Live from Antarctica 2
is an integrated multimedia project, which uses
on-line resources |
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print materials |
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live interactive video
and tape |
Each medium is used to contribute what it does best. Participants in
previous Passport to Knowledge projects report their students benefited
most when all three components were used in complementary ways. However,
flexibility in local implementation strategies and a wide range of choices
are also hallmarks of every PTK Module.
On-Line
The Internet breaks down the walls of the classroom and brings the world
and world-class researchers to any school, any place, any time.
- Field Journals and Biographies provide
behind-the-scenes and "beyond the screen" anecdotes which personalize
the scientific process in ways no textbook or broadcast TV program can
- My parents were in "business," and yet five of their six
children went into biology. I don't know why I am facinated by biology
and can't be bothered to balance my checkbook. I think people should strive
to find a career in which they do well, and more importantly, what they
like. - Carol Vleck
- On-line opportunities facilitate direct, individual interactions with
leading scientists and their support teams through Researcher
Q&A
- Images of Antarctica, weather reports,
ship's logs and project Updates will be available over the Internet
in close to real time: LFA 2 can be experienced as an expedition or "electronic
field trip", and as a learning experience with direct relevance to
the curriculum
- Teachers share curriculum ideas and implementation challenges with
other teachers via on-line mail lists, such as discuss-lfa
- Passport to Knowledge provides opportunities for meaningful participation
for those with access only to text and e-mail, as well as those with full
access to the World Wide Web
- For the first time, this Passport to Knowledge Module will provide
three customized pathways through the Live From Antarctica 2 Web site for
Teachers, Students
and "Parents & Public".
Print
This Guide and associated print materials provide all an educator needs
to implement this unique learning experience successfully in a science class,
or interdisciplinary team teaching environment. The Guide (also accessible
on-line) provides a teacher-friendly, easy-to-use introduction to the entire
project, and is co-packaged with copy masters of Student Worksheets and
other Blackline Masters to support the Activities, an original full-color
poster and various NSF publications designed to enhance the sense of taking
an actual field trip to Antarctica.
- Hands-on Activities simulate the most significant aspects of the research
seen on-camera or on-line, and illuminate key science concepts
- Engage
Review Electromagnetic Spectrum/ light wavelengths/nanometers with the
class.
Place chemical equation for photosynthesis on blackboard. Ask students
if they know what these symbols represent. Some students may easily recognize
symbols for water and carbon dioxide.
- Many Activities suggest adaptations beyond PTK's primary target of
middle school classes, up and down in grade level
- Many of the Activities also suggest ways to connect across the disciplines,
beyond science, as indicated by the icons to be found throughout this Guide.
math
social studies
language arts
art
computers
- Each activity retains the pedagogically-sound Engage, Explore, Explain,
Expand format of previous Passport to Knowledge Guides.
- Opening and Closing Activities help teachers create anticipatory set,
and reinforce and assess student learning outcomes at the conclusion of
the experience
- A Teacher's Kit provides more extensive materials, including this Guide
and its co-packaged materials, an oversized USGS map of Antarctica with
detail of the Palmer Peninsula, videos from NSF designed to orient field
teams visiting Antarctica, backgrounders on the continent from the first
Passport to Knowledge Live From Antarctica field trip, UV filter materials
to support Activity 3.2, 5 copies of NSF's "Your Stay at United States
Antarctic Program Stations", and 5 copies of the Childrens' Television
Workshop/NSF color brochure, "Antarctica." (To order the LFA
2 Teacher's Kit, click here.)
Video
Television provides the sights and sounds, the people, places and processes
which set a living context around the text.
- Personal portraits of the researchers and their lives humanize the
hard work of doing science and demystify high-tech careers
- Cutting-edge telecommunications connects students to remote or inaccessible
locations
- Graphics and dynamic visuals simplify complex concepts
- Live, two-way exchanges between students and researchers symbolize
the interactive possibilities universally available via the Internet
Teachers rate the live component of the Live From...videos highly, although
most teachers use them on tape: there's no contradiction. The excitement
of the original live interactions is maintained while teachers gain flexibility
by using the video on tapes.
How the Components work together -- an example
Activity 3.2 "The effects of UV Radiation on Plant Growth" invites
students to undertake experiments which directly parallel what researcher
Tad Day will be doing, on camera, at Stepping Stones Island during Program
3. Tad has worked with LFA 2 to create this Activity. His biography and
field work notes can be read on-line, where you can also find references
to his other publications on plants and UV-B. The combination of TV, the
printed hands-on Activities and on-line resources should make your students
truly feel as if they were "co-investigators" with a scientist
engaged in significant research in the real world. And if you have questions
about how best to implement the Activity, or have stories to share about
your students' successes or failures, you can post messages to discuss-lfa
and connect with fellow teachers geographically dispersed across the nation,
and even across the planet.
