MELTING ICEBERGS

To those of us in the northeast corridor, global warming\melting ice caps are an intriguing topic when you consider the temperatures and snowfall amounts the past two winters.  In fact, in the past 25 days, lawns have been snow covered for 21 of them.  This bit of information would guide me to research why this has occurred due to melting caps.  Has the jet stream been affected?  Have the melting caps caused an influx of storms and extreme temperatures?  You can consider the recent flooding in the west and harsh winter here in the northeast.  Is this an effect from the melting caps?

I've not researched this topic as much as I maybe should have.  I do think the question should be what will happen if the polar caps continue to melt.  Some research says the contraction of the Arctic ice cap is accelerating global warming. Snow and ice usually form a protective, cooling layer over the Arctic. When that covering melts, the earth absorbs more sunlight and gets hotter.  In addition to this, Melting glaciers and land-based ice sheets also contribute to rising sea levels, threatening low-lying areas around the globe with beach erosion, coastal flooding, and contamination of freshwater supplies. Rising seas would severely impact the United States as well. Scientists project as much as a 3-foot sea-level rise by 2100. According to a 2001 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study, this increase would inundate some 22,400 square miles of land along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, primarily in Louisiana, Texas, Florida and North Carolina (NRDC.ORG)

It's apparent the melting caps present a major concern.  As educators we can develop lessons which analyze this information and have students determine what can be done to reverse the trend.  Lessons can be adapted from elementary to the most advanced college level classrooms.  This is a worldly issue which must be discussed, debated and studied.

REFERENCES
http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/qthinice.asp

STEM Lesson

In this weeks's assignment, I adapted a motion lesson Ive utilized in the past using K'nex.  As I was designing the lesson I came to realize I often implement the 5 E's, I think all lesson should incorporate these aspects in order to be successful.  Obviously all componenets are essential, but I think elaboration and extension carry the most weight.  It's imperative we develop lessons that are meaningful and relate content to the student's interest.  That being said, I did struggle a bit with this assignment and think I crammed too much into this lessson.  I implemented too much of the unit, which can be overwhelming to some students, rather than focusing and on one ar two concepts.  It was a perfomance assessment, which, I think I may also struggle with time constraints now that I reflect back on it.

FOR ALL TEACHERS INTERESTED

On 11 January, 2011, Google is  launching the inaugural Google Science Fair. They have partnered with NASA, CERN, National Geographic, Scientific American and the LEGO Group to create a new STEM competition that is more open, accessible and global than ever before. Google is reaching out to educators prior to launch to let you know “the Google Science Fair is coming” and to extend an invitation to schools and teachers to get involved early in the global competition.  
To sign up for fun and free resource kits for your classroom or school (with bookmarks, stickers, posters and more!) and a reminder notification when GSF registration opens, please visit the Google Science Fair at: http://www.google.com/sciencefairThe Google Science Fair is a global competition that any student aged 13 - 18 from around the world is eligible to enter. Students can enter as individuals or as teams of up to three. There is no entry fee and registration and submission will happen online. The deadline for submissions will be the 4 April, 2011. The Science Fair will culminate in a “once in a lifetime” celebratory event at Google headquarters in California in July 2011 where finalists will compete for internships, scholarships and prizes in front of a panel of celebrity scientist judges including Nobel Laureates, tech visionaries and household names.
Google wants to celebrate and champion great young scientific talent and give students from around the world the opportunity to compete for amazing experiences, prizes, scholarships and internships.  Google hopes you are as excited about this upcoming competition as they are!

Something happened to my first blog so here goes try number 2.