Although not bird brains, we are putting our teaching noggins together.
I’m still waiting for students, but I guess school begins NEXT week.
East Greenland, northern California and the Hawaiian Islands sound worlds apart, yet have some basic similarities. Each are of volcanic origin, with some geothermal activity in the greater landscape and may have access to fresh water lakes close at hand. What can each locale study and compare? These were the questions Pierre and I considered as we visited and talked teaching. Many ideas came to mind as we looked around the village.
Both excited about bringing the life to life science, we looked for evidence of life. There is a glacially fed stream on the edge of town in Ittoqqortoormiit; there is a stream next to my school, which originates in snow melt from the mountains. Always considering Maggie’s Hawaiian classroom, I wondered if she had access to streams. Surely Hawaii has fresh water, but is it near school? It may not matter. If Maggie has access to ocean beaches, Pierre has both ocean and fresh water, and I have fresh water, we could compare invertebrates that inhabit different waters. By scouring the rocks that carpet the streambed or beach rocks, with cloth nets below to catch dislodged critters, the students in all three locations can try to find out what survives in that water.
This glacially fed stream might support invertebrates.
The study of Little auks has sent the gears within my brain spinning wildly. Brooding parent nests were marked and after birth, the chicks were removed and measured regularly. Several parameters were identified, data tables filled out, observations recorded, continuing until fledging occurs. This type of data collection can be done. Each classroom could obtain the same type of organism, if that is possible and conduct duplicate studies. Supply catalogues can be an easy source of mealworms, butterfly larvae, etc. However Greenland may not be able to have the same organisms delivered. It may be legal, but ecologically inappropriate, to deliver live specimens that may have a negative impact if released. As a biologist I know that it is unlikely that mealworms in the Arctic would cause a problem, but it is essential to teach children to consider the ramifications of those possibilities. So perhaps each group could study an available organism, still taking measurements throughout one or more of its life stages. Another parameter being studied dealt with stable isotope analysis of their feathers. Although that is far to involved to bring to a beginning biology classroom, the study of feathers can give a great deal of information about a bird. Are all feathers on a bird the same? Are there basic feathers that all birds have in common? How do Little auk feathers compare with the feathers of birds native to the other two geographic areas? Has stable isotope analysis been done on birds familiar to each of our student populations?
On a hike last week, a group of us watched an Arctic tern maneuver skillfully as it dove for food in the small stream we had crossed. It’s eating something, and that something is probably eating something smaller, so there may be large invertebrates or small aquatic vertebrates. Pierre went fishing in Walrus Bay a few days ago, catching 7 small (and UGLY) fish. Examining the stomach of one, he found a type of shrimp had become a last meal. If students were to bring in a few fish caught in a local waterway and dissect the stomach contents, we may all find out what is in the water. We might just find digested gunk too. These things are always good for a photograph. What is available to dissect in Greenland may be quite different than what is available on Maui, and may be altered again in California, but the reaction and faces of students may be the same. Then they will know if things are the same on the inside all over the planet.
This Arctic Tern found a meal right in front of us.
Someone had explained to me that it feels warmer in East Greenland because the air is dry. Is it dryer than in Chico? Is it dryer than on Maui? How can we test that? It was decided that we could just set out measured amounts of water in beakers (I saw standard beakers in the school in Ittoqqortoormiit) in the classrooms, and then watch. And wait. And measure. Which classroom will evaporate the water fastest? Will it make a difference if the sun shines on one classes and not another? What if its rainy somewhere? Students can come up with means to make the experiment "fair” for each location? At Kap Höegh, I was a bit distressed at first, when I observed mayonnaise, leftover soup, opened cans of tinned fish and pasta dishes left out on the counter for a few days to be eaten later. I was told, there is little bacterial action out here in this climate to break down food. It won’t go bad for a while. Is that true in Ittoqqortoormitt? Can we compare all three locations? That would be simple to do, if we can all get agar plates. Photographs sent through the internet can give each class a very good indication of the progress at each site. We can conduct an animal study. Dogs are everywhere in the village. Gulls and ravens can commonly be spotted. Once a location can be found where there are frequent sightings of a bird, monitoring of behavior can be conducted.
The village has no grass, no lawn, no trees. I am unsure whether this lack of vegetation is due to the climate, the rocky earth, or was eliminated historically by human activities. Is there invertebrate life in the soil? Are there worms, insects, microbes? Can it be tested? We could each pick one location at school and dig a hole to an agreed upon depth, and then 1) examine the soil profile and see if the soil can be categorized 2) sift the soil, sort by sizes and examine the contents under hand lenses 3) take a soil sample from 3 different depths and make a smear on agar plates
How different is each soil? What has caused the differences?
Our populations have different mixtures of ethnic heritage. In studying genetics, each classroom can come up with a list of common features in their own classroom, and can survey the other classrooms
These are the main ideas I call recall, that are based on life science curriculum standards. We also discussed physical science concepts related to sea ice salt content, different types of snow and the relative water content, wondering how to determine the height of the ice berg parked out in front of the village. Each discussion was geared to bring science into the classroom and get students out of their desks. Our goal will be to make connections and have students recognize their similarities and they become more aware of the uniqueness of their surroundings.
As we begin this oceanic collaboration, please consider having your classroom. My hope is that once a list of email addresses is grouped, one set of data with attached photos can go out and used by the other classes. I also plan to have my students begin some correspondence with Ittoqqortoormiit students. My students can work on their writing skills and science reporting, and Pierre’s can do the same.