When teaching the content of Atmosphere to middle school students I have found it most helpful to start with weather. All students come into my classroom with some knowledge of weather and how it affects their daily lives. There are some great websites and resources that are available. One of my favorites is called the GLOBE program. GLOBE stands for Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment. I have had the privilege of being involved with this program for many years both as a classroom teacher and as a teacher trainer for them. I have even been able to train teachers on an international level in multiple countries including Kazakhstan and Madagascar. In the atmosphere section of GLOBE kids learn about various topics including temperature, relative humidity, clouds, barometric pressure, and water vapor, just to name a few. Besides activities that allow kids to learn about these topics there are also protocols that allow kids to submit their local data to a website for others to use. It is also a wonderful place to get data to have kids analyze from all over the world. I encourage everyone to take some time and explore the website.
During the cultural connections section the bush pilots in the Arctic Haze video reminded me of the importance of observation skills. About a mile from my house sits the Mendenhall Glacier which is receding at an alarming rate. It is estimated that within only years it will become a hanging glacier. For some strange reason The Ocean Temperature and Climate Patterns Teachers' Domain video made me think about extensions and how a change in one or both of these would affect various fisheries in Alaska. We know that different fish and marine mammals are very sensitive to even small change. This would be an interesting project for kids to research. How
There were many great resources in this weeks module, some that I will use in my classroom and some that I think are at too high of a level. For example, I found the Making Ice Boiling Water You Tube video interesting although I think for middle school students the content might be too much. It reminded me of the question does warm water freeze faster than cold? This is a great question to pose to students when teaching the scientific method. It is easy for students to form a hypothesis, and design an experiment. It also is a great diving board for lots of other topic including evaporation, convection, and heat transfer. Another great resource this week was the vertical structure of the atmosphere interactive site on Teacher's Domain. I really appreciate anything that kids can interact with. The Phun Physics Phase Change Lab would be way too much for my students although I did enjoy looking at it. There is a great website called Chem4Kids that does a great job of taking pretty complex concepts and breaking them down to a level appropriate for middle school. I find that students have a hard time comprehending things like molecules since they can't see them. Visuals, like the one below help students understand.
3 Colleagues
Amy Peeke
I agree with Amy when she wrote about how scary it was that the bush pilot Dennis Miller could see the change in the density and frequency in the Artcic Haze.
Alison Larson
I agree with what you said Alison about everyone being a contributor to the problem. We all share this problem and it really does not good to point fingers at one another.
Carolyn Rudzinski
Carolyn your picture of the Fox River captured me. My grandmother grew up on the banks of the Fox and told us many wonderful stories and took us there to visit. It took me back to a wonderful time. Thanks!
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