The Genes Will Tell: Take it to the Lab!

The study of genetics and heredity has been a part of science curriculum for quite a while now. Biology teachers can use the experiments and discoveries of Gregor Mendel along with Darwin’s explanation of natural selection to teach students the inner workings of genetics and heredity. Although I find the subject fascinating, students may tire of doing endless homozygous and heterozygous crosses on worksheets. Some of these worksheets and “boring” lessons can be replaced by some of the unique activities featured in Joann’s Picks and on our Facebook and Twitter pages this week. For example, instead of figuring out what the offspring of two pea plants will look like, students can learn the same concepts by working out crosses between characters in the Harry Potter books! If students aren’t excited about figuring out the phenotypes and genotypes of real animals, maybe they would learn better with Dragon Genetics. Joann will be featuring many more fun resources like this throughout the week.

With today’s technology and a much more detailed understanding of DNA and the human genome, students can go beyond punnet squares and Mendelian genetics to actually work with DNA. This is possible, even for classes with limited lab supplies. Movies and television shows are full of crimes and medical mysteries being solved with DNA analysis. What if our students had a chance work with DNA and learn how to use it to solve a mystery? Here is a sampling of resources that can help you do just that. Most of these activities were written for high school students, but some middle school clsasses could use them also.

Students can extract DNA from living organisms found in their own kitchens (and I’m not talking about that moldy bread in the pantry!). There are some well-written and easy to follow lab activities on the Gateway to help your students extract DNA from different fruits (Fruitful DNA Extraction) or an onion (Isolation of DNA from an Onion). This is a neat opportunity to see and even feel a real sample of DNA.

The shows on TV aren’t pinning crimes on produce, though, and we don’t have a crime scene with DNA evidence for our students to collect. The next best thing we can do on a low budget is a computer simulation that allows students to conduct a virtual experiment. PBS has a nice simulation to supplement a NOVA program. This simulation, Create a DNA Fingerprint, requires Shockwave, which is a free download from Adobe. This is an online crime-solving activity where students get first hand experience with cutting edge lab work without the expense of all the lab equipment. By the end of the experiment, the students have created a DNA fingerprint to compare to all the suspects. I recommend trying the lab ahead of time. I got the right culprit the first time!

One of the techniques in the above simulation is called electrophoresis, an important step in the process of creating a DNA fingerprint. If you are lucky enough to have a very well-stocked biology lab, you could do activities like Extracting and Analyzing Our Own DNA from the University of Arizona. These activities allow high school students to extract and analyze their own DNA with agarose gel electrophoresis, along with other labs. The activities culminate with a case study of Harris hawks in the southwest United States. If you want to do a simple activity with electrophoresis using household supplies, try building an electrophoresis chamber from The Gene Hunters. Students will have fun doing some of these crime-solving techniques they see on TV.

A while ago, we featured resources about the Russian Revolution in our columns. I found a neat connection to this topic as I was searching the Gateway for genetics activities. Recovering the Romanovs is an introduction to a genetics unit using the Romanov family. Students study the way scientists can use the link between DNA and hemophilia to separate the real Romanovs from the imposters. If your students studied the Russian Revolution, this would be a really neat cross-curricular connection.

~Peggy's Corner - 5/6/2011~

How Do Your Genes Fit?

One of the favorite pastimes of my parents and in-laws is to scrutinize my children and remark how each child resembles their respective sides of the family. My parents feel strongly that their grandchildren take after “our side” of the family in looks and temperament, while my in-laws feel equally firm that the children are much more like my husband and “their side”. I’m sure this same scenario is played out ad naseum in families worldwide; one wonders what happens in families with less-than attractive children.

Aside from providing families with endless hours of entertainment and debate, genetics and heredity are an important part of every student’s science education. Our genes are like little blueprints that provide instructions to our bodies and determine our physical traits. Humans, for example, have between 20,000-25,000 genes. Most organisms encode their genes on long strings of DNA called chromosomes, and there are hundreds (or sometimes thousands) of genes in each chromosome. In school, students learn about genes and patterns of inheritance by using Punnett Squares or other diagrams to help predict the likelihood of certain traits being passed down from parents to offspring. It’s a nice, visual way of keeping track of dominant and recessive traits, and of making sense of what can initially be intimidating material to learn.

