Blog Reviews

Where do I start when reviewing others' blogs? I suppose it can be summed up in one word: WOW! I am amazed at all of the things that other people in the course were able to accomplish. I was also secretly pleased throughout the course to read about challenges that classmates had with posting pictures, getting headers to stretch (I still never figured that one out), and so on because I had so many frustrations myself.

There were so many good blogs that I looked at and had to quickly look away from because they were so amazing and complex that I found myself feeling so unworthy, and well, simply jealous (whew, I finally said it for all the world to see)! There were a few in particular that I kept looking back to for various reasons, and they are listed in more detail below.

First, was Geo Intergrations because of the positive, uplifting attitude towards science and the lack of available educational opportunities for elementary teachers in the science area. I was amazed that she is a K-5 science coach, and was not aware that positions like that even existed! Sure, my district has a science department and one elementary and one secondary support teacher for the ENTIRE district, and we are the largest district in the state... So to see some of the resources Jennifer has posted on her site (which by the way I have borrowed the idea and made my own listing of links, thanks Jennifer!) as well as her excited, engaging attitude towards improving the opportunities for elementary teachers of science - it was appealing.

Secondly, Dan's Alaska Connections because of the uncluttered layout and organization of pictures and overall easy-to-read-ness. His writing is succinct and gets to the point, with some strong analysis and reflection. I especially liked his blog reviews (both the positives and the negatives), but I especially agreed with this statement he made: "A few things that I personally was not fond of included harsh color schemes, especially when used with text, small fonts, poor grammar, multiple typos, and photos of large, dead, big game animals (not that they weren't cool photos, they just seem out of context to the subject at hand)." Need I say more?

Thirdly, even though Tundra Teacher got a late start like me, I loved reading about the stories of the people in her community as well as her Yupik Immersion school. I only wish that I had stories and experiences to tell of from my everyday life like she did. Thank you for sharing ;)

Woven Ideas and Practices was one of my favorite ones to read because of her direct and honest writing. I often read hers over telling myself that if I could just figure out how to "talk" to the reader like she did much of my blogging would flow more naturally. One of the other things that resonated with me while reading hers was her attitude about making positive changes in her life: "I am proud to say that I am going to make some positive changes in my life to be part of the growing movement to know more about the products that I use and purchase. I understand that the changes that I make in my household will encourage my children to have the same patterns that I do about recycling. This is an important lesson that we can not only admire but try to emulate from our indigenous cultures." Way to drive the point home! She also was amazed at all that she had learned, and I would have to say that I share that sentiment. Lastly, I noticed that many of the photo credits on her
website were for bing.com, so I went ahead and checked it out and found a large amount of high quality images - only wish I had found out about this sooner! (Green Earth Photo Credit: you guessed it, bing.com!)

Lastly, the Life in Alaska had some very nice high quality pictures, that end up being quite powerful in helping to drive whatever points he was making home, such as: the arctic haze caused by factory pollution, very popular political president slam (one of my personal favorites out of every blog!), arctic sea ice and the cute jumping polar bear, volcano crater with fumarole activity, and last all the way back to the cute magazine cover of St. George Island. Inspirational.

Module X - Final Project

About six months ago I found out about a Wordle, which is a free internet based application that lets you make "word clouds." I made one for my mom for Christmas last year, and judging by her reaction I think it was hands down one of the best presents she had ever received. Because I am a highly visual person and because it is just amazing, I had to post a science wordle on my last blog. To find more information on Wordles you can visit an article on the NSTA I found about them. Here is one more good article that for me brought to mind huge implications for using a Wordle for science vocabulary introduction, acquisition, and review.

Final Project - Background & Goals

I teach third grade, so a lot of the science in this course was a bit higher than what third graders would normally be expected to comprehend (that is not to say that we should never teacher high-er and show students a variety of resources that will engage and pull them into the sciences, just that sometimes it can be too far reaching for it to be relevant). I am also a newer teacher, so I am still learning quite a few things myself as I master the core curriculum (Reading, Writing, and Math) at my grade level. However, I am also a huge fan of utilizing teachable moments, such as last year when Mt. Redoubt erupted and everyone was buying face masks - and my students were scared. Even though volcanoes have nothing to do with our curriculum, I found the Alaska Volcano Observatory's Redoubt site and we looked into what was going on in an attempt to hopefully teach my students a few things while also easing their fears.

