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K-12 PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS TRANSLATE THEIR OCEANOGRAPHY FIELD

Atlantic Ocean. Cedar Island. Parramore Island. Wachapreague Inlet. Club House Point. VIMS, ESL. Wachapreague Rd. Periwinkle. Starfish. Sea Urchin. Profiling the Beach on Cedar Isl. Trawling in the estuary. Seine fishing. K-12 PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS TRANSLATE THEIR OCEANOGRAPHY FIELD

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K-12 PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS TRANSLATE THEIR OCEANOGRAPHY FIELD

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  1. Atlantic Ocean Cedar Island Parramore Island Wachapreague Inlet Club House Point VIMS, ESL Wachapreague Rd. Periwinkle Starfish Sea Urchin Profiling the Beach on Cedar Isl. Trawling in the estuary Seine fishing K-12 PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS TRANSLATE THEIR OCEANOGRAPHY FIELD EXPERIENCE FOR USE IN THEIR FUTURE CLASSROOMS Session No. 27 Booth# 80 Paper No. 27-4 CESSNA, Gretchen, Chemistry Dept, James Madison University, MSC 4501, Harrisonburg, VA 22807, cessnaga@jmu.edu, NATALE, Caitlin, IDLS Program, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807, natalece@hotmail.com, and ST. JOHN, Kristen, Geology & Environmental Science Dept, James Madison University, MSC 6903, Harrisonburg, VA 22807, stjohnke@jmu.edu Summary: Oceanography for Teachers is an undergraduate upper-level science course taught at JMU for K-12 pre-service teachers. Making oceanography content relevant to future teachers of such widely ranging grade bands can be particularly challenging. However, a field experience at the VA Eastern Shore and a related project helped students take ownership over ocean science content, making it more relevant and applicable to the particular K-12 grade band they plan to teach. Prior to the field experience the instructor reduced student novelty space and guided them in developing research questions to investigate on the field trip1-2. Students shifted roles from investigator to teacher for their post-field trip project, which required each student to develop a classroom activity for the grade band they plan to teach based on the shared field experience. Highlighted are two examples of student projects, created for grade bands at opposite ends of the K-12 spectrum. Example 1:K-1st GradeExercise on Coastal Ocean Life. The benefits of a hands-on experience that the field trip provided led to the idea of creating a similar situation for children in a classroom. Information from The Project Learning Tree3 was adapted to create a lesson for the kindergarten or 1st grade classroom. By using shells from organisms found on the field trip, a hands-on activity was formed that gives children practice in using their sense of touch to make observations and identify objects found at the coast. Investigating the natural world by using the senses is a VA SOL4. In addition, by sharing stories about where these objects were collected by the teacher, she can increase the interest of the students. Example 2:9th-12th Grade Exercise on Tides. Unusually high water during the field trip was the inspiration for this high school Earth science activity which addresses VA SOLs4 on patterns and causes of tides. The water covering the streets was a powerful experience for the pre-service teachers on the trip, and a potentially engaging story to tell students as they learn about tides. In the lesson students use lunar phase data and tide data recorded at the Wachapreague Tide Gauge Station5 to discover relationships between tidal ranges and lunar phases. Because students interpret the data before the teacher lectures about tides, they, like real scientists, are given an opportunity to grapple with data and attempt to construct a meaningful understanding of it. Background: It is assumed that before this lesson students have studied the phases of the moon and have learned the definitions of perigee and apogee. Causes of tides will be discussed in detail in subsequent lessons. The role of the Coriolis effect may also be discussed in subsequent lessons if desired. VA Earth Science SOLs4 addressed are ES.1 (data and graph interpretation) and ES.11(patterns and causes of tides). All tide and wind data for Wachapreague was obtained on NOAA’s Tides and Currents page5. Part 1: Predicted and Observed Water Levels in Close Correlation Students first observe tide data from August 2009, a month with no significant storms and no large deviations between astronomically predicted and observed water levels. A series of questions enables students to discover relationships between tidal ranges and lunar phases. Sample Questions: 1. Calculate the tidal range for the dates of the full moon, third quarter, new moon, and 1st quarter. Which moon phases seem to coincide with the largest tidal ranges? Can you explain why this might be so? Draw a picture to support your explanation. 2. How might the proximity of the apogee or perigee to a full or new moon affect the range? Part 2: Significant Storms/ NE Winds Lead to Large Differences Between Astronomically Predicted and Observed Water Levels: Sample Questions: 1. Can you find any times on either graph where the difference between the predicted and observed water level is greater than 1 ft? Hypothesize about possible causes for the higher than predicted tides. 