The study of genetics has many applications for K-12 students. At the elementary level, kids study genetics to help understand where we come from, why we look the way we do, and why certain traits are inherent in some people and not others. For older students, learning about genetics helps them to explore concepts such as the selective breeding of animals and crops to promote healthier stock and medical research to help eradicate certain diseases and conditions. When I was in school, our genetics curriculum pretty much focused on Mendel’s work with cross-breeding selective strains of peas. While this material is still relevant, newer materials can offer additional ways to illustrate inherited traits in a fun way. This week I’ve selected three resources on genetics for various grade levels, each with a particularly fun or interesting twist that should appeal to kids. As always, I’ll be featuring several new resources each day on this topic throughout the week on our Facebook and Twitter pages, so please be sure to check in frequently.

Traits Bingo
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-04-28.7435891309
Subjects: Genetics
Grade: 3-12
In this activity, students learn about genetics as they play a Bingo game where they inventory their own inherited traits. One of the nice things about this resource is that it is available in both English and Spanish. This resource is a product of the Genetic Science Learning Center at the University of Utah, which offers online activities, labs, experiments, and workshops for students, teens, and all others curious about genetics.


Bikini Bottom Genetics
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-04-28.2707819448
Subjects: Genetics
Grade: 8-12
What happens when SpongeBob SquarePants marries SpongeSusie RoundPants? Students apply their knowledge of genetics to complete this worksheet to reveal what kinds of traits the respective offspring of SpongeBob, Squidward, Mr. Krabbs, and Patrick might have. This resource was produced by The Science Spot, a Web site designed by 8th grade science teacher Tracy Trimpe. The site offers science lessons, news, puzzles, teaching tips, and other materials.


Genetic Phenotypes of the Superheroes
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-04-27.6976599398
Subject: Genetics
Grade: 7-9
Genetic differences exist in us all. In this lesson, students learn about phenotypes and genotypes, and that both the environment and our genotypes interact to make us what we are. Students will each research a male and female superhero and develop a list of physical traits and characteristics that these superheroes have in common, and also those unique to that individual. Students will then simulate a genetic cross of their two superheroes. This lesson is offered by TeachersFirst, which provides K-12 lesson plans and professional development resources for teachers. All materials on the site are reviewed by teachers.

~Joann's Picks - 5/6/2011~

Just Wild About Harry

It’s been nearly 14 years since the publication of the first Harry Potter book. The first generation of Potter fans has now likely completed college, having grown up alongside the books’ protagonists that they’ve grown to love. Although sales of the Harry Potter series have slowed since the publication of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, in 2007, a new crop of readers continue to discover the series each year. According to Scholastic, the American publisher of the Harry Potter series, there are currently 143 million copies of Potter books in print in the U.S., and 400 million copies worldwide. Kids in high school and middle school still tell me on a fairly regular basis that they are trying to wean themselves off the series, and ask for alternative book recommendations. If my town is a literary barometer of any kind, then the series is still in brisk demand: our public and school libraries regularly replace existing copies of the Potter series, due to constant use.

One of the beauties of the Potter books is that they speak to students without moralizing or condescension. There are many themes running throughout the series, but the ones that seem to resonate the most with students include power, survival, fitting in, good versus evil, and oppression. These themes reflect what many students – in the throes of adolescence – experience daily in their own lives to some degree. Students are naturally interested in situations that they can relate to, and are likely to be more vested in lessons where they feel some emotional or intellectual connection. While using the books in English Language Arts classes is a natural choice, there’s no reason to limit the use of the novels exclusively to these classrooms. Introducing Harry Potter-themed lessons across the curriculum can be a fun and interesting way to interject something unexpected in a seemingly straightforward lesson, and perhaps invigorate some of the topics that students often find less than interesting.

My picks this week all make innovative use of Harry Potter characters and events across the curriculum. I’ll be featuring many more Harry Potter-themed lessons, activities, and other resources for a variety of ages and subjects throughout the week on our Facebook and Twitter pages, so please be sure to visit those pages regularly. Lots of great ideas, and no wands necessary.

