FINAL PROJECT

                             (Alaska Coal Beds courtesy of bigcatenergy)

Hello fellow classmates of Explore Alaska.  This is a lesson I have put together for my final project.  I cannot find a way to put my PowerPoint on here.  If you would like it send me an email and I can shoot it your way. 

dadair@kpbsd.k12.ak.us

The other part of my final project is not very formal but something I definitely plan on doing.  At our next in-service I plan to show our entire staff the Teacher's Domain website and how I have been using it.  The great thing is that it is FREE!

Below you will find my lesson plan minus the PowerPoint.


LESSON PLAN FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE:
Coal and its' effects on Alaska and its' people and alternative energy options for Alaska

TOPIC: Coal and alternative methods as an energy source and its effects on the global and Alaskan ecosystem as well as appropriate alternatives to coal based electricity

STANDARDS ADDRESSED: Alaska Science Standard [10] SB2.1,  [11] SA3.1, [11] SC3.1, [11] SF1.1-1.3

OBJECTIVES:  Students should be able to:

1. explain what a hydrocarbon is
2. describe the different types of coal
3. describe the basic steps in a coal fired electrical generation power plant
4. list pros and cons of electric energy derived from burning coal
5. elaborate on how other countries are contributing to greenhouse gases and the ecological and political issue associated
6. give examples of alternative energy sources with pros and cons for each

 ANTICIPATORY SETTING: Open discussion with class on how we obtain electric power.  Brainstorm a list on the whiteboard.

STEP BY STEP PROCEDURES:  PowerPoint lecture on coal with the following resources embedded within the PowerPoint that were obtained from the Explore Alaska course as well as resources not from the course.

• America's Addiction to Coal
• Arctic Haze video
• China and Coal / Politics
• Contaminants in the Arctic food chain
• Microbes and Global Warming
• greenhouse online simulation
• simulation assignment (courtesy of Traci Radil)

 INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:  This portion will be done at the end of the PowerPoint with an assignment to be done on school laptops and put in my "dropbox"  As well as the individual assignment with the greenhouse online simulation.

ASSESSMENT:

• Formal assessment with textbook content exam on the chapter with coal and alternative fuels. 
• Completion of online greenhouse assignment with class discussion on what observations / what was learned from the assignment (list of things learned on the white board...completion grade on assignment and participation points with white board list)
• Completion of the assignment on the last slide of the PowerPoint (Answer the following questions in a word document or  a PowerPoint and put it in my dropbox)
• How do carbon emissions into the atmosphere effect the global ecosystem and the Alaskan tundra? (5 points)
• List at least 2 ways the Native peoples have aided Western science in learning about changes in Alaska's tundra and ecosystem (5 points)
• What are some alternative methods to generating electricity from coal?  Use your school laptop to find 3 alternative sources appropriate for Alaska with 2 pros and 2 cons for each. (15 points, 5 points for each alternative source with its' pros and cons)

THANK YOU FOR EVERYONE'S WONDERFUL BLOGS THIS SEMESTER.  I GOT A LOT OF RESOURCES AND IDEAS FROM EVERYONE DURING THE COURSE.  THANKS AGAIN AND HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS.  FRIDAY I WILL BE HEADING TO COSTA RICA!

                   (photo courtesy of chieforganizerblog)

Module IX

                          (Captain George Vancouver photo courtesy of wikipedia) 

Explain: What new learning or reflections have you taken from this module?
I learned about Captain George Vancouver and the areas he explored.  Since my history knowledge is limited, I had never heard of him until today.  What an adventourous life, no motors on the ships, only the wind, ocean currents and the stars.

                                         (photo courtesy of learner.org)


I learned that Antarctica contains approximately 70 percent of the Earth's freshwater.  I found this information in the cryoantarctica video.  I knew that most of Earth's freshwater is in the solid state, but for 70 percent of it to be at the south pole is quite interesting to me.  Did you know that Earth's magnetic south pole is actually by Earth's geographic north pole? If you didn't, check out this LINK

One thing that I used to know and was reminded of was continental rebound.  If you didn't see this in Clay's Module it is like pushing on a couch cushing (which would be Earth's crust) and then as you take the pushing pressure away from the cushion, or crust,  it rebounds or increases in elevation.

I have purchased the raffle tickets for the Tanana ice break up, but I had no idea how they determined what they considered "break up" until I watched the Youtube video Tanana River Breakup 2009

                                     (photo courtesy of moddedmustang)

Extend: How might you use this week's information and resources?  What other resources can you share?
I will be sharing the Alaska Native Knowledge Network with some of my native students.  I have a 17 year old young man who has decided to do his research paper on native culture because he said he has recently been feeling guilty that he is native but knows almost nothing about his heritage.  I will be sharing all of the links in Clay's cultural connections portion of module IX.

Another resource I will find useful  is the "A Drop in a Bucket" ( water on Earth) activity and the "1000 Snow Flakes" (Intro to Glaciers) activity in the ice for you section of the module.  We are just wrapping up a section on water in my Environmental Science course.  It will be interesting to see what they guess in those activities.

I will be saving the cryoantarctica video in my TD folder to use in my Geology course next sememster when we study ice sheets and glaciers.  I will also most definitely be using the interactive Documenting Glacial Change resource as well.  If you haven't checked it out it is very cool.  It can literally be used for K-12.

In addition to the resources above, I have saved and will be using the Fastest Glacier video from TD as well as the Earth System-Ice and Global Warming.  I must say that I have saved many resources from this module.  Below is a list of the other resources I think will be valuable to myself and my students.
If the Ice Melts - interactive
Fastest Glacier Video -5 min.
Melting Permafrost video - 4min

                (some aretes and cirques outside of Seward courtesy of myself, Dan Adair)


Evaluate: How useful, insightful or relevant are this weeks module's and information and resources?

I found this week's module very relevant for me because I saved many videos and online interactives in to my TD folder that I created.  As far as insightful, there wasn't much content that I hadn't already been exposed to.  But as far as usefulness this week was a great one for me.  I have already emailed some of the cultural links today with a few of my native students. 

I think we all have taken college courses we feel have been a complete waste of time, hopefully all of you have taken some resources out of some of the modules to use with students.  Even if it is something as simple as emailing your classes links or diagrams.  Hopefully you all are set up so you can email a specific class like I can.  They just implemented that last year for us and I use it all the time.




3 Colleagues

Alicia I felt the same way about the module IX.  I found many useful resources.

Kris, thanks for the Alaska's Cold Desert link.  I never thought to check out the Burea of Land Management's website.

Tommy I appreciate your feedback on the drop in a bucket activity.  It was helpful for me that you teach all ages because you encountered a wide range of problems depending on ages....even up to the parents with the calculations.  Thanks Tommy