Module V

Explain:

Sylvia Earle gave the quote, “We know more about Mars than we know about the oceans.”  That's pretty much how I felt when going through this week's module.  The previous modules have had cultural information that was new to me, but the science in them was mostly review.  This one, however, covered ocean topics that I knew very little about and I found myself fascinated.  Ocean conveyor belts?  Thermohaline circulation?  I had never heard of these, and I listened intently to the audio clip on Teachers' Domain from NPR.

Oceans are the earth’s big heat bucket – they are absorbing 80-90% of the heat returned by global warming.  Wow.  I haven't spent much time in or around the ocean, so I often forget its importance as related to global climate change.

After reading the link on ocean gyres, I saw the "see also" link to something called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  Huh?

Apparently there are plastics, chemicals, and other debris that have been trapped in the North Pacific Gyre and they encompass an area estimated to be at least the size of the state of Texas.  I found more information on a NOAA website that answers many questions about marine debris.  This was all new to me and brought up questions in my mind about plastics, recycling, and the effects of pollution on marine species.

On the topic of marine species, this module also reminded me that Alaska Natives can provide information about numbers of ocean species because they have observed the patterns their whole lives.  They can help Western science and scientists, who may have only observed an area or a population for a much shorter period of time.  Western science needs their knowledge.

Extend:

I appreciated the "blabs" that were incorporated into this week's module.  The colored ice cube experiment would work great in my middle school science classroom.  With every year that I teach, I am trying to add more and more inquiry-based activities into what I do.  As we try to increase our students' STEM knowledge, inquiry is a must.

The air-filled vs. water-filled balloon demo would be an excellent visual for teaching heat capacity.  I also was intrigued by "Science on a Sphere" from NOAA.   The new Imaginarium in the Anchorage Museum has something similar to this, as seen in the picture below.  If you have a chance you should check it out.

Evaluate:

Being so busy with work and family doesn’t give me much time to read science-related books or magazines to learn something new.  But I really do enjoy it, and I enjoyed getting a chance to learn what was in this module.  It made me reflect on being a student rather than a teacher.  The excitement that I feel when I learn something new and cool is what I want my students to feel as well.  I know they’re not going to be all “ooh, aah!” every single day in class.  However, it’s a reminder to me to try and keep up my energy and enthusiasm for science as a teacher even as school district decisions try to drag me down.  I think science is awesome and I want my students to think so too.  The audio, video, and images on Teachers Domain and YouTube from this module can help keep some of them engaged in a way that a textbook cannot.

Other blogs I commented on:

Dan stresses the importance of using visual aids.

Cheryl's post includes a link to ALISON, the Alaska Lake Ice and Snow Observatory Network.  Neat!

Doug has a cool video from YouTube of divers going through a halocline.