Harry Potter Math Stories
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-02-27.7159760155
Subjects: Math
Grade: 1-3
These addition and simple multiplication word problems use characters and situations from the Harry Potter novels. An answer sheet is provided. This resource was produced by MathStories, a math site devoted to helping students in grades 1-6 boost their math critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Introduction to Primary and Secondary Sources
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/32048
Subject: Research skills
Grade: 4-8
What if you had the scrap of paper on which J.K. Rowling wrote the beginnings of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone? In this lesson, students pretend that they are doing research for a biography of the author J.K. Rowling. They will examine examples of sources of information and decide which are primary sources and which are secondary sources. This will give students an introduction to primary and secondary sources in a familiar context, and prepare them for further study. This lesson was published by Florida Memory, an online project of the State Library & Archives of Florida. In addition to lesson plans and other educational resources, the site also offers interactive exhibits, photo collections, and documents of Florida history.

Genetic Traits in Harry Potter
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2011-02-27.7244414478
Subjects: Biology, Life Science
Grade: 7-11
In this lesson, students review or learn genetic terms and concepts, such as DNA, chromosome, gene, allele, homozygous, heterozygous, recessive and dominant genes, genotype, phenotype, complex traits, Mendelian inheritance, and Punnett Square; and apply them in identifying possible inheritance patterns and genotypes of magical ability demonstrated by several characters in the Harry Potter series. This lesson was produced by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health. NLM is the world’s largest medical library, and offers a plethora of materials, information, and research services in all areas of biomedicine and health care.

~Joann's Picks - 3/10/2011~

Changing up Your Lessons this Fall

Autumn is a time of great change and transformation in nature. As a child, I remember the awe I felt watching leaves fall and crunching across them as I walked on the sidewalk. As an adult, I am still in awe of the sights and smells of the season (and I STILL want to jump in the huge pile of leaves, even if it means I’ll have to rake them up again). This week, Joann and I collected resources that tap into this childhood fascination of the changes occurring in nature to teach lessons in many different subject areas.

You can bring these autumn changes into your classroom by using leaves to teach science lessons about photosynthesis, why leaves change colors in the fall, and more. Leaves can also be used in language lessons, art projects, and even math. Look at Photosynthesis: Don’t “Leaf” out Fall’s Most Important Lesson, a collection of activities from Education World for some fun interdisciplinary examples. There is a detailed description of photosynthesis and an explanation of the changing colors in fall, including an easy-to-read version of the explanation for younger students.

Colors in the Leaves describes a great autumn science experiment for all ages. In this lab, students discover why leaves change colors in the fall and why they start out green. It is an inquiry-based science lab using chromatography to separate the colors found in leaves (a spinach leaf in this case). The author of the activity did the lesson with students as young as first grade, but it would be interesting and informative through high school, as the students are learning more about photosynthesis and chromatography. Younger students would need more supervision, since there is acetone and rubbing alcohol involved, but the students wouldn’t need to touch any of the chemicals to benefit from the experiment.

Discussions from these science lessons might lead into a broader discussion of changing seasons. National Geographic Xpeditions has some lessons and activities to help your students explore this concept. Seasons is also a good primary level introduction to why there are different seasons. Students get to model the earth and sun with an orange and a flashlight, a demonstration I remember well from my school days. Sometimes it’s hard to beat an actual physical model of how things work.

Studying butterflies and moths is a popular activity to bring nature into the classroom for a quick and interesting view into life cycles. Metamorphosis is an amazing process for students to witness first hand. There are lots of different lesson plans available online, and it’s probably a good idea to read a few to choose the best parts for your class. Creepy Caterpillars to Beautiful Butterflies is a good second grade example to get you started. As I searched for more examples of this type of activity, I discovered that many metamorphosis lessons use the book, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle. I came across some very interesting vocabulary discussions regarding cocoons vs. chrysalises from The Butterfly House in St. Louis, “Butterflies emerge from chrysalises, moths emerge from cocoons.” You may or may not know this fact already, but the book has a butterfly popping out of a cocoon, which my 1st grader promptly corrected, so I should have been more prepared! Other recommended and more realistic metamorphosis books are “Waiting for Wings” by Lois Ehlert or “Butterfly House” by Eve Bunting.

