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On this day, November 10th, in 1975, the freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald (a taconite carrier) sank during a storm on Lake Superior. All of the crew, 29 nine men, perished. The event was memorialized in the lyrics of singer Gordon Lightfoot’s popular ballad, the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Though sad, this historical event presents an engrossing opportunity for students and teachers to collaborate and engage in interdisciplinary research. It’s a perfect storm of learning.  Delving into what lead up to the tragedy allows pupils to explore elements of:

• history/case studies/critical reading of reports–pupils can pore over the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board Report on the event
• geography–Lake Superior via Google Earth, geography of the Great Lakes, the site of the loss (46°59.9N 85°06.6W /46.9983°N 85.11°W/ 46.9983; -85.11),
• science–topics such as weather conditions that lead to the sinking, the Great Lakes Ecosystem, What Floats Your Boat via ScienceNetlinks,
• mathematics–boat capacity math, ship building and math (via  Michael of Rhodes),
• language arts
• and music.

Diving into this and other historical events, using them as case-study investigations into why and how things happen, makes learning more rewarding and allows students to integrate technology resources in a more meaningful manner.

Related resources:

• For a more informed reading the lyrics of of Gordon Lightfoot’s popular song, the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, take a look at University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Wx Wise data-rich page devoted to the freighter’s sinking.
• The Great Lakes are well-known for some treacherous weather. The University of Wisconsin’s very useful Coastal Natural Hazards page has intriguing descriptions of seiches and storm surges.
• Wikipedia’s very thorough entry on seiches has an animated explanation of the causes and nature of seiches.

creativity, environment, learning, literature, math, music, nature, science history, maps, math, music, science, song, songs

I live in south Georgia in the United States where cool weather is the stuff of dreams. With summer approaching, everyone in my area is cranking up an air conditioner or making plans to find a shady spot with cool, refreshing water nearby. It’s a time when electricity is in high demand. National Public Radio has an intriguing visualization of the U.S. Power Grid. This clever and informative resource will spark rich conversations in a classroom where students are studying conventional and alternative sources of energy.

environment, nature, science, visualization earth-science, energy, science

Science, Social Studies, and Geography teachers who want to grab student attention are using GigaPan because the site has images so big, so rich in detail that students want to concentrate and carefully explore them. Whether examining a scene from Venice in advance of discussing the history of Italy or poring over an electron microscope photograph of an ant’s head for discussion in Biology, learners crave the amazing clarity GigaPan delivers.

Supplying simple  navigation tools,  GigaPan makes it easy for pupils to collect, catalog, and analyze details as they wander about inside its panoramic pictures. When used with interactive whiteboards like those produced by GTCO, Promethean, and SMARTBoard, learning becomes efficient, effective, and exciting. The site is an offshoot of the Global Connection Project, (a joint effort among Carnegie Mellon University, NASA, Google, and National Geographic) and is dedicated to eliminating barriers between humans and helping individuals everywhere learn more about our planet by increasing the power of images to “connect, inform, and inspire people to become engaged and responsible global citizens.”

Digital images are composed of a pixels (or pix as in pictures and elements). Note that pixels are not necessiarily square picture elements. Many people regularly capture images with megapixel cameras. Megapixel images are composed of 1 million pixels. Gigapixel images, however, like those used in the panoramic images featured at GigaPan and the Gigapxl Project contain 1 billion pixels.

Related links:

• We really can’t talk about GigaPan with noting that the GigaPan viewer was inspired by Paul Neave’s ultracool Flash Earth.
• Speaking of photographs and National Geographic, do you know what the number one rule is when taking pictures in the wild?
• Want to create your own panoramic images by stitching pictures together? If so, check out CleVR. You might also want to read Kevin Purdy’s enlightening how-to guide for stitching photographs over at Lifehacker.

Uncategorized, nature, science geo, geography, gigapixel, images, megapixel, photo, pixel, science, social-studies

Yesterday, while walking into my office, I came across an intriguing snail. I wanted to know more about the creeping critter so, like any other 21st Century learner, I used a few technological tools at my disposal to get a few answers. I’m very grateful for the wide array of technology resources that are at my disposal when I’m curious about a topic that intrigues me. I make use of them on a daily basis. Of course, I could pursue an answer the “old-fashioned” way by

• corresponding with experts via *ahem* snail mail (sorry about that–couldn’t resist the opportunity)
• patiently waiting for others to write a response, address an envelope, and send the response via the US Postal Service
• patiently waiting for the US Postal service to deliver the mail
• making telephone calls
• traveling to a center of learning (library, museum, school, university, et cetera) and
• slogging through books and periodicals.

