#TLAP "Field Trip" Leaving Wales on a Jet Plane...or a Bomber
In AP Environmental Science we were studying mining and the negative impacts mining has on an ecosystem. I thought it was relevant to discuss the current proposed Penokee-Gogebic Mining Project in Wisconsin. Below you will find a link that contains information about the project.
http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/wisconsin/mining-in-the-penokee-gogebic-range-whats-at-risk.xml
I had no idea how I was going to bring this topic to life. I had something else planned for the day, but it wasn't FUN, it wasn't engaging, and I wasn't going to enjoy it, so I scratched that idea and said "What would my #tlap friends do?"
And then the lesson came to life. Google Earth was already installed on my laptop. We would be taking a field trip to the site itself during the class period! We would have just enough time to explore and make it back before the bell rang! As students arrived at my door for class that morning, I asked them if they brought their "barf bags" that they were going to need them. Students looked at me and smiled thinking I was crazy. I had previously dressed up as a praying mantis, so they knew that I had tricks up my sleeve. As one student walked up to the classroom with his lunch bag in hand, I suggested he take his lunch out of the bag because he might get sick in it. They also asked if we were watching a movie that was going to make us sick, because we had seen one on a nuclear meltdown and there were some gruesome parts that they remember. Typically by third period, students are hungry and start munching on their lunches. Today I suggested that they hold off.
I started out class with a short video clip on mountain top mining. It described the process and talked about the mining project and it's impact on Appalachia. Students found the video interesting because it explained the viewpoints of the people and the mining company. You could tell the entire time that they were waiting in anticipation of what was going to come next.
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/leveling_appalachia_the_legacy_of_mountaintop_removal_mining/2198/
Fortunately for myself, I had a student in each class who has a family member that is a flight attendant. I asked students to arrange their desks in straight rows splitting with an aisle down the middle. A student from each class walked the entire class through safety procedures and safety checks. I asked "as the pilot" for students to send one last text if they needed to, and to turn off and stow away their electronic devices. This caused some confusion with the current safety regulations on planes that I will clarify ahead of time for the next group.
We took off and we flew to northern Wisconsin to explore this area. Our concern was geographically to check out what the area consisted of. We wanted to predict potentially what ecological impact there could be from the mining. Once we landed in the area I decided it was time do a bit more exploration using the flight simulator feature of Google Earth. This is something I suggest practicing if you want to impress your students. I had a 5 min trial run before the class period started and I didn't have it quite down yet. The flight was anything, but smooth! I happened to walk away from the controls for a bit (took my hands off the laptop and went to the board) and the plane just rolled over in circles getting the students a little sick. After all, I did ask them to bring their barf bags. We traced some of the rivers, explored how close to Lake Superior that we were, and made the claim that the mine could be damaging to the area. While up there, we also took a tour of the Apostle Islands because some students had never been there before. Fortunately, third hour returned home safely before the bell rang...fourth hour...the plane may have crashed. I would suggest training a co-pilot so that when you do this activity in class you can have him/her take over so that you can do the teaching and questioning. It was a lot to do both at once.
This was one of the many lessons students talked about for the rest of the year, and they always mentioned the term field trip. Hopefully next year, I'll have photographs of this experience.
http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/wisconsin/mining-in-the-penokee-gogebic-range-whats-at-risk.xml
I had no idea how I was going to bring this topic to life. I had something else planned for the day, but it wasn't FUN, it wasn't engaging, and I wasn't going to enjoy it, so I scratched that idea and said "What would my #tlap friends do?"
And then the lesson came to life. Google Earth was already installed on my laptop. We would be taking a field trip to the site itself during the class period! We would have just enough time to explore and make it back before the bell rang! As students arrived at my door for class that morning, I asked them if they brought their "barf bags" that they were going to need them. Students looked at me and smiled thinking I was crazy. I had previously dressed up as a praying mantis, so they knew that I had tricks up my sleeve. As one student walked up to the classroom with his lunch bag in hand, I suggested he take his lunch out of the bag because he might get sick in it. They also asked if we were watching a movie that was going to make us sick, because we had seen one on a nuclear meltdown and there were some gruesome parts that they remember. Typically by third period, students are hungry and start munching on their lunches. Today I suggested that they hold off.
I started out class with a short video clip on mountain top mining. It described the process and talked about the mining project and it's impact on Appalachia. Students found the video interesting because it explained the viewpoints of the people and the mining company. You could tell the entire time that they were waiting in anticipation of what was going to come next.
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/leveling_appalachia_the_legacy_of_mountaintop_removal_mining/2198/
Fortunately for myself, I had a student in each class who has a family member that is a flight attendant. I asked students to arrange their desks in straight rows splitting with an aisle down the middle. A student from each class walked the entire class through safety procedures and safety checks. I asked "as the pilot" for students to send one last text if they needed to, and to turn off and stow away their electronic devices. This caused some confusion with the current safety regulations on planes that I will clarify ahead of time for the next group.
We took off and we flew to northern Wisconsin to explore this area. Our concern was geographically to check out what the area consisted of. We wanted to predict potentially what ecological impact there could be from the mining. Once we landed in the area I decided it was time do a bit more exploration using the flight simulator feature of Google Earth. This is something I suggest practicing if you want to impress your students. I had a 5 min trial run before the class period started and I didn't have it quite down yet. The flight was anything, but smooth! I happened to walk away from the controls for a bit (took my hands off the laptop and went to the board) and the plane just rolled over in circles getting the students a little sick. After all, I did ask them to bring their barf bags. We traced some of the rivers, explored how close to Lake Superior that we were, and made the claim that the mine could be damaging to the area. While up there, we also took a tour of the Apostle Islands because some students had never been there before. Fortunately, third hour returned home safely before the bell rang...fourth hour...the plane may have crashed. I would suggest training a co-pilot so that when you do this activity in class you can have him/her take over so that you can do the teaching and questioning. It was a lot to do both at once.
This was one of the many lessons students talked about for the rest of the year, and they always mentioned the term field trip. Hopefully next year, I'll have photographs of this experience.
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What a fantastic idea! I'm totally going to steal this as we will be needing to explore many of Earth's surface features this coming year! Thanks Pirate!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your blog post, Andrea! Way to go! I wish I would have been in your class that day! Fun, engagement, and learning all rolled into one! Dave Burgess would be so proud! Way to go!
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