our class, we're going to put them into a communal kind of tank. But I think since our tank has been doing so well on its own and I think every part of this tank is really working together to create a really thriving biome. We're just going to keep them in this tank and see how they do.

Sophie Burdette:

We also have baby snails that are very sensitive to outside forces. So switching tanks is just a really risky move. So we think we're going to keep them in here. We're probably going to donate some micro crustations to the public tank. But other than that they're just going to stay in their little home.

Anthony Godfrey:

Well I can see that you want the best for all of these creatures, and luckily you have some scientific knowledge to help you create that. Now I see that you have something mounted on the microscope over there. Can we take a look and see what's going on over there?

Clark Fowler:

So that is a it's a pregnant micro crustation. So this is like when they reproduce like this is what they look for for a little bit. So when you look in there you're going to be able to see the micro custation and then you see all the little eggs inside of it because it's a transparent.

Anthony Godfrey:

Okay. So the micro crustation with really micro crustations inside of it. Okay. Let's take a look. Oh wow. That is really something. It is moving, and it has five little babies. That is kind of cute. Wow. That is really something. And wow. I'm really quite stunned by that. What is all the activity? They're just sitting there moving along. We are not — the babies are not in peril right now because of the petri dish, right?

Clark Fowler:

I think we just fed him too much coffee.

Anthony Godfrey:

So tell me what are some of the conclusions that you have drawn from this experiment.

Kamelalila Lilo:

So our first hypothesis was asking of how micro crustations a lot of them if they're added if they affect the dissolved oxygen because after our first nail had passed away, we had a really big issue with dissolved oxygen and really low levels. So we found out that once we added all of these micro crustations, our dissolved oxygen levels went back up to a very comfortable and healthy level.

Sophie Burdette:

We were watching our tank and it was on the brink of death. And then we added some micro crustations and it came back to life which was really fun.

Kamelalila Lilo:

That's yeah we realize that as more organisms are in the environment the more it survives and thrives because without even the little critters like the micro crustations which could be overlooked an ecosystem really can't live and survive without them.

Anthony Godfrey:

Are there some broader life lessons that you draw from this?

Sophie Burdette:

I guess we can really think back to the people in society or organisms in an ecosystem that really make up the functions of the ecosystem or society and really give thanks back to them.

Anthony Godfrey:

Everyone has a role to play maybe.

Sophie Burdette:

Exactly.

Clark Fowler:

As we're learning this stuff, yeah it's a smaller scale and in a tank, but as we're learning these factors and learning the effects of them we can take it growing up in our world today and really understand how to make things better for our world and all parts of our world just like how this tank has parts of it. All parts of our world we can benefit from just learning this stuff at a young age. So I'm grateful for this class personally.

Anthony Godfrey:

Tell me what this class is like. It seems very engaging to me to be in Ms. Craig's class.

Clark Fowler:

I think it's pretty cool. Ms. Craig is really really good at the hands-on stuff. Whenever we're in this class we're always doing something, learning something with our hands with experience which is really helpful for me to help me learn it, understand it better and have it stick with me which is going to be good because we have to take an AP test in May and so we're going to need to remember as much as we can.

Anthony Godfrey:

So you've had the urgency of the impending AP test and the urgency of keeping all these microorganisms alive that have kept you engaged and going and energized.

Clark Fowler:

Exactly.

Anthony Godfrey:

How about for you two, what has this class been like for you in being in Ms. Craig's class?

Kamelalila Lilo:

I think most of all Ms. Craig has really taught me how to love learning and love science especially because before this I got her back in 9th grade as well. Before this I didn't really like science because you sit down and you learn all these mathematical equations and you just learn and learn and learn. But to be able to do something hands-on really teaches me that as long as you put effort in even at like 7.30 in the morning, you can still love these things. And I've come to like really love science because of her. So yeah, I'm just like really grateful for this class like teaching me a new passion.

Sophie Burdette:

I mean everyone else pretty much said but the hands-on experience this is like the funnest math science class I've ever taken. And applying it to the real world which is pretty much all the environmental science is about. It's taking environmental issues and aspects and applying them to the real world and seeing how we can fix them. I think that's a really cool fact about the class and Ms. Craig is amazing. She's always walking around the room, and I can never find her because she's always looks like one of the students because she's the same height. But she's always around talking, and she's right there talking to people about their snails, helping people out. But yeah she's amazing.

Anthony Godfrey:

Well thank you very much. I like your chances on the AP test. Good luck with the rest of the year, and thanks for introducing me to Brinley and Shaquille O’Snail. I'm sorry I never got to meet Shelvis Presley. Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, “Education is the most important thing you will do today!” We'll see you out there. Bye bye.

[Music]

 

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