Kate's Blog: Sila Ways Through Art

2010-04-07T19:43:00.000-07:00

The artist,
the creator
sees herself/himself
in the project s/he creates
and offers the self portrait
to others
so that they might see
themselves
reflected as well.

*photo by Fritz Koschmann of Gustavus/Glacier Bay

Reviewing the following Blogs:

Most Interesting -- Explore AK! Fran
Best Writing - Arctic Updates Richelle
Best Links -- GeoIntegrations Jennifer

Fran’s Explore Alaska! Blog is one of my favorites, t o me the Most Interesting. I’ve been fascinated reading about Quinhagak, Newtok, Ninglick River, Shishmaref, and her personal experiences. I appreciate her perspective of offering solutions for reducing global warming. This sense of hope and proactive thinking will help us all.

I appreciate the quote, “A verse in the song, Circle of Life, states; “You should never take more than you give.” All of us can make a difference in making our planet Earth a better place to live by making changes in our lifestyle. It could be as simple as turning of a light switch or putting a solar panel on your roof. We can all make a difference.” (Module VIII) As she states, she at least is “faintly optimistic about our planet’s future.” (Module VII). This is a good thing.

In each module, Fran uses her own voice to react/comment on the things we are learning in the course. She asks questions and answers them. She relates learning to her own life and education. In Module IV she relates the 1964 experiences in Quinhagek of the people living there.

You’ve gotta love the photo of the surfer with mountains in the distance in Module III; part I, II, III. Here I really appreciate the Yup’ik names she teaches us! Plus her stories about her 5^th graders is close to my heart, as that’s my favorite grade: finest human beings on the planet, 9 and 10 year olds, as far as I’m concerned. You go, Fran! Way to go!

****** ************** ********* ************* ***********

Arctic Updates with Richelle I award Best Writing: I feel she best put the learning into her own words. Her scientific examples are well-explained. I particularly liked her Extend sections, relating the concepts to Alaska in easy-to-relate to science. Her photos are excellent examples as well (HOW she got photos somewhere other than at the beginning of the blog is beyond me!)

Richelle researched beyond the lesson course subjects. Polar bear milk related to human nursing in the poisoning of the arctic is fascinating, as is information on salmon and other fish, and indigenous biologists. Her quotes bring scientists’ words to the forefront, making the situations real.

Arctic Updates has used the offered framework from the course blog: truly doing well with Explain, Extend, Evaluate, which is an excellent way to keep lessons in mind and focus on the objectives for teaching this information to students.

The Inupiaq Whale Hunt video piece is priceless. It truly shows a way of life for people very aware of the changing northern world.

I share Richelle’s wish to one day visit Unalaska. I finally got to Kodiak last year, and realized an entirely new aspect of Alaska and Alaskans. Learning about the Qawalangin Tribe of the Unangan people is fascinating. (Envisioning Earthquakes, Violent Volcanoes and Subarctic Tsunamis)

******* * *

GeoIntegrations by Jennifer is my favorite for Best Links! Wow! Climate Change Links and all of her links to resources in her Final Project are exemplary. (wonderful – Teacher Workshop—good to teach the teachers!)

Take Aim at Climate Change is a great link, using music and modern techno-rap language for students today. Her personal experiences on the Jakobshaven Glacier in Greenland and at the Education Summit are accompanied by great links as well. It’s good to see what scientists are doing all over the world, not just in Alaska.

Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, the online magazine for k-5 teachers, is full of information, links, ideas which I know I’ll use in the future. Ditto for Edutopia, What Works in Public Education – great resource; also the Alaska Seas and Rivers curriculum. I thank you!

Gorgeous photo of the smoked salmon, and the aerial views/google earth views of glacial ice. (Connections of climate, cultures and oceans…March 3 blog)

2010-04-06T22:45:00.000-07:00

How can digital resources and effective teaching methods be used to integrate Alaska Native ways of knowing and Western scientific methods in order to create greater understanding of, and interest in, geo-sciences for students?

Final Project-Unit Lesson Plan Lesson Title:

Writing and Creating Visual Arts / Sculptural Arts speaking of in the style of Alaskan and/or Canadian writers (poets)and artists (drawings; paintings; photographs; soapstone carving; multi-media;)

Grade Level: 9-12

Lesson Length: 4 hours per week over one semester elective

1. Objectives for Poetry Writing:
The students will:
• Choose one or more Alaskan or Canadian poets to research and read Write poetry about Alaskan geo-science/changes to the Alaskan environment in the style of studied Alaskan and Canadian writers

NORTHERN THEMES:
• ice; water; geography; Rim of Fire; Lituya Bay; glaciers; glacial formations; weather formations; color and shape in landscape; cultural elements; change in the ecosystems/dynamics/land of the north; Arctic animals, birds, land formations; Tlingit months imagery

Writing Poetry: [Sleeping on the Wing by Kenneth Koch and Kate Farrell: [*INTRODUCTION: Modern Poetry; Reading Poetry; Talking About Poetry; Using Writing Suggestions; Writing Poetry on Your Own]

