WISE Collection WISE is a simple yet powerful learning environment where students examine real-world evidence and analyze current scientific controversies. The curriculum projects are designed to meet grade 5-12 standards and complement existing science curriculum to help students find the material exciting and engaging. A web browser is used to take notes, discuss theories, and organize evidence to support science thinking. A Teacher Area lets users explore new projects and grade students' work on the Web. WISE resources are organized by Communities to support authoring partnerships, forums for teachers using the same project to discuss classroom practice and larger curriculum planning, or as on-line training programs. We used WISE as members of an APS Teacher Community.

WISE Search Functions To find physiology learning material within the collection, from the WISE Teacher's PET main menu, we selected "search the project library." Within the library, "Biology - Anatomy/Physiology" is an option. Although the page states "the search will return all library projects that include any of your selected subjects," we found this not to be the case. The only way to find physiology projects was from within the Physiology Community location on the web site. In fact, we could not even find the projects that we authored without knowing the exact web URL location. Blood pathways for human blood circulation Gas Exchange in Human Blood

Core Concepts Using WISE as a scaffold, we designed a collection of images, data, and resources to help students collaborate to improve their thinking about human blood circulation. The project engages students in examining evidence about human cardiovascular functions. The series of lessons culminates in an informal classroom debate where groups present their arguments and respond to questions about models of human blood circulation that are best supported by empirical evidence. We have been surprised to discover that students often use analogies and models as opposed to evidence to support scientific claims. One goal for the project is for students to learn to judge the value of various sources of information they use as evidence. Blood circulation in zebrafish embryos Blood circulation in a mutant zebrafish

Driving Questions Where does the blood travel during one beat of your heart? Is a round trip circle a good model for blood circulation? Explain whether you think the blood vessels you see on your arms are arteries or veins and give reasons. Why is it deadly to have a heart attack? What happens when you breathe? Use a model of the human blood pathway to explain the shift in blood flow when exercising compared with at rest. The questions are a combination of recall and a request for evidence to support claims.

Claims and Evidence Connections to real-world applications occur when students are asked, "What life experience can you relate to what you know about the blood pathway?" Students discuss their prior experiences when they make sense of the evidence for scientific claims about body function. The project then sets up a debate where models or principles are tested against evidence. Examples include what happens during a heart attack, the feelings mountain climbers get in low oxygen environments, and the methods students use to improve duration of underwater swimming.

Example of Student Work A student writes, "We want to remember that arteries are thick walled so that they can take the pressure of the blood when the heart contracts. Veins are thin walled because they do not need to withstand pressure of the blood when the heart contracts because veins are taking blood back to the heart." "The blood in our body is not divided or distributed evenly. Different parts of our body require different amounts of blood. There is no way that our body could maintain homeostasis if our blood was equally distributed. Depending on the activity we are engaging in determines how much blood gets sent where. While exercising our blood is pumping at a faster rate and whichever muscle is being used is the location that needs more blood. A model that would match these numbers would look nothing like the round trip model. In the round trip model the blood pathway is one simple even path of blood." "When I cut myself blood started to spurge out. I think that this come from the vein. The reason why blood comes out is because the heart continues to pump the blood. The blood stops because the hemogoblin in the body helps heal and close the wound. Then perhaps the blood takes another route. I know that veins branch off. There is more than one pathway to get to the toe."

WISE Strengths Others who might want to use the WISE learning resource should note that it provides a scaffold to gather and deliver instructional resources to students. The tool also allows faculty to observe student work in progress as they go through the process of making meaningful connections. This offers several distinct benefits to faculty. First, faculty see problems students face such as confusion between arteries and veins or attribution of clotting functions to hemoglobin. This provides an opportunity to give timely feedback. Although the lack of depth in comprehension is at first disconcerting, it is useful to know how much students still need to learn about blood circulation for instructional intervention. The second benefit is that WISE allows faculty to target resources directly to the problems students face. Another strength is that WISE helps students connect their learning to everyday experiences. The opportunity for discussion and debate shows faculty how to approach physiology content in a way that is relevant to a particular target student population. Finally, and perhaps the most important strength of WISE is the opportunity for faculty to collaborate in building and sharing assignments to meet student instructional needs. Resources such as empirical data, animations, and links to web resources are added to a WISE assignment along with an opportunity to structure group work for students to share the tasks and communicate with each other about their growing understanding.

WISE Concerns Looking back on this project, our biggest concern regards the amount of work required to create a WISE assignment. It may take years to gather the resources around driving questions for a meaningful debate where students examine evidence they find interesting and relevant. We found it necessary to embed the material within a context that interests students to motivate them to tackle the problem of how blood circulates. We hope to recruit faculty collaborators to recommend additional resources or interesting contexts that would encourage students to examine and correct their misconceptions.

Summary WISE merits recognition because of what we learn from students about their thinking. They relate existing knowledge with new information about human blood circulation.