1. Endangered Species Conservation as a Context for Understanding Student Thinking about Genetic Diversity
Shawna McMahon, John Moore & Biodiversity Team
Colorado State University

2. Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
Motivation & Context
One issue where citizens may be called upon to provide an opinion is in the case of endangered species.

3. Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
Research Goals
Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
Explore student thinking about genetic diversity in the context of endangered species – do they even think about it?
Evaluate if “place” plays a role in this thinking – specifically, will answers differ between charismatic, distant megafauna and local, less charismatic organisms?
progress from making such decisions based on emotional/aesthetic criteria to scientifically principled criteria
Studies have shown that when material self-interest is not involved, most people make their decisions based on emotional criteria, rather than evidence

4. Sample of Framework: Genetic Diversity @ Individual/Population
Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
Scale
Processes
Observations
Principles
Individual
Life cycles Phenotypic variation over an individual’s lifetime
Phenotypic variation due to developmental changes and/or plasticity
An organism’s physical traits and behaviors are the result of genes being expressed within a determined range, moderated by the environment
Population
Change in genetic make-up of populations over time & space
Phenotypic variability within populations
Differential survival & reproduction
Specifically, phenotypic & genotypic variability among individuals in and among populations

5. Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
Captive Breeding

6. Level 1 Answers: Relationships, Aesthetics, Protectionism
Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
Level
Rubric Description L1
Focus is on the individual and is often strongly anthropomorphic. Students are thinking about animals in human terms (what makes a good group of humans would make a good group of animals), so they may be protecting the small, sick & weak animals or they might be choosing family units for the animals' emotional well-being. Other variables used to choose animals are familiar traits (e.g. age, aesthetics (pretty, cute, etc.), personality, etc.) without a reason as to why these traits would be valuable or lead to reproductive success.
Student 1015 (9th Grade Polar Bear): “i would select a group that is healthy and very good in the wild. i would look for nice fur, good survival instincs, and friendly. i would choose the same amount of male and female.”
Student 709 (10th Grade, Polar Bear): “i w ould slect the non violent ones that can have self controll.the bears that are nice and polayful and that look interesting.i would only choose 4”
Student 1219 (8th Grade, Plover): “i would get the ones who needed the most help”

7. Level 2 Answers: Healthy & Reproductive
Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
Level
Rubric Description L2
Answer focuses on health of the individual (e.g. large, strong, healthy). Health is important for the individual to survive in the program but is not really used as an indicator of fitness. Age may be discussed in the context of the animals being of appropriate reproductive age. Students may choose animals randomly but without indicating why that is important. Time scale is "long time" without mentioning hereditary information - focus is on individuals rather than lineages.
Student 1230 (7th Grade, Warbler): “I will probably choose healthy birds, so they live longer.I would look for young, entergetic birds. I would choose about 10 males and 10 females, to be safe.

8. Level 3 Answers: Best Adapted
Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
Level
Rubric Description L3
Answer focuses on picking the best traits that are suited/adapted to a particular environment. The selection process is eugenic - focus on the good and specifically avoid bad genes (or the products of bad genes). Students may select individuals randomly to get unrelated individuals but does not specify why that is important. They may also choose randomly to avoid depopulating an area. Students are considering multiple generations (a focus on the population rather than the individual mating pairs) with traits being passed from parents to offspring.
Student 1127 (12th Grade, Polar Bear): “I would look for the polar bears that are the biggest size population because those seem to be surviving the best and probably have characteristics best suted to there envronment.”

9. Level 4 Answers: Genetic Variation for Future Adaptation
Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
Level
Rubric Description L4
Picking a variety of traits for a plausible reason such as preparation for future change, avoiding inbreeding depression, disease resistance, etc. May specifically say that individuals are chosen at random, but must be obvious that it is for genetic variation not for avoiding depopulation. Population must retain some diversity that is not necessarily "good" - focus shifts away from only good traits to traits that could allow for adaptation to future change.
Student 1219 (8th Grade, Plover): “i would look for a lot of different birds w/ different characteristics. i would choose just the weak or just the strong birds because if you take stonger birds you can mess up the ecosystem and if you take the weaker ones and try to re introduce them back into the wild, they'll probably die. when you get a mix of strong and waek ones you keep the gene pool varied and give the birds a better chance of survival”
Student 765 (9th Grade, Polar Bear): “I would select a fairly large group that had sufficient genetic diversity in order to preserve as many traits and variations as possible.“

10. Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
All Animals Together
n = (L1-4) =
266 (79%)
289 (88%)

11. Distant vs. Local - California
Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
Distant vs. Local - California
n = (L1-4) =
29 (71%)
17 (50%)

12. Distant vs. Local - Colorado
Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
Distant vs. Local - Colorado
n = (L1-4) =
54 (84%)
58 (79%)
n = (L1-4) =
42 (95%)
46 (90%)

13. Distant vs. Local - Michigan
Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
Distant vs. Local - Michigan
40 (93%)
49 (92%)
n = (L1-4) =
57 (92%)
66 (92%)
n = (L1-4) =

14. Distant vs. Local – MD & NY
Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
Distant vs. Local – MD & NY
17 (89%)
19 (95%)
n = (L1-4) =
17 (77%)
24 (96%)
n = (L1-4) =

15. Overall: All Grades/Sites by Animals
Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
Overall: All Grades/Sites by Animals
n = (L1-4) =
268 (86%)
17 (68%)
104 (84%)
115 (92%)
44 (96%)

16. Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
Summary of Findings
Learning Progressions for Environmental Literacy
HS slightly higher than MS
Not much difference in distant vs. local species
Some differences between site (especially NY)
Good context for talking about genetic diversity in populations
Future: Design an intervention that helps kids explore genetic diversity & its consequences