Module III

Explain:

Reading and watching the videos for this module made me think about how different cultures "study" their environment.  To me, as someone who majored in biology at a traditional university on the east coast, studying means following the scientific method and using the appropriate tools.  However, I learned that it could mean something different for someone like an Alaska Native.  Their study might involve personal experience, trial and error, and knowledge from time and elders.  I loved Richard Glenn's quote about how there is not a conflict between these two different ways.  Rather, they are two flashlights shining down the same path.  This is a quote that many western scientists would do well to remember when they conduct research in such a way that gives an impression of "our way is the better way".

Extend:

I'm thinking that I could used some of the teacher's domain videos when we do a unit on biomes.  Normally in my class we have talked about all of the living things in a particular biome except for humans.  We discuss the effect of people on the land, but don't really discuss the people themselves.  It would be interesting if we were studying the tundra biome, for instance, and I could try and include a section about who lives in the tundra in Alaska.  I could also possibly share these resources with the social studies teacher on my team and she could expand on it a bit more in her class.

Aerial photo of tundra from biology-blog.com

Evaluate:

I appreciated the insight that this week's module gave me regarding connections to the land.  Whalers have a connection to the sea and sea ice.  Salmon fishers have a connection to the river.  But western scientists are sometimes disconnected from the land they study.  Richard Glenn talked about scientists who could recognize multilayer ice on a satellite, and yet they didn’t know it when they were standing on it.  It’s disappointing that we can become so disconnected from the things that we purport to be such experts on.  Technology definitely serves an important purpose, but we can't forget to leave our computers and get outside too.

A link discussing the increased use of technology by rural Alaskan kids and how to combat the fact that some of them are becoming less connected to their local environment is at  http://www.fws.gov/arsnew/regmap.cfm?arskey=20592.  It is related to the No Child Left Inside program.

Other blogs I commented on:

Kevin made a point to incorporate science into his lessons when he was a business teacher.
Doug observed that we often see ourselves as masters of the environment, even though this view can be detrimental to us and our environment.
Alison stressed the importance of taking kids outside to experience their environment.

Module II

Before doing the reading and viewing for this week’s assignment, I had some knowledge about the similarities and differences between my culture and various Alaska Native cultures.  However, I had never thought much about these similarities and differences with respect to science specifically.  I had always just thought about them in a general way as they affect people’s lives.  I have gained insight on what I think it means for living and non-living things to be connected.  I hope I can pass on the importance of these connections to my students.

The main thing I learned was the general idea about how western science isolates and indigenous science integrates.  In western science, we single out a topic to learn more about it on its own.  The more you further your education at a university, for example, the more you specialize.  By the time you are pursuing a PhD in science, you are probably studying something so specific that not very many other people outside your discipline may even understand what it is.   On the other hand, Alaska Native science studies something as it relates to the whole.  Natives don’t seem to separate one topic from another. 

In the video about the spirit of subsistence living, it was mentioned that Alaska Native science does not necessarily seek to explain nature, but rather gathers knowledge about how to coexist with nature. I found myself thinking that personally I do both of these things.  I have always felt a connection to the natural environment of wherever I have lived and have a sense that I am not the most important species on the planet.  However, I have always asked “why” about things for as long as I can remember.  I get great satisfaction from learning how things work, both in the natural world and elsewhere.  It reminded me of the quote by John Muir (http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/) that says, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.”


As far as using this week's resources goes, I was thinking it would be a good idea to introduce certain earth science topics by having the kids look at maps from Google Earth.  I try to make a lot of my lessons specific to Alaska, if possible.  For example, if we were studying volcanoes, we would talk about Alaska volcanoes.  But it would be neat to have them look at volcanic areas in places where their families are from or places that they are interested in.  Filipino students, for example, might be interested in seeing Google Earth images of Mt. Pinatubo.  Or a kid who has always wanted to visit Hawaii could look up one of the volcanoes there. Then kids could share what they found.  They could see where else in the world there are volcanoes, and they could learn something about the places where their classmates are from.  This would build connections between students and also build connections to other landscapes besides Alaska.

I did disagree with one thing that I read in the assignment.  The comparison was made that indigenous knowledge is learning by doing and experiencing, and western science is learning by formal education.  Any good science teacher practices hands-on learning as much as possible.  In my classroom we are doing and experiencing almost daily.  This is how many kids learn best.  So I am not sure what exactly was being referred to, but I don’t think the phrase "formal education" is an accurate portrayal of best practices in current science education . . . unless I misunderstood?


Blogs I visited and commented on:

http://amysexplorealaskablog.blogspot.com/
http://explorealaskawithalison.blogspot.com/
http://wwwkrisexploresalaskacom.blogspot.com/

A SPECIAL PLACE . . .

This is a picture taken in the High Uintas Wilderness Area in Utah.  I worked here as a wilderness ranger during the summer before my senior year in college.  Since that was almost 20 years ago, I don't have any digital photos, so I found this one on Panoramio.com.  The reason this place is special to me is that it was the first time I realized that I was drawn to mountains and that I needed to make my home near them.

I grew up in Wisconsin, which is quite a flat place.  As a kid, I always enjoyed being outside but did not have a chance to venture into very many wild places.  Then I went to college in upstate New York and was introduced to backpacking by some friends.  It opened my eyes to how I could get out and explore with everything I needed strapped on my back.  When I learned I could work for the Forest Service during the summer going backpacking and getting paid for it, I jumped at the chance.  The money wasn't much, but the work environment was phenomenal compared to the previous summer's job of waitressing.  When I returned to college after that summer in the mountains, I changed my major from meteorology to biology, got a job in an outdoor school in California after graduation, and have lived somewhere near mountains ever since.  That summer in the Uintas immersed me in the mountains and gave me an appreciation of an incredible alpine ecosystem.



LANDSCAPE OF MY BIRTHPLACE . . .

I was born in a landscape that was both leveled off and punctuated by glaciers, as you can see in the Google Earth image above.  Northeastern Wisconsin is fairly flat terrain interspersed with water sources of various sizes.  The only water in my immediate area (my backyard) was a small unnamed creek, which is pronounced "crick" where I'm from.  But I could travel less than an hour in any direction and come to either Lake Winnebago, the bay of Green Bay, the Fox River, or Lake Michigan. At the time I didn't appreciate it, but after having lived in the dry Central Valley of California I know how precious water can be.

I have never used Google Earth with my students.  I imagine it would be very useful for a variety of earth science topics.  Perhaps we could use it to examine volcanic landscapes, or to see aerial views of fault lines.  I hope that as I explore it more I will come up with some ideas and also learn from reading the blogs of other students in this course.