POETS for examples or choices:
• Nora Dauenhauer: The Droning Shaman and Life Woven With Song
• Judith Aftergut: The Finest Musician
Joy Harjo
Joan Kane
Donna Foulke
Sheila Nickerson
• The Rising and the Rain by John Straley
• Glacier Bay Concerto by Richard Dauenhauer
• Haa Shu Kaa by Nora and Richard Dauenhauer
• Other poet(s ): Tidal Echoes UAS Literary & Arts Journals by UAS

2. Objectives for Visual Arts: Photography:
The students will:
• Choose one or more Alaskan or Canadian photographers to research
• Take photos about Alaskan geo-science/changes to the Alaskan environment in the style of studied Alaskan or Canadian photographer

PHOTOGRAPHERS for examples or choice:
• David Koschmann, Glacier Bay
• David Sheakley, Juneau

3. Objectives for Visual Arts: Painting:
The students will:
• Choose one or more Alaskan/Canadian painters to research
• Paint about Alaskan or Canadian geo-science/changes to the Alaskan environment in the style of studied Alaskan or Canadian painter

DRAWING ARTISTS/ PAINTERS for examples or choice:

• Drawing Artists or Painters from: Icebreakers; Alaska's Most Innovative Artists by Julie Decker
• Inuit Women Artists edited by Odette Leroux, Marion E. Jackson and Minnie Aodla Freeman

4. Objectives for Sculptural Arts: Soapstone Carving:
The students will:
• Choose one or more Alaskan or Canadian carvers to research
• Carve something from Alaskan or Canadian geo-science/changes to the Alaskan environment in the style of studied Alaskan or Canadian carver

CARVERS for examples or choice:
Sculpture of the Eskimo by George Swinton
• Inuit Women Artists edited by Odette Leroux, Marion E. Jackson and Minnie Aodla Freeman

Other Artists:

MEDIA RESOURCES:
• All TD’s from Explore Alaska’s Cultural Modules
• Alaska State Museum laser disc with hundreds of NW Coast masks and carvings

MATERIALS:
• Journals, paper, computers
• Paper, canvas, paint brushes, paints, artist pencils
• Soapstone, wood blocks, stone files
• you tubes of Alaskan artists
• Sitka carvers NPS Cultural Center information

ACTIVITIES:

First Month: Writing Poetry:
Using poems by chosen poets, introduce styles, patterns, themes, poem starters from examples in Sleeping on the Wing [*INTRODUCTION: Modern Poetry; Reading Poetry; Talking About Poetry; Using Writing Suggestions; Writing Poetry on Your Own].
• Students write individually and cooperatively in the style of one or more writers
• Final work will be critiqued and displayed

Second Month: Visual Arts: Photography:
Students choose two favorites from chosen photographers. Introduce styles, themes, color or b/w, statements.
• Students take photos in the style of these photographers
• Final work will be critiqued and displayed

Third Month: Visual Arts: Drawing/Painting:
Introduce styles, patterns, illustrative elements, themes from Inuit Women Artists.
• Students draw or paint in the style of one or more visual artists
• Final work will be critiqued and displayed.

Fourth Month: Visual Arts: Sculpture: Soapstone Carving:
Introduce styles, patterns, materials, themes from Inuit Women Artists and ___kb blue Sculpture book
• Students will carve in the style of one or more soapstone artists.
• Final work will be critiqued and displayed

Teaching pattern:
TD, book, and You Tube pieces will be shown weekly, followed by discussion of Native Ways of Knowing, Alaskan Geo-Science Change; and Cultural Science elements and how they can be expressed in writing and art. Students will consider whether to strike out with something new each month, or to continue one theme/element throughout other modules of the class. Students will choose three elements of the Alaska State Standards for each of their final displayed pieces. These elements will be represented in their own individual endeavors.

ALASKA STATE STANDARDS:
[Students will be introduced to these at the beginning of the semester. Students will choose three elements of the Alaska State Standards for each of their final displayed pieces. These elements will be represented in their own individual endeavors.]

English/Language Arts : A student should be a competent and thoughtful reader, listener, and viewer of literature, technical materials, and a variety of other information.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1) comprehend meaning from written text and oral and visual information by applying a variety of reading, listening, and viewing strategies; these strategies include phonic, context, and vocabulary cues in reading, critical viewing, and active listening;
2) reflect on, analyze, and evaluate a variety of oral, written, and visual information and experiences, including discussions, lectures, art, movies, television, technical materials, and literature; and
3) relate what the student views, reads, and hears to practical purposes in the student’s own life, to the world outside, and to other texts and experiences.

Science: Alaska: Concepts of Life Science:

• Students develop an understanding that all organisms are linked to each other and their physical environments through the transfer and transformation of matter and energy.

The student demonstrates an understanding that all organisms are linked to each other and their physical environments through the transfer and transformation of matter and energy by:

• analyzing the potential impacts of changes (e.g., climate change, habitat loss/gain, cataclysms, human activities) within an ecosystem.

A student who meets the content standard should:

develop an understanding that culture, local knowledge, history, and interaction with the environment contribute to the development of scientific knowledge, and local applications provide opportunity for understanding scientific concepts and global issues.

Personal Perspectives and Science:

A student should understand the dynamic relationships among scientific, cultural, social, and personal perspectives.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1) develop an understanding of the interrelationships among individuals, cultures, societies, science, and technology;
2) develop an understanding that some individuals, cultures, and societies use other beliefs and methods in addition to scientific methods to describe and understand the world; and
3) develop an understanding of the importance of recording and validating cultural knowledge.