No matter what route I choose, using technology or tried-and-true non-tech driven researching, I can still get answers. That said, the skillful application of modern technology–using the best available new tools to get work done in the most efficient and effective manner possible–saves me time. It seems like a simple concept to grasp, yet I continue to meet administrators, educators, and parents who refuse to consider using technology to make learning more engaging, productive, and ultimately, meaningful. When I ask why, they tell me they are too busy or just don’t want to take the time to learn how to use hardware, software, or digital resources.

Well, despite what others think, I find the availability and potential of technology refreshing. Yesterday, I found a snail and wanted to know all about it. Today, thanks to technology empowered networking, communication, collaboration, and documentation, I pretty sure that I have the answer I was looking for when my adventure began. According to a very kind soul at Metafilter’s unbelievably helpful AskMeFi forum, I got a response from Mefite Rosebengal (Thanks!) that seems to be right on the mark. I got answer within a day! That’s great turnaround time. I hope students have this much opportunity to increase their learning potential.

Now, about that mysterious snail: Rosebengal says that the snail looks very much like a specimen of Euglandina rosea or the rosy wolf snail. She goes on to say that the organism is a predatory terrestrial snail native to my area.  Oddly enough, even though the snail belongs in southeast Georgia where I live, the species has been nominated as among 100 of the “World’s Worst” invaders.

nature, productivity, science gastropod, gastropoda, snail

Earth Day is here again. Treehuggers unite! What? You’ve never heard of it? Well now, that’s hard to believe. It’s an event originated by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin as an environmental teach-in back in 1970. Since that time, the event has gained support around the globe. Today, a number of organizations are using websites to get the message out and engage the inhabitants of our planet. It’s a bountiful bonanza for global citizens, teachers, and pupils everywhere. For example, educators and students could visit:

• The Nature Conservancy’s compelling Earth Day 2009 site
• The Earth Day Network–Every day for Everybody. By the way, what’s your ecological footprint?
• EarthDay.gov, the portal for U.S. Government Events & Information
• Earth Day via the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
• The Wilderness Society’s rich repository of Earth Day (educational) resources.
• Speaking of resources, many people are wondering where the wealth is and how long all of it will last.

However, not everyone thinks there should be an Earth Day. An article in Newsweek suggest that it may be time to rethink our fascination with a once-a-year, feel good environmental day.

Also worth noting: Consortium for School Networking (CoSN)  is enhancing its Green Computing Leadership Initiative. The initiative recognizes efforts by technology leaders to reduce their system’s environmental impact. Get ready for the new EPEAT certification program for purchasing. The move is part of a concentrated effort to focus on energy saving efforts, proper computer disposal and use of computers to reduce waste. Schools and districts who achieve certification will be recognized on CoSN’s Green Computing website as well as the EPEAT website, and will receive a CoSN and EPEAT green computing certificates.

nature, science conservation

Science/Biology teachers: If you want to integrate technology, here’s the catch of the day. Dive into FishBase, a global information system with everything you want to know about our fine finned friends. This site’ll hook you with oceans of data concerning just about all species of fish known to science. Curious? Conduct a search and reel in some useful information about any underwater denizen.

By the way, this is a Microctenopoma fasciolatum.

Related links:

• For our Georgia readers, Gray’s Reef has a nifty fish guide, too!
• EPA’s famous Freshwater Fish Identification will make biology class go along swimmingly.
• Brian W. Coad and Don E. McAllister have compiled an impressive Dictionary of Ichthyology. If I had to judge their work, the scales would definitely tip in their favor.
• It’s ten o’ clock. Do you know where your fish is? You will if you consult Practical Fishkeeping and its fintastic Fish Mapper. While you’re at the site, open up their tacklebox and check out the rest of their tools.

nature, science fish, nature

If you teach conecpts related to Biology and/or Environmental Science and have students who are intrigued with aquatic organisms, you might want to dive into the resources amassed by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. The WDCS site has engaging content that’ll inundate eager minds. For example, check out the WDCS’s visualization of a life size image of a Blue Whale. Be warned that this particular image of a Balaenoptera musculus does take a little while to load in your browser. After all, it’s huge! That said, when the image does finish surfacing, you can use your mouse to explore the length of its body without having to don a wetsuit or suffer the pressures of the deep.

Related links:

• Make sure to take a look at the stunning visuals of Blue Whales at ARKive.org.
• Do some Virtual Globetrotting via this Google Map (or download the site’s Google Earth KML file ) and see a Blue whale skeleton, outside the Long Marine Laboratory at the University of California in Santa Cruz.
• View a virtual reality movie of the Blue Whale skeleton via the kind folks at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
• Surf on over to the swell of Blue Whale Facts provided by National Geographic. Better yet, compare the size of a Blue Whale to that of other, well-konown objects.

nature, science biology, ecology, environment, mammals, nature, ocean, science