As a primary teacher who plans for all the subjects or a secondary teacher that works in a team to plan and present units, you may be looking for thematic units to tie students’ learning together in many areas. Frogs: A Thematic Unit is a good example of how one teacher used the metamorphosis of frogs as a theme to teach many different subjects. When you implement a thematic unit, you are still teaching the same important math and English concepts you always would while you keep it interesting by connecting your subjects to one theme. If you want more frog activities and information to supplement your thematic unit, try the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant page. I need to try to make the origami frog!

Enjoy this time of change in your classroom. By this time in the year, hopefully you are starting to see some positive changes in your students as they begin to learn and grow in your class. (You might even be able to call it a student metamorphosis!) If you have any other autumn teaching ideas or insights, please share. I would love to hear how these types of lessons have gone in your classroom. We will be doing the leaf chromatography experiment soon, and we’ll post the results on the Gateway Facebook and Twitter pages.

~Peggy's Corner - 10/7/2010~

Transformers

A few weeks ago, my third grader stopped in her tracks, flung her arms far apart, and breathed deeply. Nonplussed, I stopped and asked her what she was doing.

“Remembering the way summer smells,” she said.

I sniffed the air tentatively, but all I could really smell was car exhaust. We were in the middle of a plaza parking lot, after all.

I had forgotten this little scenario until this morning, when we awakened to temperatures in the 40s. As we waited for the school bus, my daughter raised her chin into the wind and announced that it now smelled like fall. “But I still remember how summer smells,” she said.

We live in New England, where summers are fleeting and – for me, anyway – fall arrives much too quickly. The leaves are changing color, pumpkins have appeared on doorsteps, and I can’t seem to keep my hands off a local farm’s seasonal cider donuts. Like spring, autumn seems to be a season when transformations are most noticeable. Plants go dormant, hornet colonies die off, and caterpillars begin constructing chrysalids. The world around us changes continuously via weather, seasons, human-induced development, natural disasters, and so forth. Many examples of transformation are all around us all the time, if we slow down to look.

The concept of metamorphosis has a long and rich tradition. Classic horror stories and legends depict werewolves, vampires, and various types of shapeshifters, all capable of transforming themselves into other guises. Around the year 8 A.D., Ovid published The Metamorphosis, which describes various tales of transformation. Although Ovid’s work is still widely read in academic circles, most people are more familiar with Kafka’s Metamorphosis story of Gregor Samsa, a hardworking salesman who inexplicably awakens one morning as a large insect. While his physical transformation is pronounced, his family too undergoes a metamorphosis in the story, prompting the reader to ask “what is human?”

Metamorphosis is most often demonstrated in the classroom via the lifecycles of various creatures, such as mealworms, butterflies, and frogs. The ability to view these species’ dramatic changes in a relatively short period of time is a fabulous way to illustrate the concept of transformation to students. My picks this week focus on some aspect of metamorphosis, whether it occurs in life science, literature, visual art, or elsewhere. I will be featuring many more resources for all ages throughout the week on our Facebook and Twitter pages, so please be sure to check in to view them.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Subjects: Literature, Writing
Grade: 9-10
In this lesson, students analyze the many interrelated literary elements and universal themes in Kafka’s seminal short story. Students are asked to delve much deeper into the story’s symbolism beyond Gregor’s literal transformation into a bug as they examine the effects of society, family, stress, and environment on the characters. This lesson is offered by LEARN NC, a program of UNC Chapel Hill School of Education that provides lesson plans, professional development, and other resources to support teachers. The lesson is aligned to North Carolina state standards.

Claymation Metamorphosis
Subjects: Art, Life science
Grade: 5-12
Like Gumby, but educational! This lesson provides an introduction to the basics of Claymation and media production using a familiar scientific theme — the metamorphosis of a butterfly. This lesson is produced by Blick Art Materials, an art supply company that also offers lesson plans and video workshops for teachers. The lesson is aligned to national standards.