Geography:

A student should be able to make and use maps, globes, and graphs to gather, analyze, and report spatial (geographic) information.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1) use maps and globes to locate places and regions;

5) evaluate the importance of the locations of human and physical features in interpreting geographic patterns; and
6) use spatial (geographic) tools and technologies to analyze and develop explanations and solutions to geographic problems.

A student should understand the dynamic and interactive natural forces that shape the Earth’s environments.

A student who meets the content standard should:

2) distinguish the functions, forces, and dynamics of the physical processes that cause variations in natural regions; and
3) recognize the concepts used in studying environments and recognize the diversity and productivity of different regional environments.

A student should be able to use geography to understand the world by interpreting the past, knowing the present, and preparing for the future. A student who meets the content standard should:

1) analyze and evaluate the impact of physical and human geographical factors on major historical events;
2) compare, contrast, and predict how places and regions change with time;

5) examine the impacts of global changes on human activity; and

ARTS:

A student should be able to understand the historical and contemporary role of the arts in Alaska, the nation, and the world.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1) recognize Alaska Native cultures and their arts;

3) recognize the role of tradition and ritual in the arts;
4) investigate the relationships among the arts and the individual, the society, and the environment;
5) recognize universal themes in the arts such as love, war, childhood, and community;
6) recognize specific works of art created by artists from diverse backgrounds;
7) explore similarities and differences in the arts of world cultures;
8) respect differences in personal and cultural perspectives;

Cultural Standards:

Culturally knowledgeable students demonstrate an awareness and appreciation of the relationships and processes of interaction of all elements in the world around them.

Students who meet this cultural standard are able to:

1) recognize and build upon the interrelationships that exist among the spiritual, natural, and human realms in the world around them, as reflected in their own cultural traditions and beliefs as well as those of others;
2) understand the ecology and geography of the bio-region they inhabit;
3) demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between world view and the way knowledge is formed and used;
4) determine how ideas and concepts from one knowledge system relate to those derived from other knowledge systems;
5) recognize how and why cultures change over time;
6) anticipate the changes that occur when different cultural systems come in contact with one another;
7) determine how cultural values and beliefs influence the interaction of people from different cultural backgrounds; and
8) identify and appreciate who they are and their place in the world.

Terrestrial Ice, Climate, Alaskan Indigenous Cultures

2010-04-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

Glaciers are close to home. My life has revolved around the terrestrial ice retreating in northern Southeast Alaska -- first in Juneau, where I grew up; then in Glacier Bay, where I've spent my adult life. I've been a NPS Naturalist Ranger aboard ships and on shore at Glacier Bay for 6 seasons, and a bookseller for Alaska Natural History Association for 3 seasons; I've hiked upper Muir Inlet in the mid-70's and seen Muir retreat onto land in my own time; then watched over 30+ years as the alder stages have succeeded the rock scraped by the glaciers, leaving no hiking and few beaches with which to share with the bears who must also shift to traveling accessible land. I've spent a day with Bruce Molnia coming down Bay, showing us his computer ideas for showing the rephotographic aspects of the retreating glaciers; and most strikingly, I've watched hard ice glaciers morph into soft, punky entities ravaged by inner waterfall "portals", leaving black rock moraine beaches. Each trip up Bay is now another revelation in drastic constant change.

I live in Tlingit homeland, on earth that has only rebounded out of the sea since the last vestige of the Little Ice Age retreated from Glacier Bay, leaving massive outwash fans full of meandering rivers and deposits of silt, sand, and rock. All of this has risen some three feet in 30 years.

In Gustavus, we are new on the land, thus stewards. We have a responsibility to the changes the earth is going through -- global warming; changes in temperature, precipitation, weather events, and land features due to melting and retreating glacial ice, not to mention the land rebounding.

How important is water on the earth? How about snow flakes and ice crystals? Looking at analogies which consider 1,000 drops of water represent all of the water on Earth and seeing how those drops are distributed in oceans, inland seas, glaciers, ground water and soil moisture, the atmosphere, lakes and rivers, and in all living plants and animals; Looking at 1000 snow flakes and 1000 ice crystals represent all of the snow and glacier ice on Earth and seeing where those thousand are physically geographically distributed across the earth -- what a wakeup to the importance of water, snow, and ice in our lives.

The Ross Ice Shelf of Antarctica which stood for over 12,000 years collapsed in just five weeks. Greenland's Jakobshaven Glacier has been moving 113 feet per day for the last five years. The Grand Pacific Glacier of Glacier Bay, Alaska has retreated over 65 miles in just 250 years, one of the fastest retreats in recorded history.

And what about oral history? For Glacier Bay is the land of the Tlingits, where stories are owned and legends are carefully protected. Geography is named and cherished, protected (included in a National Park) while taken from local tribes -- the Chookenaidi, the Dak'dein'tan, the Kogwantan, and others. Place is important, crucial, demands respect and recognition.

Gustavus writers have spoken of the geography of ice land:

Geography
by Judith Aftergut, from The Finest Musician, c1982, illustrated by Kate Boesser

I have heard it said
the Tlingit people believe
everything is alive
and carve in wood an eagle's nest
with eyes.
Land is a bowl for the sea.

