Final Project - Global Warming and Us

Essential Question

How can teachers use digital resources, community resources and effective teaching methods, integrating Alaska Native ways of knowing with Western scientific methods to create greater student interest in, and understanding of, the geosciences?

Overview

Students will work together to  collect information about the impact of global warming on the residents of Gambell, AK. They will use all resources available to them to compile their data including: interviews, digital resources, and textbooks.

Audience

High school students will be doing the work for this project including the research, interviews, picture taking, and compiling all the data. This project is intended for anyone who can benefit from the data. One of the most important reasons for compiling this data is to have a written record of the information gained from the elders in the village. Their observations are priceless and if they are not recorded there is a potential for them to be lost forever.

Objectives

• Create a written record of the changes that have taken place in and around Gambell, AK
• Create maps of how hunting patterns have changed in and around Gambell, AK
• Take pictures of areas changing from melting permafrost
• Have students interview elders and member of the community
• Have students create a digital presentation of their data

Image of Gambell taken
from Google Earth

Rationale

Students in Gambell see the changes that are taking place due to the change in climate around them. If you ask them about how hunting has changed over the years due to global warming they can easily tell you where their grandparents hunted and how they have to go farther out to catch the same animals. Unfortunately, this knowledge is not written down anywhere. I personally would love to see a map of where the elders hunted when they were young and compare it to where my students hunt today. The island is also changing due to melting permafrost and it would be really great if my students created a record of these changes.

BSSD Standards

TE.5.14 Student creates a presentation using a variety of media.

SC.4.23 The student demonstrates an understanding of geochemical cycles.

SC.4.24 The student demonstrates an understanding of the forces that shape the Earth.

Digital Resources

Inuit Observations of Climate Change

Soil Microbes and Global Warming

Warmer Oceans Affect Food Web

Arctic Climate Perspectives

Melting Permafrost

Unit Plan

• Students will learn about (or review) geochemical cycles that are at work all around them.
• Students will learn about different factors that contribute to global warming.
• Students will look at the changes that have taken place because of global warming.
• Students will look at the changes that have specifically taken place in and around Gambell, AK by:
• conducting interviews with elders in the community, and using their own knowledge to figure out where hunting spots have been in the past and where they are today.
• using Google Earth to show how hunting patterns and locations have changed over the years.
• making observation and using information from elder interviews about how melting permafrost has changed the landscape around them.
• taking pictures of changing landscapes.
• Recording observations from elders and other members of the community about how climate has changed over the years and how this has chanced their lifestyle.
• Students will create a written record of all the information they have collected.
• It will be the students choice how they will create a record of the information they collected. Choice could include, but not limited to: book, blog, website, Google Docs.
• Students will create a digital record of the data they have collected.
• It will be the students choice of how they create their digital presentations. Examples could include PowerPoint, iMovie, recorded presentation.
• Students will upload their presentation to the internet to share the data they have collected

Presentation

As a conclusion to the unit students will put on a community night to show their projects. This will give students a chance to show off their hard work and give the community a chance to see all their findings. I believe this information will be interesting and very informative for the community. 

Week 9 Module

1. Explain: What new learning have you taken from this module?

Image take from "Losing
Permafrost in Alaska"

I found the video clip “Losing Permafrost in Alaska” very fascinating. I was shocked when I heard that repairing permafrost damage is costing Alaskan’s about $35 million a year. At the end of the video there was a man from Arctic Village, Alaska who was talking about putting in solar panels. I think it is wonderful when people turn to green energy. I have not heard of many examples of solar panels in Alaska. Most of the villages in our district us wind turbines. I am curious as to how well solar power works for them.

2. Extend: How can/will you use this week’s resources and/or others in your community in your lessons?

I enjoyed doing the two activities “A Drop in the Bucket”, “1000 Snow Flakes” and “Glacier Ice—Sea Level”. I think it will make a great anticipatory set for my students when we talk about the water cycle and where water is located on the planet. I like given students examples that are easy to visualize. “A Drop in the Bucket” could even be turned into a hands on activity where the students measure out the drops into different beakers to represent each place on each.

Image taken from
"When Sea Levels Attack"

One thing I really like to point out to my students when we talk about the rise of sea level is the elevation of Gambell. It wouldn’t take much for the village to be covered with water. The information from “Glacier Ice—Sea Level” is so nice because it shows at what point Gambell would become covered with water. The picture from “When Sea Levels Attack!” is also an amazing visual. A few years ago I saw a map similar to the ones on the right hand side of the picture. It is very scary thought that a map of the world might look like that in the future.

