Nets were dragged along behind the boat and we were able to explore what lived in the estuary. Once out at sea we were lucky enough to see grey whales!
Yesterday we went on a boat trip from Newport in to the bay and also out in to the ocean. The boat is an educational boat used for taking primarily students out to learn about the marine environment. Nets were dragged along behind the boat and we were able to explore what lived in the estuary. Once out at sea we were lucky enough to see grey whales! The MBARI EARTH workshop is unique in many ways. First, there are lots of returning teachers who are completely invested in the purpose and who are actively involved in using, supporting and helping build the ‘program’. The premise of the workshop is to integrate teachers and scientists – to have scientists share their research and data with teachers, and in turn, for teachers to figure out how to bring the real time or near real time data to their students. The lessons and ideas that are created by the teachers are not grade level or subject based but open to all, and allow teachers to make modifications and additions based on their community. Yesterday, the first researcher was Rob Suryan who talked to us about some of his research on seabird oceanography, specifically the short tailed albatross. For me it was a great first talk - I love birds and so was immediately hooked and immediately realizing how little I know about these birds. Working collaboratively with Japanese researchers, they added telemetry to birds and watched their flight patterns over months, and in some cases years. While I could go in to details about how the parent albatross may travel thousands of miles from the nesting ground to go and hunt food (think nesting in Japan and hunting in the Aleutians), and of the additional focus of the research to try and help the species increase in number after it’s population was significantly decreased due to predation by humans, the specific tie in to the workshop was the data that Rob gave us. Using information from the satellite telemetry as well as Google Earth, we were able to track the flight patterns of an adult and juvenile bird, observing differences in their behavior. The photo below shows some of the data points -each red dot is each day. Incredible. Today we heard from two other researchers studying diverse marine topics based out of Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and tomorrow, two more, one speaking about the Japanese 2011 tsumami debris, and the other on ocean sound! On Thursday we work together in groups to design lessons that collaborate and emphasize the (near) real time data that we now have access to from these researchers, lessons that we can use in our classroom but that can also become part of the MBARI EARTH collective.
55F, windy, foggy, damp, 2 bald eagles on the beach, jellies, juvenile loon, dunes, sea grass, fabulous.
I made a conscious decision to sit on the seat F today so that as we flew into Portland I would hopefully see Mount Hood. Success! It was a clear beautiful day and Mount Hood was spectacular. A great start to my trip. It is amazing traveling and meeting people from all different places. Today when I landed in Portland airport I was to meet three people to travel with them to Newport. I realized when I was waiting for my baggage that I only had one person's phone number. I called him, Handy, and he told me to meet his wife by the United airlines baggage. Walking over there, the second person I asked turned out to be Cecelia, Handy's wife. I received a big hug. A few minutes later, Anna came back to join us from the car rental place. Second hug of the day. It made me smile that two strangers both hug me in greeting because we are meeting with the shared common goal to be part of the EARTH workshop. With the car rented, we begin to drive south of Portland and east towards the coast. An accident on the road towards Lincoln city persuaded us to take a reroute through the woods. It involved some gravel roads but a beautiful creek and a few miles later with only one turn around we ended up on South 101 headed to it was Cecelia's first time seeing the Pacific Ocean. Just spectacular. I have already seen birds that I would never see in New Mexico. I can't wait to spend more time exploring this place. Soon I will be on a plane headed up to the Oregon Coast..Newport to be exact...to meet up with teachers, other educators, and scientists for my first EARTH workshop with MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute). It's another incredible opportunity and I can't wait to learn more. I'm also excited to get a chance to explore the Oregon coast, see some northern bird species and explore tide pools. Here's a link to videos of some of the research conducted by MBARI.
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author: Helen Haskell
Archives
July 2015
Categories“This blog is not an official U.S. Department of State blog. The views and information presented are the
grantee’s own and do not represent the Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State.” |