Dream that hair is like seaweed,
yet, sailor, take care in drifting.
Starfish eat urchins.
We dye our lives.
In the clear morning light
each wide ripple opens eyes
like a knot in wood, a Tlingit carving.
We are the sea and her islands,
wearing necklaces of stone.

Glacier and Woman
by Judith Aftergut

This land has sacrificed, gouged deep,
bared to gravel
where hemlock grew.
Dryas will come again, old woman.
This is all that you can do.
Remember childhood stories?
Men do not protect you.
Seeds were planted.
Young girls are mischievous.

Desire
by Judith Aftergut

If you are rock, I don't mind,
for I know that ice is harder.
I have seen boulders carried for miles,
and mountains ground to till
floating in streams of water
released after thousands of years.
I know that ice transforms
and rock
desires to be liquid.

(*See Notes, p.34-35 for explanation of some poems)

Listen to Tlingit elder Nora Dauenhauer, in the Droning Shaman:

Alux the Sea

Alux the swea,
a droning shaman,
puckers spraying lips
cleansing St. Paul
with mist.

Seal Pups

As if inside
a blue-green bottle
rolling with the breakers.

Seal Rookery

Under its brown fur
the beach twitches to life.

Kelp

Ribbons of iodine
unrolled by fingers
of waves.

Listening for Native Voices
(Native Writers' Workshop, Nome, Alaska)
--for Joy Harjo

Trapped voices,
frozen
under sea ice of English,
buckle,
surging to be heard.
We say
"Listen for sounds.
They are as important
as voices."
Listen.
Listen.
Listen.
Listen.

--April 14, 1984

From Glacier Bay Concerto by Richard Dauenhauer:

"Helping the Natives"

At 40 below
in proto-Athapaska
morphemes freeze.
And at 70 below
phonemes
turn to slush.
All summer, though,
we feel the golden sun
of eloquence.
But underlying patterns
are like permafrost:
and basic structures
never change.

*** *** ***

In a Glacier Bay Concerto:
ice moving
like the footsteps
of a thousand mourners,
a continuum
to kittywakes and terns.

*** *** ***

I will lift up my eyes

to the mountains
where my help
is from.
While sunlight sparkles
on summer water
and snow capped peaks
history is now
and Glacier Bay.

*** *** ***

Growing Old
Yet we perceive it
as loss of all
potential.
"Advancing age"
we call it.
as if it were a glacier.
Maturity
brings us ever closer
to the spirit world
until we blend with it,
become it.

· · If all of Alaska's glaciers melted, sea level would rise ~ 0.05 meters (about 0.16 feet).

· · If all of Earth's temperate glaciers melted, sea level would rise ~ 0.3 meters (about one foot).

· · If all of Greenland's glaciers melted, sea level would rise ~ 6 meters (about 19.7 feet).

· · If all of Antarctica's glaciers melted, sea level would rise ~ 73 meters (about 240 feet).

"It's like this: more thawing ... more decomposition ... more green house gases...more atmospheric heating ... more thawing ... more decomposition ... more greenhouse gases ... more atmospheric heating... " (Clay Good)

The arctic is fragile. Look at frozen ground data from frozen ground maps around the world.

Arctic Sea Ice, Climate, Culture

2010-03-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

How are Arctic sea-ice, climate and culture all connected?

I am living in Gustavus on land that didn’t exist just 250 years ago, but was created from the outwash of the Little Ice Age’s great Grand Pacific Glacier. The outwash’s 2 great water flows created our Salmon and Good Rivers. Outwash sand and silt, mud and debris along Icy Strait then began to rebound (isostatic rebound). The fastest retreat of ice in history began with the melting of the glaciers north and W. of Gustavus in Glacier Bay, as recorded by Vancouver in Icy Strait in the 1700’s;

I have lived here just over 3 decades, and have watched while a moon-like rock un-vegetated world up-Bay has taken seed and through succession moved through quick episodes of rock – lichen – mosses – mountain avens like dryas –willow - alder – cottonwood – spruce – lower bay hemlock. I’ve watched Muir Glacier retreat year by year, go up on land, and lose its touch with Muir Inlet. We’ve watched ice change from clear hard crystalline nature to crumbling, rapidly astronomical melting, punky soft ice, showing water “portals” destroying the glacial flow from within. It’s hard to believe the changes we’ve seen.

We’ve been involved with yearly summer scientists studying Muir’s retreat and thinning; isostatic rebound; streams being re-inhabited by salmon in areas that have been under ice for hundreds or thousands of years; changing benthic habitats; halibut sonar-tagging to identify habitat and seasonal movement; prey fish; humpback and orca identification and travel patterns; seals declining; sea lions not declining – unlike in the rest of Alaska; small prey fish increases and fluctuations; sea otters coming back from near-extermination; sea birds inhabiting the rock land and being displaced by vegetation; forestation from bare rock; puffins losing their foothold in their most southerly home; gravity measurements; It’s been a wild ride!

It’s not just succession and reforestation that scientists come to study. It’s climate change. There’s more happening here than just the natural morphing after glaciations. It’s a scientific world of change and study in a pristine World Heritage Site, a cryosphere close to home.

Here is it so evident that “the [cryosphere] ecosystem is both highly productive, and at the same time fragile.” (Clay Good) So imagine the far north arctic and its permafrost world.