Now back to my final project. I have had some training on the science Learning Cycle model, and I believe that especially in the elementary level students need as many opportunities as possible to explore and experiment first and foremost to generate excitement, but mostly higher level thinking about science. Thus I have (but I couldn't figure out how to attach it so I attached screen shots at pictures...) made a lesson about the changes of phases in a powerpoint style PDF so that I can have it up on my Promethean Board so students may have a good visual image to guide them while we are doing the lesson. I did this because a large part of my goal for this project was to get students excited, engaged, and to want to know more.

GLEs Addressed

Science Content GLE
[3] SB3.1 The student demonstrates an understanding of the interactions between matter and energy and the effects of these interactions on systems by recognizing that temperature changes cause changes in phases of substances (e.g., ice changing to liquid, water changing to water vapor, and vice versa).

Science Process GLE
[3] SA1.1 The student demonstrates an understanding of the processes of science by asking questions, predicting, observing, describing, measuring, classifying, making generalizations, inferring, and communicating.

Writing GLE
[3] W1.2.2 The student writes for a variety of purposes and audiences by using expressive language when responding to literature or producing text (e.g., journals, pictures supported by text or poetry) (L)

Alaska Native GLE

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Science Concept: Temperature changes cause phase changes.

Objectives: The student will

• Describe how a change in temperature causes a substance to change phase
• Predict and infer about phase changes of a substance
• Discuss how Alaska Native ways of knowing have been around for centuries as effective methods of understanding the world around them
  

Assessment Task With your knowledge of phase changes, you will write a journal entry that describes how a change in temperature causes a popsicle to change from a solid to a liquid. You must make at least one prediction and one inference about how the temperature will have an effect on the popsicle. This entry must include at least two sentences, an illustration, and at least two labels.

Materials Keynote Presentation (or Chart Paper)
3 Markers of Assorted Colors Zippered Bags, Quart Size (one bag per student pair)
Ice (one piece of ice per student pair)
Student Worksheet/The Great Race Student Worksheet/Assessment Task 1
Popsicle (optional)
Goldish, Meish. “Ice” 101 Science Poems & Songs for Young Learners. New York: Scholastic Professional Books, 1996. Page 80.

Vocabulary Phase/State of Matter - One of the conditions in which matter exists. The three states of matter are solid, liquid, and gas.

Teacher Background Vocabulary
Matter - Something that occupies space, has mass, and exists as a solid, liquid, or gas.

Solid - 1. One of the three basic forms of matter. Solids are made up of molecules that can vibrate back and forth but can’t move to change places with other molecules. Solids have both a set volume and a set shape. 2. A shape that has three dimensions. Cubes and spheres are solids.

Liquid - One of three basic forms of matter. Liquids are made up of molecules that can move short distances. Unlike solids, liquids do not have a set shape and take on the shape of the container they are in. Unlike gases, liquids have a set volume.

All definitions from: The American heritage children’s science dictionary. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Activity Preparation Purchase or make enough ice cubes for the class in advance. (You will need to write the vocabulary definitions, directions, and poems on a piece of chart paper or board if you do not have access to a computer/interactive whiteboard). Optional: Prepare one popsicle or other substance for the assessment task.

Day 1:

Gear Up Process Skills: Making generalizations, describing, communicating Have students complete an entrance slip either on a piece of paper or in their science notebooks. Share student responses as a group. Display “Ice” and “Icicles” poetry from keynote presentation. Read poems whole group, then chorally.


Ask students/guide discussion with the following prompts:

• What is going on in these poems?
• What is happening to the water?
• What is happening to the ice?
• What is causing these changes in the water and ice?
• Does anybody know what is it called when these changes happen with water (freezing, melting)?

Explore Process Skills: Investigating, predicting, observing, communicating
Explain to students that they will receive a bag to put an ice cube in and try to get the ice cube to change from a solid to a liquid as quickly as possible. Tell students to:


Generalize Process Skills: Inferring, describing, making generalizations, communicating
Whole group discussion:



Apply Process Skills: Predicting, inferring, describing, making generalizations
• With a partner (or whole group), students may make a list of all the things that they might find in their home that could change from a solid to a liquid.
• With your partner discuss what would happen to chocolate left outside on a very hot, sunny day.