I enjoyed the “Earth System: Ice and Global Warming” video clip because the narrator made it clear that it isn’t proven global warming is caused my greenhouse gasses. I noticed it right away when I was listening to the video. It is very easy for my to glance over the fact that there are some scientist who don’t believe we have increased the rate of global warming. I often find myself talking about greenhouse gasses as a given for the reason our climate is changing. It is always good to show students this isn’t a proven fact.

3. Evaluate: How useful, insightful or relevant are this module’s information and resources for you?

Image taken from "Climate Change"

The video “Climate Change” was very fascinating and will be a great clip to show to my Earth science class. I like how the video points out the difference between weather and climate. In the past my students have had a hard time distinguishing between the two. Anything I can use that will help them understand the difference between the two is wonderful to have. I really like the graph that showed the climate change over the past 45,000 years. It really put climate change in perspective.

Friday afternoon during my prep one of my students came into my class and told me she was doing her senior research project on the melting of permafrost. She wanted to know if I had any good resources on it so I showed her the video clip “Melting Permafrost”. She loved it and watched it three times to get all the information out of it that she could. She told me that the area out by her camp looks very similar to areas on the video where mud was sliding. She then went on to watch two other video clips on Teachers’ Domain. 

3 Colleagues

One her blog “Living and Learning in Alaska” Kris commented on the concept of “Food Sovereignty Areas”. It is very important for the land to be kept clean so that people can continue their traditional ways.

On her page “Emerson’s Explorations” Cheryl commented that she can imagine her students saying “euwwww” to the fact that the water they drink could have been any number of places. I also enjoy telling my students this. I usually say something like “the water you drink could be the same water George Washington drank”. Some kids like that, some don’t.

On his page Kevin commented on how he thinks he placed too much ice in the cup for the melting ice experiment. I also ran across this when I tried it out at home. The second time I put a little less in and it worked beautifully. Always a good plan to try stuff first before you do it with students! 

Week 8 Module

1. Explain: What new learning have you taken from this module?

I have never really thought about the relationship of the location of ice and if that will cause a rise in sea level. I really enjoyed doing the ice in a water glass from the “Watching Ice Melt!” series. When I read the activity I could not wait to try it. As the ice was melting I was thinking back to the properties of water and ice.  I will be sharing this activity with my students. It will be a really great to have my students make a prediction before we do the activity. I am sure the students will not all agree on what will happen. I love hearing what the students think will happen with activities like this.


2. Extend: How can/will you use this week’s resources and/or others in your community in your lessons?

I will be showing the video clip “Arctic Climate Perspectives” to my advisory class. It is a wonderful video from a science perspective, however, it is also great for a career point of view. My students have a unique and wonderful opportunity when it comes to studying climate change. This clip shows researchers who come from all over to study in Alaska. It would be wonderful if more Alaska scientists from these villages studied it. My students have a very high interest in global warming and they know first hand how the climate has changed for them. All of my students can verbally tell me what changes they have seen over their lifetime.

Image take from "Artic Sea
Ice Satellite Observations"

I will be sharing the interactive activity “Arctic Sea Ice Satellite Observations” with my students. I really like how you can see the dramatic change in the sea ice over the years. I also like the feature that allows you to zoom in and show Alaska close up. You are able to specifically see St. Lawrence Island, which is really nice for my students.


3. Evaluate: How useful, insightful or relevant are this module’s information and resources for you?

I am really looking forward to showing my students the video clip “Global Warming Threatens Shishmaref”. My students love to watch anything that mentions Alaska, and they are really going to enjoy this clip because Shishmaref is in our school district. Many of my students have been there for sports, and academic events. It is such a wonderful thing when you can show your students something they can really relate to. Also, as I have mentioned before in this blog, my students love to learn about the effects of global warming.

I was reading this module in the airport as I was waiting for my flight to Gambell. The section “Sea Ice – Sea Ice” was on my mind for the flight back. The Gambell runway is located right between the ocean and a lake. As we were landing I saw the ocean with no sign of ice and on the other side the lake completely frozen over. It would be a really cool activity for my students to record the dates and temperature for when the lake freezes and when the ocean freezes.

3 Colleagues

Esther commented on her page about how she has first hand experience of listening to the elders talk about how global warming is changing where she lives. It is such a great resource to be able to talk to elders in the community.

I agree with Alicia when she comments on how large of a problem climate change is, and we often don’t see it that way. It is easy to put it at the back of your mind because it is such a slow process.

Like Dan, I also learned that Inuit people are collecting data. It is really wonderful to see that their data is being recorded. It is very valuable and useful information for us to have.