Snow and ice data exists for Glacier Bay from scientists only from the 1950’s. Elders in Hoonah and Yakutat have stories and songs from ancient times, data not written and not shared by Tlingit owners of information. Emmonds and de Laguna wrote copious accounts of land, subsistence, culture of Tlingit people:

Today, in Haa Shuka by Nora and Richard Dauenhauer, there is information of the land and the people, written in both Tlingit and English, with at times multiple accounts of ancient stories.

Balancing native stories are modern scientists who've worked for 30 years in Glacier Bay, including Motyka. It's essential to integrate local Native knowledge with global scientific studies.

Looking at the Little Ice Age and its effect across the northern hemisphere, across the globe, I realize that Alaska is unique, but that we have much to learn from our own written history of northern Europe just 700 years ago. integrating local Native knowledge with global scientific studies?

LIGHT, ICE, WATER, SALT EXPERIMENTS SHOWING ENERGY, ABSORPTION, REFLECTION…

What are the values of simple labs using light, ice, water, and salt in teaching climate concepts, energy, absorption, reflection...?
Look at 2009 Sea Ice.
Look at NASA Arctic Sea Ice: 3rd lowest sea ice on record great graphics.

What are some ecological or cultural implications of decreasing sea-ice?

Ice melts,

temperature rises

heat increases

thermal energy expands

role of ice on earth

as sea ice melts

temperature rises

our planet changes

and change affects

every living thing.

Find native stories

and elders' knowledge

now,

interlace with scientific data

learn now for the future

of us all.

What is being done?

Resolutions: Inuit Rights Transcend National Boundaries

"1. It is recognized that Inuit rights extend across the circumpolar regions.... Inuit have the right to enjoy the full measure of human rights without hindrance of discrimination. In order to protect Inuit human rights and interests in the Arctic regions, focus should be necessarily directed to international forums since many related issues are increasingly regulated at this level." (Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada); followed by precise directives for changes.

2. Anchorage, Alaska

"We reaffirm the unbreakable and sacred connection between land, air, water, oceans, forests, sea ice, plants, animals and our human communities as the material and spiritual basis for our existence..."

"Mother Earth is no longer in a period of climate change, but in climate crisis. We therefore insist on an immediate end to the destruction and desecration of the elements of life. Through our knowledge, spirituality, sciences, practices, experiences and relationships with our traditional lands, territories, waters, air, forests, oceans, sea ice, other natural resources and all life, Indigenous Peoples have a vital role in defending and healing Mother Earth. The future of Indigenous Peoples lies in the wisdom of our elders, the restoration of the sacred position of women, the youth of today and in the generations of tomorrow. We uphold that the inherent and fundamental human rights and status of Indigenous Peoples..." (Anchorage-- Alaska's Circumpolar Conference)

Calls for Action

"We reiterate the urgent need for collective action. Agreed by consensus of the participants in the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on ClimateChange, Anchorage Alaska, April 24th 2009"

Thought-provoking are on-line videos of :

Shishmaref storms, losing ground, houses tumbling, sea ice only one foot thick, no walrus, game going East...
Point Barrow, and climate changes affecting whaling, survival, and subsistence
Nunavut 40 years of data recorded by Jamese Mike, showing the cycle of life thrown out of balance, the health and welfare questioned, and cultural survival a serious matter
Bering Sea with its 26 species of sea birds, blue and sperm whales, sea otters, rich, threatened; native scientist Steve MacLean of the Nature Conservency : the importance of preserving biodiversity; minimizing affects of fishing on Stellar Sea lions in Aleutian islands; arctic changing much faster than rest of world; losing ice over the next 40-50 years in the arctic; learning from family; the culture dependent on nature; conservation never separating the people from the natural systems as they have been for thousands of years; importance of getting into science – school science, making a difference in the part of the world that you choose to live in (Steve MacLean of the Nature Conservency)

What other online resources profile Alaska Native scientists?:

Alaska Native Science Commission

ANKN

Climate is Connected

2010-03-10T19:19:00.000-08:00

How is Earth's climate connected to its geological, biological and cultural systems?

* geology
* biology
* culture

**climate is connected

How is Earth's climate connected to its geological, biological and cultural systems?

I stand at the bus stop waiting for 3 busloads of elementary children to arrive. This morning we are hardly protected from the fierce blowing windstorm as a kindergartner explains seriously to me that …”If you feel the wind really strong like this coming at the airport (gesturing as from the S.E.), there’s going to be bad weather.” This indeed is true in Juneau. A young child has internalized this. So imagine what an elder living on the land knows over time.

Particularly in this Module, my mind has been stretched. I am more right brained than left, more easily taking in art, music, language than science. However, I must admit I am somewhat interested, confused, questioning, learning about earth geophysics. I really have lived my life without knowing the science about earth’s creation, elements (ah, all elements are made by stars’ pressure and heat, becoming supernovas , sending energy out..)carbon…I am attracted by reading, but only latch on and will remember things with affects I know of. True of students as well, most likely, unless one lives in the virtual world of ideas and facts.

TD Periodic Table of the elements is pretty cool.