Extend

For the extend part of this lesson I will utilize some online resources. While some people may not be able to access the resource BrainPOP, they can still check out what it is like by looking at the free featured videos of the week from BrainPOP Jr. or BrainPOP. For this lesson, I will utilize a few different BrainPOP Jr. videos (below). Of course I think it would be beneficial for students to also do the quiz at the end whole group and some of the activities below.

Solids, Liquids, and Gases

Changing States of Matter

Matter Changing States (BrainPOP)

Websites I would also like to either review these websites with students, however I wonder if it would be better to allow students to explore them on their own.

Changing States of Matter (Phase Changes)

Solids

Liquids

States of Matter

Games (borrowed from BrainPOP Jr.'s Solids, Liquid's, and Gases Activities)

Shapes Matter

Remind your students that liquids take the shape of their containers. Experiment pouring liquids into containers of different shapes and sizes. Then have students pour the same amount of liquid into each container. How do the shapes change? Why do some containers appear to have more liquid than others?

As an extension, help students blow air into balloons to make different shapes. Balloons can be small, large, tube-shaped etc. Encourage students to make balloon animals to show how gas can be moved and contained. Compare how liquids and gases fill their containers.

Mass Mania

Review with your students that mass is the amount of matter in an object. Explain that some objects may seem very large but have little mass. For example, a balloon is bigger than a key, but the balloon has less mass. A foot of yarn is longer than a marble, but the marble has more mass. Brainstorm different examples. If possible, have small groups use balance scales and gram measurements to compare the masses of different objects.

Property Game

Discuss different properties of objects, such as color, texture, smell, etc. Then have students choose objects and write riddles that describe their properties. Encourage your students to write riddles for solids, liquids, and gases. Have students read their riddles and invite volunteers to guess the object. For example, a student might say: “What is solid, wooden, tall and attached to our wall?” Encourage students to think about how the objects are alike and different from each other.

Day 2-3:

For the second part of this lesson I would like students to watch some TD videos about some of the different groups of Alaska Native people and how their subsitence lifestyle is being affected by climate change. Part of the third grade social studies curriculum is Alaska Studies, and so I definitely think my students would enjoy watching the short videos on the groups of people that they have been studying all year. It is important to note that while most of these resources are for grades 6-12, I still think that my students will benefit from the videos with some well facilitated discussion (or cooperative learning activities) because it is relevant to them and their studies.

Living from the Land and Sea

Discussion Questions:

• Explain why you think sharing of fish, wildlife, and other subsistence foods is a critical value among the indigenous Alaska Native peoples.
• What are some ways in which Alaska Native worldviews are the same as those in your community? What are some ways in which they differ?
• Does Western science seem compatible or incompatible with the Alaska Native ways of life described in this video? What about modern technology? Explain.
• Discuss with other students how global warming could impact the predictive knowledge that indigenous Alaska Native peoples apply when engaging in subsistence activities.

People of the Arctic

Discussion Questions:

• The speaker talks about the loss of independence of the Alaska Native peoples. In what ways have Alaska Native peoples become dependent on other institutions and resources?
• For people who depend on wild foods for their nutrition, ways of life, culture, health, and well-being, what choices are they facing?
• In what ways is the Arctic environment a barometer or indicator for the health of the environment worldwide?
• "Keep us on the land, hunting and fishing, and we will guard it not only for us, but for the rest of the world." Does it seem important to you that this land be guarded? Explain.

A Subsistence Culture Impacted by Climate Change





Discussion Questions:

• Make a list of changes in the environment that have been identified by the Athabaskans in this video. How have plant and animal species been affected? Identify some of the species that have already been impacted, or are predicted to be impacted, by the current change in climate.
• What are the implications of these changes to the Athabaskan subsistence culture and way of life?
• What is happening to the rivers that negatively impacts salmon?
• In addition to the Alaska Native peoples, what animals depend on the salmon run for their existence?

The Spirit of Subsistence Living

Discussion Questions:

• What do you think the visitors hope to gain from their visit with the Cup'ik people? Explain your reasoning.
• Why do many Alaska Native peoples live near water? List some of the natural things in the environment and describe how the Cup'ik people use them. Are these materials still available in abundance? What has changed?
• This video describes a world perspective in which "everything is connected." What is meant by that?
• How would you compare the way in which the Cup'ik people and Western scientists view the natural world? What are the similarities and differences?
• For millennia, Alaska Native peoples have been observing the changes in their environment. How can technology help Western science make use of such data?

