Module III

(fresh silvers from the Swanson River provided us with great protein for the rest of our kayak trip this summer....water is a key component in our recreation choices)

MODULE III

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

I have learned that elevation is part of the components in determining what biome a landscape falls under. http://www.kidsknowit.com/interactive-educational-movies/free-online-movies.php?movie=biomes .  If you teach elementary try the link I have provided.  I also learned from the “On the Yukon River” video from Teacher Domain (http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/ean08_vid_yukonriver/ ) that the five of the last seven years of salmon runs have been below average.  As I have already allowed this course to open my mind to a subsistence way of life, I am learning to keep in mind that a bad salmon year would directly impact a student and his or her performance in school.  In western culture we are taught that nutrition is vital to success in school.  Well, if an entire village suffers an off year with a salmon run it is not like they can run to Wal-Mart to get calories.  I also learned from the “Living from the Land and the Sea” video http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/ean08_vid_denaina/ that using the size of the moon can aid in when to harvest resources.  I found that extremely fascinating because the only way this can occur is over many generations of a simple and holistic way of life.  I have learned that I am gaining a great deal of respect for Native Alaskan cultures.

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

I will use this week's resources to shape my lessons for my Geology class which starts next semester.  I will no doubt use http://www.earth.google.com/ so my students can see true pictures of how different land formations occur at plate boundaries.  I think I will also use the videos which I linked in my “Explain” section of the module to remind my Environmental Science students that cycles in nature directly relate to many Alaskans way of life.  I think they get so used to having several grocery stores that it is easy to lose site of that.  I know that I have not been keeping connected with the diverse ways of life in this enormous state we call Alaska.  Lastly, I will be using resources such as http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~conamer/ to have students look up other native cultures in the United States.  I grew up in Colorado so I was curious to know what times of native cultures used to exist there.  Students that are from Alaska could pick a state they may have visited and look at how people lived according the landscape and natural resources available.  I am finding out that that native ways of living are extremely fascinating.

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

I found the videos the most insightful.  Probably because I am a visual learner and just by seeing how the salmon were cut and hung, I think many of my “city attitude” students could learn from watching these videos instead of just listening to me talk about these things.  As I stated last week, I have found the Google earth a phenomenal resource.  Some of my classes have already begun to use this.  So, I am glad that Clay Good accidentally had it on last week’s module. 

(Little Raven Arapaho Chief used the lands of Colorado to survive http://www.accessgenealogy.com/)

3 classmate blogs

1) http://amysexplorealaskablog.blogspot.com/ has some cool links in her evaluate section on plate tectonics.  Check them out if you teach that.  Thanks Amy

2) http://mglehe.blogspot.com/2010/10/module-ii-weekly-3.html Martha you and me both can agree on how amazingly challenging it is to try and make sense out of the thing Einstein wrote and published.

3) http://www.scienceinalaska.blogspot.com/ Alicia makes a great point on how important water is to the entire nation.  It makes me think of the things people have done and are willing to do for water.