What interests me most is that:

· CO2 in upper layers of permafrost = organic and mineral; microbes live in freezing soil in water films even in dead of winter COLD

· Soil respiration = bacteria decomposing organic matter, producing gasses; BECOMING MORE ACTIVE AS THE NORTH WARMS UP; more warmth = more microbes = more energy = more heat and so the earth warms = positive feedback loop.

So the arctic is changing. Alaskans have to adapt: NATIVE WAYS OF KNOWING:

Climate Change Project at Sachs Harbor
La'ona DeWilde ("the rock") Koyukon Huslia having respect for the land, water, wind which has spirit; kill but give thanks; her career being all about the environment, mutual care, teaching villages GPS data taking and water sampling so they can plan and change according to scientific findings
Rosemarie Kuptana born in an igloo on Canada's Banks Island learning to hunt, trap, fish
UAF Atlas Program on Seward Peninsula mapping vegetation/biodiversity; where Arctic is home, not just a site for field studies
Arctic Climate Modeling Program
Videos: Wales -- elders having "patience, perseverance, courage to teach."
Luther whaling captain knowing weather signs and changes/cloud patterns and foretellings

What are great online resources that will help students understand the long story of our universe and planet's creation?

What creation stories from different cultures could be told alongside for enrichment?

MYTHS!

What was Earth's earliest atmosphere like?

TITAN!

What other atmospheric variables and processes influence climate?

carbon cycle

http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/hew06_vid_foodweb/ This coral reef TD is EXCELLENT: There are, miraculously, coral reefs off of Francis and Drake Islands (also covered with ancient clam-related fossils) in Glacier Bay, left from a warmer climatic period millions of years ago).

“So, over millions of years Earth has moved its carbon around using various biological, chemical and geological processes. And as a result, Earth's climate has fluctuated many times over eons from cold to hot to cold, over and again, more or less gradually, as numerous climate variables interacted over the eons.

The Sun's increasing energy output, Earth's changing orbital distance, speed of rotation, tilt, plate tectonics, land-to-ocean ratio, volcanoes, wildfires and even meteorites all play roles in the climate dynamics on this little planet .” (Module VII, Clay Good)

Capturing CO2 from man-made trees with synthetic leaves is hopeful, amazing, creative, sculptural.

Where do we put it – store it? Great diagram and explanation inTD

What evidence of climate change exists where I am near Glacier Bay/Icy Strait?

Living and working as a Park Service Naturalist and Natural History Association book seller aboard ships in Glacier Bay for 9 seasons, and living/traveling in Glacier Bay on our own boats from 1977 to the present, we have seen extreme climate and nature changes

What scientific and cultural resources can you use to describe local changes?

· Being in the period just after the end of Little Ice Age, ending just 250 years ago, learned from Tlingit legends told, sung, and written. (See Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve historical library at Glacier Bay, near Gustavus.)

· Isostatic rebound, after glaciers left land and have receded from Icy Strait at Pt. Gustavus/Pt. Carolus, moving back over 65 miles in just 250 years, uncovering ancient interstadial wood, and morphing from bare scraped striated rock to forested soil in my lifetime, visibly historical – the most recent historical revegetation showing plant succession before your very eyes. (see work by Fields, Glacier Bay)

· My house is 3 feet higher than when we built it in 1977, as the earth is rising 1.5 inches per year in Gustavus, the 2^nd highest land uplift outside of Hudson’s Bay. We “old-timers” still have boardwalks out from our doorways, as all was mud and water, and many roads could be kayaked down every October just 30 years ago. We all only had rubber boots. Boreal toads covered all land, and plugged roads jumping north to the mountains each fall. Now there are virtually no toads. Sandhill cranes stop by the thousands every April and Sept. to rest on their path, in boggy meadows that dry up every year. How long will the cranes continue to stop?

· Land in Gustavus has gone from alder – willow – cottonwoods - pine – spruce - hemlock as the land rises and dries out.

· The Natural History of Gustavus by Greg Streveler of Gustavus

· Juneau’s Discovery Foundation inservice on Hoonah land’s history

· Landmark Tree Program recognizing and mapping old-growth trees throughout S.E. Alaska

RESOURCES:

· First Alaskans statewide magazine of native business, culture and lifestyle

· The Wales Kingikmiut School video is EXCELLENT, full of interviews on climate change by elders. We could do the same in Gustavus/Hoonah/Elfin Cove/Pelican with elders, asking about weather, oceans, land rebound, rivers and salmon changes, elders’ stories.

How could I involve students in authentic scientific research

LIFE, NOVA, HISTORY CHANNEL

How could I integrate western scientific knowledge and traditional Native knowledge with students?

· Snow, a book by Ruth Kirk: “Natural history writer Ruth Kirk explores how animals and people survive in the snow; of glaciers, continental ice sheets, blizzards, and avalanches; and of the awesome hazards of Arctic and Antarctic explorations.” (Amazon.com)

All of these resources are excellent for”shining two lights on the same path.” (Clay Good)

The Great Sea

2010-03-03T18:58:00.000-08:00

Essential Question:
How are the Earth, atmosphere and cultures all connected?

[Photos: "Self Portrait, Boat, the Sea" by Fritz Koschmann; SV the Great Sea 40' catamaran, designed by Phil Bolger, built by Fritz Koschmann in Gustavus, registered in Glacier Bay -- used for Weather Bureau satellite ground-truthing in Icy Strait; whale watching (humpbacks) at Pt. Adolphus; daily and overnight charters in Icy Strait and Glacier Bay -- (I'm the deckhand/naturalist/cook!)]