Alaska Native Pilots

Discussion Questions:

• What does it mean to read the landscape and the weather compared to simply observing the landscape and the weather? What are some of the important observations—referred to as signmakers—that Alaska Native pilots use to read the landscape and the weather?
• Natural signmakers—or sensemakers—as well as aircraft instruments and technology are all useful tools that pilots in Alaska can use to fly their planes safely. Do you think one is more important than the other under certain conditions? In Alaska? In other places? In different circumstances?
• Dr. Oscar Kawagley, a Yup'ik, talks about the kinds of things Alaska Native peoples look for in reading the weather. How experienced and knowledgeable must a person be to observe and accurately read all these factors?
• Consider a typical summer day on Ninilchik Beach. What weather patterns might you expect? Use this information to plan a safer and better fishing trip.

Hunters Navigate Warming Arctic

Discussion Questions:

• What are some specific examples from this video that show that changing patterns of nature are threatening the traditional ways of life and cultural survival in the Arctic?
• The usefulness of traditional knowledge of the environment is compromised because of the unpredictable and rapid changes in the environment. What are the observable changes and what are the causes of these changes?
• In what ways has modern technology been a help to the Alaska Native hunter?
• How can traditional knowledge of the Arctic be used by Western science to document change and predict future trends?
• What are some specific examples from this video that show that changing patterns of nature are threatening the traditional ways of life and cultural survival in the Arctic?
• The usefulness of traditional knowledge of the environment is compromised because of the unpredictable and rapid changes in the environment. What are the observable changes and what are the causes of these changes?
• In what ways has modern technology been a help to the Alaska Native hunter?
• How can traditional knowledge of the Arctic be used by Western science to document change and predict future trends?

I also think my students might enjoy seeing some of the TD videos of Alaska Native scientists (image at right) living and working in Alaska, as well as what kind of other careers exist for real scientists.

Side Note: I wanted to do 3-4 lessons on completely different things that relate to the third grade ASD science curriculum (Weather, Observing Alaskan Plants, and Changes) utilizing many TD video resources - but I had a hard time finding K-6 resources that related to these things. I also wanted to tie in global warming, conservation and recycling because I knew it would be relevant to my students - but I wasn't sure how with the resources that I had available to me. I am still thinking about how to work in different TD videos from now until the end of the year that will connect to or extend lessons that we are doing. Wish me luck!

Module IX Response

Essential Question: How are climate, terrestrial ice, and Alaskan indigenous cultures all connected?

Changes in temperature of the Earth's climate interact to create terrestrial ice. Thousands of years ago this was not such a big ordeal, but with the current population of Earth growing at rapid rates humans are impacting the the climate more than ever before. The TD video Documenting Glacial Change discusses how most glaciers around the world have retreated since 1900, and that "the retreat is probably linked to global warming, whose effect on ice could have potentially serious consequences for humans. Accelerated melting of valley glaciers could produce catastrophic flooding followed by long-term drought, which would affect hundreds of millions of people who rely on stable glaciers to provide water for agriculture and their drinking supply."

Extend:
At the beginning of this module was the discussion on the planet's supply of water. I found a chart of the distribution of the Earth's water from the USGS site. Along with information below, I thought this would have some interesting value in the classroom. While I am not sure how much my third graders would be able to visualize and understand what it means - they might still find it interesting.

Using the analogy that 1,000 drops of water represent all of the water on Planet Earth:

• 972 drops are in the oceans and inland seas
• 21 drops are in glaciers
• 6 drops are in ground water and soil moisture
• Less than 1 drop is in the atmosphere
• Less than 1 drop is in lakes and rivers
• Less than 1 drop is in all living plants and animals

Using the analogy that 1,000 ice crystals represent all of the glacier ice on Earth, the global distribution of ice is:

• 914 crystals are in Antarctica
• 79 crystals are in Greenland
• about 4 crystals are in North America (with about 1 crystal is in Alaska)
• about 2 crystals are in Asia
• less than 1 crystal is in South America, Europe, Africa, New Zealand and Irian Jaya

One of the resources from this module that was particulary interesting to me was the TD video Climate Change and the discussion about all of the dramatic changes from the last 10,00 years that are more easily understood from the ice core samples taken in Greenland: "Looking back in time the last 10,000 years have been marked by dramatic changes such as century long cold spells and decades of drought - which were nothing when compared with what came before them: average yearly temperatures that fluctuated wildly, creating climate shifts within a human lifetime that are nearly unimaginable."

