Arctic climate curriculum geared for rural students
Mary Huntington and her son Harley pose for a photo with a recently constructed anemometer.
Huntington is an elementary school teacher from Shishmaref. She joined other teachers
using the ACMP for a two-day teacher workshop at the Bering Strait School District
headquarters in Unalakleet in October.
Rural 色视频下载 students use windsocks to determine wind direction during a field trip
to UAF色视频下载檚 Geophysical Institute and the International Arctic Research Center.
Younger students at the Unalakleet Elementary School can make some of their observations
on weather and cloud cover from their own playground and then input the information
into the ACMP website.
Jess Ryan was in Unalakleet in October with colleagues from the Geophysical Institute
Information and Education Outreach Office to work with teachers using the new curriculum.
Ryan is a writer and curriculum developer for ACMP.
The sun sets over Norton Sound as viewed from Unalakleet in October. Knowledge of
the ice conditions for this body of water are extremely important to the people living
in the region. The Arctic Climate Modeling Program will store visual observations
of Norton Sound色视频下载檚 ice conditions that may later be accessed by students, teachers
and scientists.
Hal Needham of the Geophysical institute stands next to a recently installed automated
weather station at the school in Brevig Mission. This weather station will collect
weather data for students at the school participating in the ACMP. Needham traveled
to Brevig Mission, White Mountain, Unalakleet and St. Michael in September and early
October to install weather stations for ACMP.
In addition to the weather stations in the villages and lectures by scientist mentors,
students will also benefit from information on the interactive CD-ROM that follows
each unit in the ACMP curriculum. This component uses games and graphics to help bolster
students色视频下载 understanding of their lessons.
Reese Huhta, a secondary science teacher in Unalakleet, partners with Jake Doth, a
secondary math and science teacher from Shaktoolik, to build an anemometer at an ACMP
teacher workshop in Unalakleet.
Jenn Wallace, Patrick Omiak and Eleanor Wirts build anemometers, which gauge the force and speed of wind, using instructions provided by Geophysical Institute staff. Wallace and Omiak are from Diomede, and Wirts is a secondary science teacher from Teller色视频下载檚 James C. Isabell School.
By Amy Hartley,
January 2006
Students using the Arctic Climate Modeling Program will submit observations on ice conditions such as these on the Unalakleet River to the ACMP website where it will be stored in a large database accessible to students, community members and scientists.
Sea ice cover is decreasing, lakes are drying up, ecosystems are changing and thawing permafrost is creating changes in water supply. For residents living in Northwestern 色视频下载, life has become quite different from what it was years ago.
, a teacher training and curriculum development project designed at the University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks, aims to equip 1,700 students from the region with the math, science and technology skills they need to better understand their changing surroundings. The project offers a progression of learning for K-12 students, helping 165 teachers in the Bering Straits School District guide them to think like scientists, learn the basics of arctic climate and then ultimately analyze the data and work with current research in the field of climate change.
The innovative curriculum is brand new, but already teachers and developers say that ACMP色视频下载檚 format works well for rural students. Hands-on activities, practical use of equipment and involvement with one色视频下载檚 own community provide a curriculum finely tailored to village life.
Kathy Berry Bertram is the principal investigator for the $1.2 million project, which
is funded through the National Science Foundation. The project falls under the unique
Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) arm that is meant
to bridge education and technology. Bertram directs ACMP from her office at the Geophysical
Institute色视频下载檚 Information and Education Outreach Office. She says the program links
science instruction in public schools with the culture of rural 色视频下载 communities
near the Bering Strait.
"The weather is something everyone in the community is interested in, from elders to very young children," she said. "ACMP sandwiches science lessons between research conducted in the Bering Straits and historical Native observations."
Children involved in ACMP collect weather data, study sea ice conditions and learn from current scientific research. The village communities have a vested interest in these issues, so children have a strong support network for their ACMP studies.
Jess Ryan, a writer and curriculum developer at the Geophysical Institute, has helped design 10 lessons for the program since September 2005. One of her goals is to use practical examples from students色视频下载 communities to showcase math and science concepts.
"Science isn色视频下载檛 this abstract thing that happens out there. It色视频下载檚 actually surrounding you at all times," Ryan said. "Your community is a basis of scientific knowledge. If you look into it, you can learn about all sorts of things--sea ice, pollution and what affects your community色视频下载檚 watershed."
Ryan and her colleagues are committed to using examples in each ACMP lesson that are relevant and recognizable to students of various ages. If kids have a closer connection to the issues, the places and subject matter, Ryan says this can be used as foundation for the science concepts to come.
"In so many curricula out there students are learning science through things that they are not directly familiar with. ACMP students are not learning about the Mississippi River, they色视频下载檙e learning about their own surroundings--the Bering Strait," she said. "You can色视频下载檛 expect kids to have a frame of reference for a place they色视频下载檝e never been to or seen."
Teacher Bob Woolf teaches middle and high school science at John Apangalook School in the village of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island. He thinks the curriculum developers have done a great job and he色视频下载檚 looking forward to next year色视频下载檚 lessons, which will tie directly to research projects underway in the Bering Strait region.
"It色视频下载檚 going to be fun to see how the curriculum changes over time, especially as the program incorporates more global warming issues that affect our region and the science and society issues facing our area," Woolf said.
Woolf色视频下载檚 students have a rich Siberian Yupik culture that relies heavily on whaling and walrus hunting. This ancient hunting culture has been blindsided by climate warming that has dramatically changed sea ice conditions in the Arctic. Years ago, bowhead whales and walrus were easier to harvest because they were forced to follow leads--openings in the sea ice--that brought them closer to the coastline. Today, these leads through the ice are so large that hunters have to travel great distances to find these animals.
