Ocean Systems

Living on an island brings the ocean into our daily lives.  I watch for changes in the tides and the migration of the animals in the area.  Life in Old Harbor revolves around life in the ocean.  Fishing is the primary economy here.  The more I understand the ocean, the more I can understand my community. 

Explain:  
The videos in the cultural section of this module help me understand the seasonal changes in the people of my community and those around Alaska.  It is so strange for the kids to be released from school to go hunting or to miss a few weeks of school for fishing.  So seeing the video "Living from the Land and Sea" helped me see the deep roots of these actions.  


The You Tube video "Air vs Water Heat Capacity" gave me such a great visual about how the ocean retains so much heat.  I have discussed this topic and it usually flies over my 6th grade students heads.  But the balloon demonstration is such a great way to show the difference between the air and water.  I also appreciated the introduction to Global Warming.  I never knew how much of the ocean absorbed our heat.

I had never seen the El Nino and La Nina shown as a visual trend.  I remember the 1997-1998 El Nino and all the flooding that came.  But it had never really been explained clearly to me.  Seeing it with the currents helped me understand the concept better.  This topic tied to the currents helped me create a clearer picture in my mind so I can teach it better.



Extend: 
I immediately put the ocean facts into my classroom.  I began a "Did yon know....?" wall in my classroom.  About twice a week I put a new fact on the wall to peak students curiosity.  Even through I am not teaching about oceans it relates to our environment and  makes the students think.  I post a questions and if they come to me with the correct answer I give them a little bonus.  It has been fun to stump them for a few days especially since they are "fishermen" and know the ocean well. 

The video about Dolly Garza is a great place to get students thinking about careers connected to nature.  I would show her story during career week and when we discuss life local wildlife.  I appreciate how she began her career in one direction, home economics, and ended up a biologist with a PhD.  As a voice of the people she is a valuable resource and a role model for students.

The lab "Does a Watched Kettle Boil"  is a great place to introduce young students to temperature.   This same lab could be used in higher grades to introduce heat transfer.  It  would be a great demonstration to start a unit. Combine that with the You tube video on Air vs Water Heat Capacity and you have the perfect unit introduction.

I would use the Ignite video about the seasons after I did some in class activities with the globe and a sun.  In my science class, students discover why it happens before I explain it.  This video would be a good summary of the labs I already do.

Evaluate:
While much of the material was a review, the videos and interactive sites were very relevant to the topic.  I would not use the sunrise and sunset video because it could lead to misconceptions especially where the sun rises and falls.  The video implies that it is in the same place.  The You Tube video on "The Broken Legend of Water Rotation in the Sink"  was interesting to watch but not something I would use in the classroom unless I was introducing myths in science.  (Now that could lead into a whole new unit to explore.)  Overall, it was a lot of text to read and the sink visual was not clear.  The media on the currents density different are very relevant and easy for students to understand.  I believe these give the students a clear picture of the currents. 



3 Colleagues: 
Look for the great climate change resources on Martha's Blog.

Carolyn reminds us of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and to use the videos to engage and excite the students.

I love how Tracy brings the science into the kitchen.  The cultural connection she makes to the science in her home economics classes is exciting.   I never really thought about farming in Alaska.

Earthquake, Volcanos and Tsunami's! Oh My!

Three Saints Church as it stands now in Old Harbor, AK.

So far this is the most exciting lesson to me.  I love teaching about the natural disasters.  As a former medic, I want my students to understand the importance of being prepared not afraid when disaster strikes.   Plus I live in a village that was virtually destroyed by the '64 Event.  This is juicy stuff.  I have been teaching Earth Science for years in California.  We spent a lot of time on Earthquakes.  Now that I am in Alaska, the relevance of earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes tie to every day life.  So this is a unit that hits home to me.  I am so thankful for our church that survived without a drop of water inside.  Without it's survival Old Harbor may not be here today.



Explain:
I learned about the controversy in Hawaii.  As a teacher, I see that desire to create better resources there to study.  But I also understand the peoples' desire to leave the land as a sacred place.  That balance between science and the land is delicate.  Coming to a common ground so both can be respected is the end goal.  Is it really possible?  I see similar debates here in Alaska with the oil in the North Slope.  How do we preserve yet still utilize the resources.  Can we?


Extend:
The resources in this module are invaluable to the Earth Science teacher.  I will use many of the resources like the interactive videos with my science students when as a tool to help students understand the need to go through "all these silly drills".  The visuals these resources create can help build understanding within the students.    I will use the cultural connections to help the students internalize how people around the globe are affects.  I can also see the possibility of using some of the Hawaii videos to help the students see the similarities and differences between our island cultures.

Google Earth is a wonderful tool to use to show the vast areas that are affected by such tragic events.  Using the ruler tool can also help students with scale projects and calculating distances between places.  For many of my students, it is just in the next bay or over hill.  So helping them use the tool to see actually how far apart things are.  It would be fun to see if the measurements they have in their head are accurate.  For example, I have heard people tell the local airline we have 2 miles of visibility.    So using Google Earth we could test that distance and see where the visibility lines are.

The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Center is a wonderful place to go to get recent statistics on tsunamis and earthquakes.  The USGS site offers up to date information on active volcanoes around the world.

Evaluate:
This module presents the science behind earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunami's.  The cultural connections found within this module bring me the most insight.  I have been teaching Earth Science for many years so the science was a review.  But the stories that tie the natural events to the people bring me understanding of the true impact of these events.  I appreciate that there are so many people that have decided to stay in their land even after disaster has struck.  Surviving A Tsunami - Lessons from Chili, Hawaii and Japan is another link that has stories from survivors.  You can listen to the stories of Alaskan survivors Hawaii Museum link.



3 Colleagues:
Matt's Blog offers a couple of additional resources to help students visualize the science behind Earthquakes.  He also explains the ties of the culture to the surrounding geography.

Sabrina's Blog  shares a nice story about how the islands are truly connected even if we are so far apart.

Alice's Blog brings the perspective of a new teacher to me. She discusses possibilities of bringing the science into her reading classes.  I like her reflection on how a small village would be effected by a natural disaster.