The TD video Earth's Cryosphere: Antarctica focused on how the antarctic region is changing and stated that "as the temperatures increase there are a growing number of melt ponds. As the heavy melt water forces its way into cracks, ice shelves weaken and can ultimately collapse." Ice shelves that have been around for tens of thousands of years are cracking in a matter of weeks, which is frightening and should be a wake-up call to those who question the reality of global warming and the actual carbon footprint of Earth's current population.

Evaluate:

• In response to some of the resources from this module, one that I particularly loved was a part of the NASA Operation Ice Bridge Blog where a first grade class wrote in their questions - and they were answered right on the blog! The implications for how engaging this type of use of technology can be for students in simply mind boggling.
• I found this interesting diagram of Alaska Native and Western Ways of knowing in an article on the Alaska Native Knowledge Network.
  

Module VIII Response

Essential Question: How are Arctic sea-ice, climate, and culture all connected?

Water is one of the single most important elements in regulating the climate and life on Earth. This module focused on the cryosphere, or the portions of the Earth's surface where water is in solid form, including sea ice, lake ice, river ice, snow cover, glacier, ice caps and ice sheets, and frozen ground (including permafrost). (While we have been learning about various aspects of the concepts for weeks, I found it interesting the different names associated that didn't automatically register for me: such as lithosphere and cryosphere. I did know atmosphere and hydrosphere.) The cryosphere is essentially the earth's cooling system.

The glaciers are melting, Arctic sea ice has shrunk dramatically in the past few decades - and the results could be profound and viscious cycle. This climate change appears extrememly rapid by historical standards. If the temperature and quantity of fresh water from the Arctic Ocean were to change, this crucial of the land and atmosphere and ocean cooling the Arctic would be disrupted.

Connections in the food web and small changes can have huge consequences; the effects of climate change are especially vulnerable to the Arctic marine ecosystem because sea ice is the primary habitat for many of the species. Colder or warmer temperature could disrupt the breeding and feeding cycles, and because the Arctic ecosystem is not extremely diverse it is less resilient and extremely fragile - and will be impacted greatly by even the smallest changes.

As for the cultural connections of those who subsist from the sea-ice such as the Inupiat people of northern Alaska, simply put - their subsistence way of life is being threatened. Their hunting and fishing season is cut shorter due to the melting ice and warmer temperatures. Thin, shifting ice also makes it very dangerous for whale hunters. Helicopters have been called to rescue whaling crews from ice that is significantly thinner than it used to be. This all relates back to albedo as well as the warming and release of more greenhouse gases - it is all interconnected and one thing affects everything else, like a domino effect. The native people of Alaska (as well as other indigenous cultures) have an intimate relationship and understanding of the environment, and must be included in the decision making process of what happens in the Arctic. These issues affect the survival of their cultures - and it is their way of life.

(Side Note: I enjoyed the experiment of the ice cubes in the cup of water and predicting/observing to see what happens. Perfect for my third graders who are learning about the changing states of matter!)

Extend:

After briefly looking at my classmate Fran's blog, I started thinking about conservation and what people can do to reduce global warming. Thus, a personal story: In the last 12 months, my old work site of Sand Lake Elementary School was rebuilt and we are now moved into and teaching from our new school (pic below).
I am not sure what kind of thought or planning went into using sustainable resources, but I don't believe it was much - and I would like to see this changed. There are some things like lights that go off automatically after being left on for an extended amount of time, but I wonder if there are any other things in place that will save energy. So I started looking around the internet, and found The Center for EcoLiteracy which states that green school design is cost effective, healthy, and better for education. But if school district's (like mine) that represent a microcosm of society are not setting an example for the generation of tomorrow, who will?

One more interesting resource:
The Green Schools Healthy Schools Project

A note on resources in this module:

• There were many good resources in this module, but the ones that I appreciated the most were the TD resources that discussed the impacts of climate change on cultures that have depended on Arctic sea-ice for millions of years.
• Also, the Steve MacLean: Conservationist video was amazing - filled with great information as well as beautiful images of animals in this Bering Sea ecosystem, not to mention he can be a role model for Alaska Native students as well as students interested in careers in science. Great resource!
• I also was watching a segment on the science channel titled Planet Earth: The Future, about the future of endangered wild animals and places; in which polar bears were beginning to hunt more difficult prey due to the melting of the ice caps and inability to hunt seals and other animals as usual. Everything is connected, and the more I learn about the situation of Alaska as it relates to more global issues - the more I recognize and see it all around me. Bravo!
  

