Student Data
Eagle Research - Authentic Data
Help the science standards come alive with real Iowa data!
All wildlife admits to a rehabilitator are considered a wild mortality because without human intervention (often several humans) the animal would die in the field. So if that is the case, why do we rescue and rehabilitate in hopes of release? The big picture is that, sometimes, we can find problems and work to prevent these from happening in the future through collecting data on admits. SOAR is able to release 45-60% of total admits, this varies by year.
SOAR collects data on all bald eagles admitted to us. Eagle data includes: date of admission, circumstance or cause of admission, gender, adult/juvenile, county found, lead levels from blood sample or liver biopsy, and final outcome (if euthanized, died, transferred, or released). The data we are sharing starts January 2015 and is on-going. SOAR maintains all necessary US Fish & Wildlife Service and Iowa Department of Natural Resources permits for the work done.
Download the Teacher Resources for the High School Storyline: Lead in our environment - connection between eagles and you!
Three lessons (one with three parts) culminate in a performance task focused on the identified problem: Is lead in the environment still a problem for humans (are people still presenting to health care professionals with elevated lead levels)? Does lead in the environment impact animals? Each lesson includes linked readings.
Your high school students will:
- Build graphs and charts from the provided bald eagle data and then interpret - "skinny data"
- Learn the physiology of lead, how lead impacts organisms, and look at a real-life family with a child that had an elevated lead level
- Understand what you as a consumer can do
Download the Teacher Resources for the Middle School Storyline: Lead in our environment - connection between eagles and you!
Four lessons (one with two parts) for middle school students ends with a performance task of designing a poster based on what they learned. Lesson MS #1 "Wildlife CSI" is designed in a 5E format. This 5E uses some of our bald eagle files for middle school teachers or non-formal educators to share with students - jump to that page!
Your middle school students will:
- Look at authentic data from individual bald eagles admitted to SOAR
- Build graphs and charts from the SOAR bald eagle (skinny) data and interpret that data
- Learn how lead impacts organisms and why
- Research the differences between lead and non-lead ammunition
Revisions, Updates, and Thanks
The revisions of the high school and middle school resources and information provided are based on conversations with middle and high school science teachers and science consultants. Thanks especially to Liz S., Peggy C., and Phyllis A! Both the MS and HS storylines are linked to a Google Sheet with "skinny data" for teachers and students to dive into and analyze. This SOAR Student Data work was partially supported by a grant from the Avangrind Foundation.