Only One Ocean

Jaime DeGarmo and Amelia Raley

Clinical Interviews

Clinical Interview 1, Clinical Interview 2

Clinical Interview 1: General Information

1. How much of the Earth do you think is covered by water? 80%
2. What do you enjoy the most about the ocean?  The abundant wildlife
3. What are some things people do that affect the ocean and the life that lives there?  Dumping stuff in the ocean
4. Where do you think all life in the ocean is concentrated in? Near the surface, in the middle or towards the bottom?  surface
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5. >Why do you think ocean life is concentrated in the area you stated?  Coral reefs are there
6. Would you be able to describe what the photic zone is?  no
7. Do you know what the difference between a shoal and a school of fish is?  no
8. What kinds of life from the ocean do people catch use?  fish
9. What is a fishery?  Don’t know
10. What types of seafood do you eat at home?  Fish stinks
11. What do you know about squids?  They’re big and they ink people
12. Why do you think squids, octopuses, and their relatives got the name cephalopod, or head-foot?  The way they look
13. How many arms, or tentacles does a squid have?  8
14. Are all of the arms of squid used for the same thing?  no
15. Do all of the squid arms look the same?  no
16. Why do you think the squid has two tentacles that are longer than the other 8?  To feel things with
17. How would you describe how a squid swims?  Pushes with his tentacles
18. Can you think of a movie that is about the mythical giant squids? If so, what’s it called and do you believe in it?  Pirates of the Caribbean 2, it depends on who is telling it and how
19. Can squids change their color based on their surroundings? If so, how do they do this?  Yes – don’t know how they do it
20. Can you tell the difference between a male and female squid by looking at the external features?  no

Kenan, who is entering 7th grade this fall, was quick to answer the questions he know but took his time deciding what the answer was if he did not know or was unsure of the answer. He knew what a lot of the anatomy of the squid was, where it was located and how it was used. He understood the myths of the giant squids, and never fully made up his mind about whether or not it could be completely true or not. He also knew general knowledge about the squid but not the very detailed information that comes with performing the lab.

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Clinical Interview 2: Oceans

Question One:

    How much of our earth is covered in water?

Question Two:

    How much of this water is appropriate for humans to drink? How do you know?

Question Three:

    Squid are an invertebrate ocean mollusk that come in a variety of sizes from small to gigantic. Humans, as well as dolphins, are predators of the squid.

    Explain what you think will happen if squid are over fished by humans.

1) Brandon, entering the seventh grade.

    A) Brandon quickly answered that the earth is covered in 70% water, but then reconsidered if this was also the amount of water in the human body.

    B) Brandon was unsure. He knew that ocean water was undrinkable. He guessed that fresh water came mainly from lakes and rain. When pushed he guessed that 10% of the earth's water is drinkable, and the other 20% was in transit between fresh and ocean.

    C) Brandon did not know a lot about squid, but he had studied octopus before so was applying this knowledge when answering this question. Brandon inferred that overfishing of any kind lead to an unbalance in nature, which could lead to "trouble."

2) Liz, entering the fifth grade.

    A) Liz knew that oceans took up a large part of the world, and named all four, identifying the Pacific Ocean as the largest.

    B) Liz also knew that ocean water was not drinkable by humans. She knew this because she had been to Florida with her grandparents and had tasted the water while swimming. She did not have a guess as to how much of the world's water was safe to drink, but she had eliminated the ocean as a source.

    C) Liz surmised that if squid were over fished, the food web in the ocean would change. I asked her about the dolphin population and she assumed that they would have to eat more fish instead of squid.

3) Gustavo, entering in the sixth grade

    A) Gustavo confidently knew that the majority of the earth was covered by ocean, but did not name a percentage.

    B) Gustavo reasoned that since most of the water is from the ocean and the ocean is undrinkable then the water we could not drink was much less. I asked him where the rest of the water on earth was and he said lakes, rivers and the North Pole.

    C) Gustavo thought that if squid were over fished by humans that their predators, such as dolphins, would be strained for food and would most likely seek it elsewhere.

My analysis and how it fits in:

    All three students had a basic understanding that the majority of our earth is covered in water. However, their perceptions of the amount of drinking water on the planet were not informed. All three correctly reasoned that because most of the water on Earth is from the ocean and the water in the ocean is undrinkable, then the amount of drinkable water must be much less. I believe that Apples and Oceans (lab one in this GEMS guide) offers a manipulative of the world that will allow them to comprehend how little fresh water, let alone drinking water, there is on the earth. This will also be a visual that sticks with them, since an apple is familiar to them and they can interpret it and even demonstrate the model to others.

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