2. What do you notice about the wind speeds and gusts immediately before & during the September days with large differences between measured and predicted tide heights? Exercise Objectives: • Students will describe the variety of textures • Students will demonstrate how they use their sense of touch to explore and respond to the environment around them • Students will practice using their sense of touch to identify objects specifically found in mud flats, marshes, and the surrounding water. Virginia Standard of Learning (SOL 1.1): The student will conduct investigations in which differences in physical properties are observed using the senses, and simple experiments are conducted to answer questions. Background: Mud Flats, Marshes, and the water surrounding these areas are home to specific types of animals and plants. The following is a list of life that we observed on our trip: Blue Crabs Plankton Clams Star Fish Periwinkles Birds Sea Urchins Grasses Worms Jelly Fish Fiddler Crabs Fish Seaweed Mosquitoes Snails Sand Dollars Oysters Materials: • Five boxes with a hole cut out of the top. The hole should be no larger than necessary for a hand to fit through comfortably. • Easel/Board • Student Worksheet • Five items from the life list (for example: star fish, sea urchin, jelly fish, seaweed, periwinkle, clam) Photo courtesy of VIMS and Steve Oden (MsiC) The Field Trip: When? Sept. 10-13, 2009 Where? Virginia Institute of Marine Science Eastern Shore Lab, Wachapreague Estuary, Cedar Island, and Assateague Island, VA. Why? To provide future teachers with discovery-based, hands-on coastal ocean learning experience. What do we do? The field experience for teachers is modeled after Schwimmer & Hester1 (2008), and St. John2 (2009). Student explore the near shore marine environment and regional barrier islands to investigate questions defined in class prior to the trip. We spend time in the estuary (on boats and on mudflats) and on barrier islands. We make observations and collect data to characterize the estuary in terms of water chemistry, circulation, life, and bottom sediments and how these interrelate. Student-GeneratedResearch Questions for 2009 Field Trip: • What is the water salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature? What is the geographic variability and the vertical (water column) variability? • What is the tidal range? What type of tidal pattern? • What are the different types of life in this environment? What is the abundance and diversity of species in different habitats? What adaptations are the that help them live in this environment? • What are the nutrient levels in the coastal waters? • What evidence is there of barrier island retreat (or growth)? Comparison to historical data. Changes in shape of beach, existence of overwash fans, inlets, material exposed on the beach or marsh setting? • What types of sediment are there? • What direction is the longshore current? Evidence? What are the post-field trip expectations? Students (1) write field reports, and (2) develop original classroom activity-plans that draw directly from their field experiences, geared towards the grade band they plan to teach, and tied to state and national standards. Procedure: • Discuss the sense of touch. How is it used? What if they didn’t have it? • Show students a variety of objects in the room and have them list adjectives to describe these objects. • Choose 5 objects from the given list and put each in a box without the children seeing. • Have each child reach into the box and feel each object. Have them describe how the object feels and record it on their worksheet. 5. Remove the objects without the students seeing and place them on the table in any order. 6. Allow students to touch the objects again and then have them decide which box each object was in. 7. Have each child share their conclusions. Why did they choose what they did? What went into making their decision? What characteristics helped them distinguish the objects? 8. Go over with the class what object was in each box. Go over the characteristics that helped distinguish each object. 9. Discuss how touch was important in this activity and how they use touch in their everyday lives. What were the difficulties of using touch to gather data? What were the benefits? References: • Schwimmer, R.A., & Hester, P.R., 2008. Synthesizing Process and Pedagogy in the Development of a Field Marine Science course for K-8 Teachers, Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 56 n. 5, p. 394-400. • St. John, K.,(2009). Oceanography Professional Development in Virginia via Collaboration, Field-Integration, and Inquiry, The Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations, v. 10, p. 29-42. 3. http://www.plt.org/ 4. http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/science/courses/stds_earth_sci.pdf 5. http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/noaatidepredictions/viewDailyPredictions.jsp?Stationid=8631044 Follow-up Class Discussion: 10. Describe the different types of life: • How do they move? [crawl, swim] • Where do they live? [on the beach, in the water, in the sand] • Do the animals have skeletons? [hard parts vs. soft parts: jelly fish, worms, horseshoe crabs]; Where do animals have skeletons? [inside, outside] Wachapreague Tide Gauge Station Flooded Wachapreague street after a Nor’easter Floodwaters at VIMS oyster research lab

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