How a Caterpillar Becomes a Butterfly
Subjects: Life science
Grade: K-1
This activity introduces young students to the life cycle of a butterfly. Students role play and draw the various stages that a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly. Students also listen to and discuss Eric Carle’s classic book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This lesson is offered by the Educators Reference Desk, a repository of lesson plans, resource guides, and AskERIC Q&A archives from the Information Institute of Syracuse at Syracuse University.

~Joann's Picks - 10/7/2010~

A Mighty Wind

A confession: I’m sort of a weather junkie.

Much to the annoyance of my children, I can happily watch The Weather Channel for hours on end.

“It’s the same thing over and over,” says my son. “It’s boring.”

“They’re not even showing our weather!” my daughter splutters. I tell her that even though we’re not presently in Barcelona, I still care about their weather.

I’m not exactly sure why I like watching weather-related events so much, but I do. Maybe it’s a reminder that, even in the 21st century where we’ve bent so many aspects of the natural world to our collective human will, the forces of nature remain a power that can’t always be controlled despite our best efforts. It truly is bigger than us.

It’s currently hurricane season, which in the Atlantic lasts from June 1 through November 30. In the Eastern Pacific, the season starts a bit earlier, on May 15. The term “hurricane” is actually a regional term given to tropical cyclones that occur in the Atlantic, the Northeast Pacific, and the Southeast Pacific oceans. The term “typhoon” is given to those tropical cyclones that occur in the Northwest Pacific, while “tropical cyclone” is used for just about everywhere else. They are mighty storms, born from a recipe of warm ocean water, warm moist air, and areas of low air pressure. To be classified as a hurricane, the storm must have winds of at least 74 miles per hour, while the strongest storms – Category 5 hurricanes – have winds that reach 156 miles per hour and above.

Hurricanes can obviously wreak terrible destruction; New Orleans and other areas affected by Hurricane Katrina five years ago are still struggling to recover from the devastation. Fortunately, most hurricanes are more benign storms, and understanding the science behind them is a fascinating melding of earth science and physics. My picks this week all focus on hurricane resources, and we’ll be featuring many more lessons, activities, and information during the week on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Surge of the Storm
Subjects: Earth Science, Measurement, Meteorology, Physical sciences
Grade: 5-12
In this hands-on activity, students investigate how a hurricane’s storm surge affects the low-lying areas of coastal regions. Students determine the distance inland that the storm surge will reach and simulate the destructive force of a storm surge. This lesson was created by SEACOORA (Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association), which gathers coastal and ocean observing data and information in the Southeast United States. They offer lesson plans and activities, as well as tons of information about coastal areas and the ocean. Lessons are aligned to national education standards.

Researching Hurricanes with Technology
Subjects: Earth science, Meteorology, Physical sciences
Grade: 9-12
In this lesson, students learn about the formation, power, and history of hurricanes. The lesson also integrates Internet research and the use of several different types of technology. This lesson is offered by ALEX, a project of the Alabama Learning Exchange, an award-winning education portal that provides lesson plans, education-related podcasts, best practices, and Alabama professional development activities. Lessons are aligned to Alabama Content Standards.

Hurricane!
Subjects: Earth science, Meteorology
Grade: 6-8
Students in this hands-on activity discover the effects of wind speed and water depth on the height of waves during a hurricane. The activity includes adaptations for older students, discussion questions, suggested readings and extension activities, a grading rubric, and more. This lesson is offered by Discovery Education, which provides digital resources to schools and homes with the goal of making educators more effective, increasing student achievement, and connecting classrooms and families to a world of learning. The activity is aligned to McREL standards.


~Joann's Picks - 9/25/2010~

It's all in the map

The resources Joann picked this week are fun examples of how to include interactive maps in your classroom. If you haven’t checked them out yet, please do. Really…who hasn’t wondered where they would end up if they tunneled through the earth? All three resources would be great for a geography classroom, and an interactive piracy map could tie in well in a history class or even an English class if you are reading about pirates.