Looking at the layers of Google Earth, the holistic aspect of the earth’s form superimposed by “oceans” of atmosphere and actual water bring a better world into focus. Offering this to students, giving opportunities and TD/You Tube/other info and imagery can bring to life your own world and an interest in your own sense of place and culture upon the land and sea.

Weather is something everyone can relate to.

Cirrus curling high-level wispy locks of hair

Stratus layer featureless forming sheets

Cumulus heap tall, lumpy clouds

Nimbus rain clouds bringing precipitation

Doing Weather Bureau work on our boat, the Great Sea, in Icy Strait to “ground truth” satellite information, we were given satellite photos to judge the Beaufort scale patterns on the waves. I found a better source of illustrations, and use it to this day, in the book titled

Rising of the Wind: Adventures Along the Beaufort Scale.

[The illustrator shows Beaufort #1 to #13, one per page; each page is divided into 3 parts of a tryptych, showing the wind's effect on land, near shore, and at sea; ocean waves are creatively illustrated and were immediately recognizable while I was recording the # on the Beaufort Scale for each scientific data entry in Icy Strait weather work.]

Those who spend days and lives on the sea have to recognize wave shapes, light patterns on water, to stay safe.

With students, it’s great searching local and regional weather maps online, or better yet visiting an airport weather station, showing day to day print outs visibly showing high and low pressure areas and changes. Interest is generated in weather work and cartography at a young age. I found this out staying with the “weather lady” of Yakutat one week in winter, and watching students come to look at maps.

What resources or ideas do you have to help students visualize their invisible atmosphere?

Living in Glacier Bay, ice and glaciers are of constant interest to students. Learning about the scientific caves drilled for short-term investigations in Norway, plus Antarctic ice sheet facts and other global ongoing changes bring ice powerfully alive: “ If all land ice melted away, the global average sea level would rise about 266 feet, with the Antarctic ice sheet contributing about 240 feet and the Greenland ice sheet contributing about 25 feet. “; Buried beneath Antarctica’s ice sheets is one of the world’s largest lakes – Lake Vostok – a body of water cut off from the rest of the planet since before the human race evolved. ” These facts invite students to research these and other elements of earth, atmosphere, and cultures.

What are the practical values of Teachers' Domain and National Geographic digital resources for your professional purposes?

Explanations of convection ( heat and mass transfer); atmospheric currents (wind); coriolis force; evaporation-condensation systems; wind zones; latitude importance to regional patterns; and climate patterns are creatively expressed and easily understood in the National Geographic, NASA, and TD videos and presentations.

Why is it difficult to discuss weather apart from the role of the ocean?

We named our catamaran The Great Sea, after a quote by Xenophanes, an ancient Greek
poet, who wrote:

"The Sea is the source of water and the source of wind;
for neither would blasts of wind arise in the clouds and blow out from within them,
except for the Great Sea,
nor would the streams of rivers
nor the rainwater in the sky exist but for the Sea;
but the Great Sea is the begetter
of clouds and winds and rivers."
by Xenophanes

I would invite students to research ancient as well as current poetry and writing about the
sea and the atmosphere, both "oceans" we live within and between; then write their own
image-full words relying on their own experiences. [Kenneth Koch in Sleeping on the Wing uses science concepts for basing poetry using free association with concepts and words, including fascinating works by students of all ages.]

READING OTHERS' BLOGS:
I give the following awards:

Most Interesting -- Explore AK! Fran
Best Writing - Arctic Updates Richelle
Best Design--EUUC Kaye (like the photos down the side—how’d you do that??)
Best Links -- GeoIntegrations Jennifer
Best of Show! -- AK Culture & Geoculture Class Kelly
Honorable Mention - Ben's (lots of teacher resources)

Oceans within, oceans surrounding

2010-02-25T20:39:00.001-08:00

Occccceannnnn… Climate, culture, ocean

40 million square miles

12,200 average feet deep Mariana Trench 36,198 feet deep

Ocean ridge mountain 40,000 miles long --

the longest mountain range known in our universe

Mauna Kea rising 33,474 feet from the ocean floor to the sky

Oooccccceannnnnn…71 % of our planet’s surface

Containing 97% of our planet’s water

Holding heat near the surface Deep as 2.5 miles

Providing 99 % of earth’s living space

ontaining the abyss habitat With less than 10% explored by humans

Challenger Deep is one mile deeper than Mt. Everest is high.

Avg. 2 degrees C or 39 degrees F

xtreme water pressure of 8 tons per square inch Gulf Stream flowing 300 times faster than the

Amazon flow Containing 20 million tons of gold Blue absorbed by phytoplankton, drifting

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents along mid-ocean ridges Holding new life

Blue whale, heart larger than an automobile

Grey whale migrating across 10,000 miles of ocean each year

Great Barrier Reef, seen from the moon. Oceans threatened by oil Fisheries fishing

Overfishing Pollution cities by the sea polluted coastal waters Plastic, plastic, plastic

Coral reef is degrading Coral reefs declining High seas least protected treaties agreements

Protections Critical marine habitats Coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangroves

Commercial fishing, illegal fishing, by-catch destruction Coastlines 315,000 miles,

circling equator 12 times Coastal zones, half the world’s population within 60 miles of coastlines

Rising sea level 4-10 inches over past 100 years Ice melting, oceans rising

Volcanoes from the oceans 10 % of earth’s surface covered with ice

Sea levels determined by ice not melting Occcceannnnns… Containing salt

Absorbing carbon dioxide Plankton forming the base of the food web Reefs threatened

Contamination, oil, plastics, destruction Ocean planet, ocean home, distress

OW Ocean planet, worth protecting Appreciating Recognizing water in us

Recognizing ourselves as encapsulated oceans of salty water, environments as ourselves

In ourselves, elements of the ocean entity.

