Misty Scevola's blog

Today is the day we present the lesson plans to the whole group. Most groups had PowerPoints to aid them in presentation. The site is:

http://www.mbari.org/earth/2008/schedule.htm

The lessons and activities are listed under Friday.

Of the 30 people there, we now have an admirable selection of lessons from this workshop. The activities are using RTD or are about current microbes and how they affect the world.

Today we divided into groups to try and look at what we had learned all week to make into lesson plans that could be useable by teachers, using the info we got. The intention is to make them into Real Time Data lesson plans, but not all the lectures were based on that. So some teachers did that and some used other info.

We worked in partners and worked through lunch and dinner, some working as late as 9:30pm.

Today we had a lecture on how to use the HOT DOG Data sets. HOT DOG is the Hawaiian Ocean Time series and Data Organization and Graphing Series. It is fairly complicated, but there are simplified instructions on an educational site...http://www.mbari.org/earth/2008/schedule.htm#Wednesday

go to Friday >look under the names of Stephanie and Becky > look at HOT Data

You have to know which cruise to look up and what kind of data you want.

We also had a presentation on Satellite imagery, and the many ways it is being used today.

Today was another day of learning, lectures, and tours. We had a speaker from MBARI speak on ESP's, Environmental Sample Processors. They collect data from biological samples remotely and through DNA isolation and PCR, can identify the species and send back the information to a lab. CMOP is acquiring one soon! The data from these is not as readily available as some of the data from other sites for teachers and students to use.

I am attending a C-MORE/MBARI EARTH Workshop this week. Everything is going well. All is very interesting and wonderful to meet such enthusiastic people. There are teachers here who have been to workshops for several years and those new like me. There are people from all over, including SMILE at OSU, Texas, Woodshole, North Carolina, Pittsburg, LA, etc.

Met Barbara Bruno from C-More today. She is here to talk to the K-12 director and higher ed director as well as help out at a Workshop in Corvallis. I am off to go there tomorrow. It is the Microbial Oceanography Workshop. I am quite excited and honored to get to go. I think it will enhance all that I am doing as well as let me be a representative for CMOP.

This whole week I have been looking at lesson plans on the internet, trying to figure out which ones were any good and which ones use Real time Data. Some say they use it, but it is old or doesn't work right.

Have found mostly ones that monitor weather data, but a couple have some measuring of chlorophyll or color of the ocean to indicate how much phytoplankton is in the water. The COOL classroom sites, CcMoos, from Gulf of Maine, and the Minnesota Beach monitoring program are all great.

Today I worked most of the day sorting out what I already looked at and taking notes so as to keep separate what websites I have visited. I am looking for sites using Real Time Data-looking for curricula that uses it in the classroom. It is far and few between.

I have spent most of the day looking at lesson plans and what is being taught using real data and ocean sciences. I am also keeping in mind what would be good support materials, and how to find them again, while I am looking all over the web.

As I come across materials, I find other wonderful resources for other courses I teach, and it gets me excited for what my classes will be next year...but only after a cup of iced coffee in the afternoon :0). It can be a long day reading all this on the web, not unlike doctorate students do everyday!

More to come! The picture is an ROV (Remote Operating Vehicle) that my students made and entered into the ROV competition this past spring.

As my second summer here, I am "refamiliarizing" myself as to how things work and where things are. There are many new faces and new parts of CMOP. My first day at the NSF meeting was a good insight into the mission of CMOP, and a look at what it will be.