In last week’s post about the oil spill in The Gulf of Mexico, I talked about a tool created for Google Earth to compare the size of the spill to metropolitan areas. This creative use of Google Earth helps put context to the actual size of the disaster. Most of us are pretty familiar with the area around where we live, but not all of us have been out in the ocean off the coast of Louisiana.

Another interesting use of Google Earth is a project by Thomas J. Petra called Real-World Math. He has a whole collection of lessons and group projects that use Google Earth to help introduce and clarify many traditional and non-traditional math topics. It’s neat to have students figure out the volume of a pyramid in class, and it works even better if you can bring in pyramids for them to measure. With Google Earth, you can take it to the next level. Students can use the measurement tool to actually measure the Great Pyramids in Egypt. If only we could afford that field trip…

Many of the resources that I found in my Gateway search focused purely on geography, like map puzzles from Owl and Mouse Software. These puzzles allow students to manipulate maps, making the concepts seem a little more real. Maps truly are tools for adventure. National Geographic has created some fun games to help students hone their map skills. Check out the games here. Another fun game was brought to my attention by another Twitter user, @blairteach. This game tests your knowledge of European cities by challenging you to land a plane as close as possible to that city. Try it for yourself to see how much European geography you know. Let’s just say that I could use a little work! Maybe a trip to Europe is in order.

Since the study of maps is generally limited to geography, it was refreshing to see some resources that combined the study of maps with other subjects. I found some on The Gateway that could easily be implemented into a history or science classroom.

History is often intertwined with the geography in which it takes place. The following two tools take advantage of that fact to bring interactive mapping into the history classroom. This interactive conflict map allows you to view all the conflicts and Nobel peace prize nominations during the 20th century. Shipwreck Central allows students to search for shipwrecks around the world and to view video clips of some of the world's most famous shipwreck sites.

If you are a science teacher, there are plenty of ways you can work in interactive maps and tracking tools to your lessons. A multimedia presentation from National Geographic and iExplore about the Galapagos Islands is a very good introduction to an ecology or evolution unit. Google Earth also offers some different animal tracking tools that are a good addition to a biology classroom. I know one class that has been tracking falcons and owls all year with a nest cam. The kids have a great time learning what the birds do on a day to day basis. They have also viewed maps and live cameras of the space shuttle and the International Space Station. These are all easy ways to bring real-world context to things you are teaching in class.

If nothing else, look at some of these cool tools for yourself. I certainly had fun figuring out what they could do, and I am excited to see how we can successfully bring the tools into the classroom.

Teachable Moment: The Gulf of Mexico oil spill

I read a tweet the other day that really got me thinking about what we do as teachers and how we make learning relevant to students’ lives. It was short and to the point. “Gulf Oil Spill…a teachable moment.” It can be a teachable moment, so how are we going to make the most of it? There are important things like this happening in our world every day that shape and mold our students. With a little creativity, we can use these events to make learning more relevant and authentic. There is just something special when we can anchor our teaching to things happening around us right now. Students will see footage on TV, articles in newspapers, and discussions on the Internet as the problems surrounding fishermen who are completely out of work during the crisis and the amount of money it will take to fix the leak. Math teachers can create all different kinds of problems with the numbers in the news about things like the rate of they are learning about it in class. It’s real.

There are many issues surrounding the Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Social Studies teachers might want to focus on the history of oil transport and spills, or the history and politics of offshore drilling. Science teachers have lots of options for biology and chemistry activities related to oil, wildlife, and oil-related problems in the ocean and on shore. Economics teachers can explore the leak, the size of the slick, and the amount of time it takes to clean each animal.

Joann discussed some excellent resources available on The Gateway on the topic of oil spills. Although most of them are intended for students in 6th-12th grades, I worked with a creative kindergarten teacher who used some of them to create a very fun and meaningful day of learning about oil spills for his class. I was amazed at the interest level in these young kids and how they truly rose to a challenge when they were given the chance. They were having so much fun making their own oil slicks and experimenting with different tools to clean them, I think most of them forgot they were learning! Between Joann’s resources and some other online tools, you should be able to easily take advantage of this teachable moment like he did.