Module VII Response

Essential Question: How is Earth's climate connected to its geological, biological, and cultural systems?

The Earth's climate is interdependent to its geological, biological, and cultural systems - which is the same idea that we keep coming back to each module: everything is connected. Photosynthesis, carbon, all of these finely-tuned processes evolved along with our planet - and allowed us to do the same. In this module I learned all about the element carbon, and how it is central to our existence and evolution, and changing climate. Every time we drive our cars or burn coal for electricity we are adding more CO2 to into the atmosphere, and more carbon dioxide means our atmosphere is able to absorb more heat. Most scientists agree that the Earth's global temperature will continue to rise as long as we continue to burn fossil fuels (Global Warming: The Physics of the Greenhouse Effect). The part about all of this I found to be the most frightening is that carbon dioxide emissions are changing the environment not just for us, but for future generations (Global Warming: Carbon Dioxide and the Greenhouse Effect). Additionally, over the past two centuries the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by nearly 25% - which a has some scary implications if you think about it...

On a different note, as I didn't really understand a whole lot about carbon before this module I found the TD video Capturing Carbon so fascinating (not to mention I just love the idea of an "energy penalty," see pic of referee at right). I really enjoyed this resource though; perhaps because so many of the science concepts in this course are so over my head, or perhaps there was something in it that just resonated with me (like the father creating a system to capture carbon dioxide from an experiment that his own daughter came up with!). Clearly you cannot use more energy to create something than you are actually creating yourself! If their synthetic tree produces more CO2 to run than it can capture - well, what's the point?! Can they somehow reduce the amount of energy they use? FASCINATING!! Then, how to capture CO2? Top secret! Amazing. Overall, I think it is just that we hear about wind mills and there is such a "green" revolution going on all around us but it is not everyday that the entire process of how these things are discovered and manipulated to work is put in front of you. I think even my third graders would find this interesting, albeit may be a little over their heads...

The positive feedback loop discussed in the Soil Microbes and Global Warming TD resource was rather interesting, especially because "Changes in the Arctic landscape are provoking concern about the future, not just for the peoples of the north, but for all the earth's inhabitants." It made think more about the connection of the people and cultural aspects affected by all of the climate change occurring.

La'ona DeWilde experiences traveling to villages and teaching locals how to do mapping and take water samples and data is a wonderful example of how Alaska Native people can learn to interact and combine their knowledge with the Western science world, that will benefit and help both groups. Makes me think of one of the questions from the module that related "shining two lights on the same path." Lastly, change is an immediate concern for those whose traditional life ways depend on the land and its wildlife - especially in Alaska. (Alaska Native Teens Help Researchers)

A note about a few resources:

• I really enjoyed the link to the www.Good.is site, it proved to be a very interesting source. After perusing it a little more just now (nothing like a good distraction), I found an article (or entry or whatever it is called) about a group of Portlanders who have perhaps taken a few steps in the right direction of solving the whole carbon problem with their "virtual commune," Bright Neighbor. Check it out for more information.
• NOVA's Origins website had an interesting interactive section titled A Brief History of Life with some great pictures and descriptions where you can explore the past 4.5 billion years of life in just a few minutes!
• Global Warming: The Physics of the Greenhouse Effect was easy to understand and explained the greenhouse effect very well.
• Arctic Climate Modeling Program seems like a great resource, I plan to look into it more to see if it might be something that I could use for my Final Project.

Module VI Response

Essential Question: How are the Earth, atmosphere, and cultures all connected?