Would students be interested in taking words and phrases from facts about oceans and turning them into their own poetry, then making music from the words, or adding drum beats? Use themes of thermal energy, underwater plant life/phytoplankton; seasonal patterns; seasonal changes on earth and in the water; solar energy; sea surface; temperature; winds; currents; evaporation; water circulation; ice; Gulf Stream; water density; thermohaline conveyor; others?

Consider LATTITUDE in understanding oceans, temperatures, effects on the land where we live.

In discussing and using GOOGLE EARTH for looking around the globe, consider showing the film LONGITUDE, to show how cultures transform as elements of the ocean become understood over time.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519S23K6RHL._SS500_.jpg

…”Longitude combines drama, history, and science into a stimulating, painstakingly authentic account of personal triumph and joyous discovery… The first story involves the successful 40-year effort of 18th-century clockmaker John Harrison…to solve the elusive problem of measuring longitude at sea. In 1714 the British Parliament had offered a generous reward to anyone who solved the problem, and Harrison devoted his life to that solution. The second story, some 200 years later, involves the effort of shell-shocked British Navy veteran Rupert Gould (Jeremy Irons) to restore the glorious clocks that Harrison had built. Like Harrison, Gould is the most admirable type of obsessive, but, also like Harrison, he risks his marriage to accomplish his difficult task.

Thousands of sailors perished at sea before Harrison's triumph changed history, but Longitude demonstrates that Harrison's glory was slow to arrive--and his prize money even slower. A fascinating study of 18th-century British politics and clashing egos in the arena of science, the film is both epic and intimate in consequence… Rallying after sickness to prove the integrity of their marvelous seafaring chronometers, the Harrisons still had to fight for official recognition, and Gould's restoration of the Harrison clockworks provides a fitting coda to this exceptional story about the thrill of discovery and the tenacity of remarkable men. --Jeff Shannon

*********

IN MY LIFE, my father was in the Navy off of the Aleutian Islands near Adak during WWII. He was from inland in North Carolina, so this was a whole new world for him, and he loved it. Ten years after the war, he brought his family back to Juneau, S.E. Alaska. I grew up rowing and going fishing, on the water a lot around Auke Bay, Tee Harbor, Lena Cove, and northern Admiralty Island. From the age of 18, I ran a small pleasure boat myself in the same region. Then I married a boat driver, boat builder, [See sailglacierbay.com)]and have proceeded to live my life on the water: charter fishing, subsistence set netting, working as a naturalist, kayaking with guests with humpback whales, exploring the outer coast off of Yakobi, traveling between Sitka and Gustavus, weather watching, sailing..

After helping build a catamaran in Gustavus for 10 years, we launched in the Salmon River, Icy Passage. After whale watching and cruising Glacier Bay doing overnight tours, we got a contract with the US Weather Bureau out of Juneau to "ground-truth" data received from satellites reading weather of over 20 knot winds off of the water surface in a study area from Pt. Adolphus on northern Chichagof Island to Pleasant Island in Icy Strait and east towards Hoonah.

The satellite would travel overhead for about 40 minutes during predicted high winds (using light reflected off of the ocean in satellite video). During this 40 minutes, Fritz would keep the boat headed into the wind during periods of 5 minutes, during which I recorded wind data -- direction, amplitude and Beaufort Scale number -- data from our anemometer attached to our 30-foot high sail mast, reading in the wheelhouse. We read weather data in the dark, in the wind, dealing with current and tides, trusting the instruments and our faith in the boat on the water. I learned a lot. There are patterns to the wind, changes with tides and currents, and patterns of the wind on water in open ocean and closer to large (Chichagof) and small island (Pleasant Island) shores.

We rode the sea and gave data to compare that coming from the satellites. I've never before felt like a scientist, nor a native using my local knowledge to stay in control and record nature. I realize how new the satellite data is, and how native stories and knowledge must be used to understand a longer period of time, from long before the satellites circled our earth.

Now seeing the videos of native villages, oceans currents, density, patterns of water directions, I can see how scientific data can mesh with native ways of knowing. It takes close knowledge of an area to decipher knowledge gathered from the sea. (Paul Marks, "..living by the moon, by the seasons, being interdependent on the sea.") I see images for artistic representation in the themes of subsistence: images of hunting, fishing, gathering, teaching, learning, celebration always with respect and honor for the land, the sea, the animals. (TD Living from Land and Sea): salmon, bowhead whale, seals, sealions, forage fish, sandlance. Dolly Garza, Tlingit and Haida woman from Sitka, states her obligation to protect native rights. She can hunt sea mammals, and understands subsistence, consumptive and artistic uses.