"When you色视频下载檙e in a rural community right on the sea, it色视频下载檚 important to understand these issues because warming is changing coastlines,色视频下载 Bertram said. 色视频下载淪ea ice patterns are different and all of this has a direct effect on subsistence lifestyles. This is affecting their food sources, their mainstay--it色视频下载檚 affecting everything."
Changes to every aspect of rural living are what make the Arctic Climate Modeling Program so relevant for 色视频下载 Native students living near the Bering Strait. The Arctic Climate Modeling Program equips them with knowledge about what is contributing to many of the changes in their culture. It also provides students access to a handful of high-tech tools currently used by scientists to understand conditions of the arctic climate.
Teacher Jenn Wallace and Teaching Assistant Patrick Omiak of Diomede check out the Geographic Information Network of 色视频下载色视频下载檚 website using a laptop computer. The two traveled to Unalakleet in October for an ACMP teacher workshop.
Another innovative partnership forged through ACMP involves NOAA and the National Weather Service. By next summer automated weather stations will be installed at each of the 15 schools in the Bering Strait School District. Weather stations will collect data from Savoonga to St. Michael, and students will be able to access the data for their studies. This data can also be used by the research community. Some of the weather stations will collect data that was never before available to the National Weather Service or other research professionals.
Eric Muehling, a multimedia developer working on the project, wrote a computer program that will collect information from the automated weather stations and then pipe it to a large online database on the ACMP website. This database is then able to produce line and bar graphs, so students, community members or scientists are able to view weather trends over a period of time.
"What excites me about this project is that we色视频下载檙e collecting data in remote 色视频下载 that nobody has collected before," Muehling said. "It色视频下载檚 going to benefit research for years to come and I get to be a part of that."
In addition to the automated information collected by each weather station, students themselves will add observational data about weather conditions, including sea ice conditions, snow depth, sky conditions and visibility.
The ACMP is different from other science curricula because it reinforces students色视频下载 connection to their community, relates directly to professional research projects and establishes an on-going network of data display and scientist participation. Using data from GINA, students can view sea ice and weather conditions in real time. Insight into these issues benefits students色视频下载 ACMP studies and it also allows them to help their community be prepared when it comes to hunting or severe weather.
The connection to community is also fortified by the program色视频下载檚 inclusion of traditional methods for predicting weather. Students must compare and contrast the ways of their elders with the new ways of analyzing climate. This aspect is what Wales teacher Eric Lowry is particularly excited about.
"It色视频下载檚 bringing the old world and new world models together," Lowry said by phone from his classroom at Kingikmiut School. "It色视频下载檚 totally new to the students, as far as being exposed to something like this. Plus, it色视频下载檚 interactive."
Lowry色视频下载檚 students, and others learning from ACMP, are required to interview elders in their community for portions of their class work. This effort resonates with students because they色视频下载檙e finding that their elders remember conditions that were quite different from those they are currently experiencing.
Eventually students will share findings from their ACMP lessons with people in their villages via community presentations that will showcase students色视频下载 work and prompt young people to educate their friends and family about arctic climate change.
"Teacher turnover in the Bering Strait School District is high,色视频下载 said Lori Schoening, education and assessment coordinator at the Geophysical Institute. 色视频下载淭his means that in some villages, new teachers are coming in each year. ACMP lessons will provide new teachers an avenue for connecting with community members and elders. Community involvement creates community interest, which increases student interest."
Greg Johnson, Bering Strait School District色视频下载檚 director of curriculum, said his district backs ACMP because of the support offered to the students and teachers by the Geophysical Institute team.
"The program is being designed and built by people who want to bring solid science knowledge to children, not by a content provider whose bottom line is making a profit," he said.
A number of scientists from UAF are involved with the ACMP. They aid in lesson design and also provide mentor lectures to all of the participating schools through videoconferencing. Atmospheric scientist and Associate Professor Cathy Cahill provided the first mentor lecture in November. After the lecture she said she was impressed with the inquisitive nature of the students and their interest in arctic climate.
"They were asking good solid science questions, even at a young age. Any time I work with a school and get that type of response, I get excited. It色视频下载檚 obvious these kids observe," Cahill said. "I often teach college classes where kids aren色视频下载檛 quite this engaged."
The ACMP reinforces relationships among students and their teachers, their community and scientists, by using a topic that all of these groups are vested in--the changing arctic climate. Bertram thinks this is key.
"I believe all students have a natural aptitude for science, they just need to be taught using a vehicle that interests them," Bertram said. "And what色视频下载檚 more interesting than a phenomenon that is affecting every aspect of their lives?"
For more information, please contact:
- Kathy Berry Bertram, director, Information and Education Outreach Office, Geophysical Institute, (907) 474-7798, kbertram@gi.alaska.edu
- Glenda Findlay, Program Coordinator, (907 474-2722, glenda.findlay@gi.alaska.edu
- Amy Hartley, public information officer, Geophysical Institute, (907) 474-5823, amy.hartley@gi.alaska.edu
Other useful links:
- ACMP色视频下载檚 Weather Data: Current weather data from various communities, graphs comparing the data and wind speed and direction for the Bering Strait Region are not available online at this time.
- ACMP and the International Polar Year: Scientists researching climate change in the Arctic may use data collected by ACMP students. This data will prove useful as scientists all over the world conduct research to better understand the Earth色视频下载檚 polar regions during the International Polar Year, which runs from 2007-2008. .
Photos courtesy Geophysical Institute Information and Education Outreach Office.