The main topic of this module, the atmosphere, gives the greatest evidence to support that we (the cultures of people that live on this Earth) are all connected. The fluid nature of the atmosphere affects both the Earth and the cultures on it interchangeably. These different layers of gases trapped in our atmosphere and encircling our planet are multifunctional - they guard us from the intensely warming heat and energy of the sun, they are involved in the process that brings contaminants from one part of the world to the other, and they influence the winds and forces of nature that create weather systems that affect cultures all over the world. I especially appreciated this concept of understanding the trophosphere we live in as not just gases, but as a fluid. In effect, we live at the bottom of an ocean of air. Just like water, air has turbulence." Tips of mountains on Earth affect the direction the air/wind flow, tornadoes are likened to whirlpools of the ocean, and clouds are likened to waves. (Reveal Earth's Ocean, National Geographic) The cultures that live on Earth are in a constant relationship with these things daily. The Contaminants of the Food Chain TD resource has some frightening implications for the people of the Arctic regions. Climactic conditions from the different pressure systems carry large air masses filled with pollutants from industries all over the world to be pumped up to the artic, especially in the winter and the spring - all in a matter of days! These toxins are absorbed into the Arctic food chain, and the animals at the top of the food chain have such high levels of environmental toxins and PCB, it leads one to wonder about the various ways in which it must in some way be transmitted to the humans that hunt and eat those animals...not to the mention the scare of the Arctic haze!

On a different note, I thought it was interesting how the Alaska Native pilots merge their traditional knowledge with western science by taking knowledge from the Western world and apply it to what they know to make them stronger, more knowledgeable pilots. (I also found the lyrics of the Native song at the end of the the Alaska Native Pilots TD resource wonderful: "Everything is beautiful, the younger generations are looking back, up in the moon I swing, everything is beautiful.")

Extend:
To the right is a screen shot I took that illustrates an atmospheric phenomenon we learned about in this module and some in the past. I would use this near-real time weather information to help my third graders understand weather systems, especially as they are currently learning about weather, temperature, wind, and precipitation. They would love to see the cloud cover move from one area to another, and while they may not grasp it completely it will still help them visualize as well as be engaging.

One of the other resources I found useful as it related to this module is the TD resource, Expedition 8 Crew Talks to Students in Japan. I think my students would really connect to and appreciate hearing the comments of the astronauts to actual students!

Another resource I use is a resource that my school subscribes to (sorry, it is NOT a free resource!) that I frequently use to help students visualize science concepts (including their invisible atmosphere!) is BrainPOP. BrainPOP is a research supported creation that used animated, curriculum-based content that engages students, supports educators, and bolsters achievement - not to mention my students LOVE it. It has quizzes that can be printed out and given to students individually or fun electronic quizzes that can be done after watching the educational video segments, and there are even ideas for experiments (see below) relating to the concepts explained in the video segements. Valuable resource!

Evaluate:

• Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere was interesting, easy to use, and not too advanced for my third graders.
• The National Geographic video on YouTube, Reveal Earth's Atmosphere
  
• I was happy to see that this module had included a link to National Geographic, as it is a site that I have used in the past and found great resources to supplement various aspects of my curriculum (particularly a unit on animal habitats). However, if I am being brutally honest I must say is that it can sometimes be a little complicated to navigate and/or find specific resources due to the way that they are arranged and connected. But if you are willing to spend some time researching, it is well worth it!
• Another useful resource was the "Helpful Hint" posted at the end of Part II that explained that the four questions that came before it came from the Teachers' Domain interactive resources linked to the video. I have used the "Background Essay" previously earlier to help me better understand some of the science that is a bit um, over my head - but I had not yet thought about how I could use the discussion questions with my students. I now realize that most of the discussion questions linked to resources that we are using for this class are too complex for third grade, but now I know that when I find resources that are appropriate for my students I should definitely be looking at the discussion questions as well!
• I really enjoyed the YouTube Weather School resource. It helped me to summarize and understand some of what I consider the more complex things we have been learning about in more simple terms. I think my third graders could understand and grasp quite a few of these when explained this way:
  

1. What goes up, must come down
2. The sun is the driving force of the weather
3. Cold air is dense, warm air is less dense
4. Air flows from high to low pressure. (the "vacuum cleaner" effect)
   
5. Air is a fluid trying to achieve equilibrium
6. Winds blow anti-clockwise around low pressure & clockwise around high pressure (reverse these for the Southern hemisphere)

Module V Response

Essential Question: How are climate, cultures, and oceans all connected?

