Sunday, November 7, 2010

Module 5


Explain: 
This week I was able to learn more about Alaska and how everything is interconnected.

I liked in the module how it said, “For millennia, cultures have relied on the oceans for transportation, food and other vital resources. It's no wonder more than 50% of all people on Earth live within 50 miles of a coast.” I can see is apparent where I live. We rely on bodies of water for food as well as transportation. Even in the winter we wait until the rivers freeze so we can get across.

Along with this, the Ocean Facts website said that fish supply the greatest percentage of the world’s protein consumed by humans. Right there is a great example of how culture and oceans go hand in hand. Never eating fish myself until this year, it is interesting to see how these two things rely on one another.

A lot of the more scientific things go right over my head and has never been something I have gotten into. Living in rural Alaska I have a better understanding of how these things work together.

Extend: 
I could see how the math in this module could be used for math in my class. My students do not quite understand temperature yet so I might use this in a different capacity. We live right by the Bering Sea so I think it would be interesting to chart the temperature of the water.

With such a great resource as this (Bering Sea) less then a mile away, I think it will be essential to incorporate both math and science


The science aspect doesn’t relate to me as much as a math teacher, but if another teacher was to do the science aspect I could help children with the math and to figure out the differences. I am interested in collaborating with other teachers’ in my school to see how we could all utilize the information from this module.

Evaluate:
The resources will be useful and insightful to use once I figure out exactly how I want to incorporate them. It is a lot of information, so I am still in the processing phase. It is important to think about how the climate and oceans will impact the culture. It is also interesting to look at how temperature varies from village to village which are relatively close to each other. Weather and climate are such a big part of being in Alaska; I think it is interesting to see how this module will relate to that perspective.



Colleagues: 
Amy’s blog. Her blog is very imformation and allowed me to better understand some of the context from this week’s module.

Tyler’s blog was interesting because he talked about a study that his father was a part of which is interesting to read about.

Martha’s blog.  I liked her opening line about how everything is connected. She also added a beautiful picture on her blog.

3 comments:

  1. Alicia,
    I also live next to the Bering Sea. Geography isn't my strong subject, so I don't what other villages are. It really is amazing how much the ocean provides. It would be interesting to live in a village that is away from the ocean and see the differences in lifestyles.

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  2. Hi Alicia,
    Being a math and physics guy, I cannot help but seek out real world scenarios through which to teach my students math. If you have access to any kind of pressure cooker, or vacuum chamber then you can demonstrate how the temperature at which water boils is a function of atmospheric pressure. I wrote a short introduction to this phenomenon on my blog.
    Let me know if you have topics that you're trying to connect to the environment around Barrow. I bet we can find something together.
    Nice blog!
    Matt

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  3. I think it's great how we're all finding connections to how these modules can be used in the classroom - even if we are not trained in science or math! I've more and more convinced I want to track the temperature of the Kuskokwim here in Sleetmute. The best part of this class is the amount of information we're getting.

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