To truly understand the impact of this oil leak, students need to be able to see what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico. There is a huge amount of pictures and videos you can find on the web. There is a very nice set of pictures from the Boston Globe with detailed captions. I am working on using online photos and videos to create an Animoto movie that you can use as an introduction to an oil spill lesson. I will post the link on our Facebook and Twitter pages. There is also a nice video on CNN that shows the speed of the leaking oil with an underwater camera. Kudos to Mr. Kruckewitt for leading me to so many great pictures! Here is the link to the Animoto movie.

Now that the students have seen pictures of the disaster, how to we get them to understand the sheer size of the mess it is creating? Paul Radamacher created a tool with Google Earth that compares the spill to different metropolitan areas. You can even type in your own city, and it will superimpose an outline of the spill over it. I thought it was a really neat tool, since students can relate the size to an area they know.

The kindergarteners were especially excited to learn that hair was being used to aid in the cleanup by absorbing the oil. They experimented by cleaning up their own oil slicks with wool, and it worked really well. They are collecting pet in their classroom to send to a company that uses the hair to sop up excess oil. Some of the kids are even holding a bake sale to raise money for the cleanup, and to collect more pet hair. I love the social action in these little kids. Look at LearningToGive.org for more ideas for including social action lessons in world topics like this.

I know some of you are finishing up your school year already, and some of us have a little time left. We are just finishing some standardized testing, so hands-on activities like this are a very welcome addition to the classroom. I hope some of these resources will be useful to you. As always, please let us know what you think as we continue the discussion on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

~Peggy's Corner - 5/22/2010~

The Price of Oil

Offshore oil drilling has long been a controversial topic, and the debate ratcheted up a notch when a BP offshore drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last month. At this writing, BP has installed a tube to siphon some of the 210,000 gallons of crude oil that had been spewing into the Gulf each day.

The United States is by far the leading consumer of oil and petroleum products in the world. In 2008, the US consumed about 950 gallons of oil per person. Despite all the discussion over the years of renewable sources of energy, we are still heavily dependent on oil. My picks this week focus on the environmental, social, and economic effects of oil dependency. Many lessons discuss the ecological damage that occurs with each oil spill, as well as the international politics of oil production and consumption. It’s easy, then, for some students to conclude that we should simply reduce our reliance on oil. But what would be the ramifications of drastically reducing our oil consumption? How would we, as a nation and as individuals, fare if there was a sudden shortage of oil? Students need to be able to view both sides of the issue, and wrestle with the complexities presented by the realities of the continued reliance on oil by the US.

The Drill on the Spill: Learning About the Gulf Oil Leak in the Lab
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-05-11.8640498375
Subjects: Ecology, Life Sciences, Economics
Grade: 6-12
In this lesson, students discuss the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and related cleanup efforts. They conduct experiments to learn more about the effects of oil spills, and apply their findings to the coastal communities in the gulf region. Students also explore the economic and political impacts of the oil spill, as well as the technological progress to date toward stopping the leak. This lesson is from The New York Times Learning Network, which offers free lesson plans and other educational materials based on content that appears in the newspaper. Lessons are aligned to national content standards.

Oil Slick Emergency
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-05-11.9056093621
Subjects: Ecology, Life Sciences
Grade: 9-12
In this lesson, students determine how best to address an oil slick through either recovery, removal, or dispersion. Not all oil slicks respond to the same treatment, so students assume various role-play guises as an area committee to learn what types of technologies are available for cleaning up the spill. This lesson is a product of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. NOAA’s education service offers online case studies, lesson plans, graphics, discovery kits, and other materials that cover ocean-related science topics.

Oil + Water + Wildlife = A Real Mess
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-05-14.0882216341
Subjects: Ecology, Science, Technology
Grade: 6-8
In 2007, World Without Oil ran an online simulation for students called Oil Crisis: Get Into the Game, where students responded to events caused by a global oil shortage. Although the simulation is over, the lessons still have great relevance. In this lesson, students complete an experiment to show the effects of oil on different animals. What’s neat about this resource is that you can see how your individual state’s standards are addressed in this particular lesson by clicking on the Standards tab and using the pull-down menu.

~Joann's Picks - 5/22/2010~