Explain & Extend

Climate, cultures, and oceans are all connected because they are c-o-n-n-e-c-t-e-d through the climate and oceanic systems that have occurred for millions of years. In a nutshell, both coming from Western scientists as well as indigenous peoples are accounts of global warming or the melting of polar ice caps - which in turn affect the climate, the cultures of people affected by these changes, as well as the ocean. This module taught us a significant amount of information about about how oceans are absorbing all of the extra green house gases that are emitted and trapped in the atmosphere, as well as the different ways that solar energy arrives at the Warth's surface, affecting land and ocean differently. I now have a much better understanding of how land has a much lower heat capacity than water and cools and heats easily and quickly. The Earth's oceans appear to play such a large part in the equation because they heat and cool so much slower than land, thus are affected differently but also are able to absorb energy differently. That is about as scientific as I am going to get this go around, as it is all still very new and challenging for me. This module I chose to focus on the angle of how cultures are affected by these changes, and attempted to tie it back into the Alaska Native and Western perspectives on land & climate.

To begin with, there is a TD video titled Inuit Observations of Climate Change that I was unable to upload, but that had some very good examples of how indigenous cultures can be included and made a part of the science of observing and understanding the communities they live in due to their vast knowledge and understanding of the communities they live in. This brought me back to the beginning of this course when we were asked to really think about the values of both ways of knowing. I found a few other articles/NPR broadcasts relating to these issues that I believe speak for themselves:

Inuit Group Confronts Global Warming Threat

Young Alaskan Sees Changing Way of Life

Lastly, I enjoyed the TD video of Dolly Garza and her powerful comments about being involved in the process. She says "I worked on my doctorates because I felt like there needed to be more Native involvement in how policy is developed. The situation that Alaska is facing is for probably the last 5,000 years, the population didn't outstrip the resource. But now the number of users and the uses of Alaska's resources are increasing so much that allocation of the resource has become an issue. You have to be involved in the process of making sure that the historic uses are protected." How powerful is that? I found a little bio information about her on the Alaska Native Science Commission website. She is a great role model for Alaska Native students who are interested in finding careers that will help them protect and maintain their culture.

Upon looking for other cultures that are affected, I found some very interesting sites and articles about indigenous cultures and how they are affected by global warming as well as some of the "solutions" that have been put in place. One such site is the Indigenous Environmental Network, whose goals are to:

1. Educate and empower Indigenous Peoples to address and develop strategies for the protection of our environment, our health, and all life forms - the Circle of Life.
2. Re-affirm our traditional knowledge and respect of natural laws.
3. Recognize, support, and promote environmentally sound lifestyles, economic livelihoods, and to build healthy sustaining Indigenous communities.
4. Commitment to influence policies that affect Indigenous Peoples on a local, tribal, state, regional, national and international level.
5. Include youth and elders in all levels of our work.
6. Protect our human rights to practice our cultural and spiritual beliefs.

Another interesting article about how other cultures are being affected by the changes in the climate and oceans:

Global Warming Solutions are Hurting Indigenous People, says U.N.

Evaluate:

One of the things that was difficult for me as I read through this module was that there was so much vocabulary and terminology that I just didn't know or have any background on. I found myself looking up (or Wikipedia-ing) regular terms that are used within the context of the blog (terrestrial, thermal energy, specific heat capacity, diurnal, and more)! This is not a bad thing, but greatly lengthened the time it took me to look through the various parts of the module because I was constantly looking for more information and/or better diagrams and videos that would help me to better understand all of the new information and concepts.

On a different note, there were so many digital resources with good content value that helped better explain things, and that I can SEE really helping students to visualize and grasp difficult concepts. Just taking this course has helped me to think about using and looking for resources that I already have had access to (Discovery Learning, BrainPop, etc.), and I cannot tell you how many people I have raved to about TeachersDomain.org in the past few months! There were also some that I did not see the value of as much. Here are some examples of both:

• Air vs. Water Heat Capacity YouTube clip was a great resource that helped me better visualize the concept being explained. Before watching the video, I can honestly say I was a little confused but after watching the demonstration it made much more sense to me because I could actually see why.

• Ignite! Learning's What Causes Earth's Seasons? was highly enjoyable, and my students would love it! The catchy music, the easy to understand diagrams, and good yet uncomplicated explanantions are helpful.
• The Coriolis Effect in Bathrooms - disgusting. Need I say more? (The other Coriolis Effect resource with the merry go round was much more useful.)
• Earth in Motion: Seasons (a TD resource that I found and used with my students as we are learning about temperature, climate, seasons, pressure systems, etc.)