Essential Question: V

How are climate, cultures and oceans all connected?

Our oceans covering approximately 70% of our Earth surface, it is one of our main resources of life on this planet.  The oceans also regulate our weather and climate daily, plus provides mostly us with oxygen for the human and animal population.

We have seven great Oceans that create basins on this one planet: North Pacific, South Pacific, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean.  Without these oceans where would we be?

All the oceans gifts are interconnected circulation system powered by tides, wind, and the Earth daily movement. This helps with the sea level changes as plate tectonics cause the volume of oceans basins and the height of the land to change daily. Most of the Earth’s water 97% approximately comes from the oceans.

One big part of the water cycle is connected to all the earth’s reservoirs and evaporation and precipitation process. The oceans are connected to major lakes, rivers, and waterways because all the major water heads drain into the oceans. Another good part is that the rivers and streams transport nutrients, salts, sediments and other etc things into oceans.

However the oceans are very large but the resources are still limited in many ways. We are still exploring how to use the raw materials from the oceans and to help save our planet. 

The oceans are a major influence on weather and climate with dominating the Earth’s energy, water and carbon systems. Also the oceans absorb lots of our solar radiation.  The oceans will always have unique influence on our climate change by absorbing, storing and moving heat, carbon, and water. 

By our science data first life is thought to have started in the ocean but which ocean?
 

The oceans supplies us with freshwater, because most rains comes off the oceans currents.  We get foods, medicines, and minerals and energy resources and it also supplies us with jobs and helps support our nations economy.
It serves like a highway for domestic and foreign transportation for people and goods. 

We live in a global population of where people mostly live in coastal areas.  It gives us recreation areas, and rejuvenates our soul of breathing fresh air, with a discovery in many unknown cultures.

We can’t forget about how the Ice Age helped develop the ocean heat currents, energy and shifting of global warming over the years. It made people and animals migrate to different locals to survive.  We all are responsible of caring and sustaining the oceans cleanness for all humans to use and to get resources from. 

We are still exploring the oceans and all its richness that is being offered to us. In fact we are so curiosity and inquiring how to better our understanding of the ocean systems and opportunities.  In time, it will require many chemists, biologist, engineers, geologists, meteorologists, and many other science and technology people using new ways of thinking to use the natural resources from all the oceans. 

A few questions:

Can we completely live off the oceans for all of our resources?

Will it ever be possible to build towns or cities on the oceans floors to survive?

Module 4

 Module IV



Essential Question: How do stories of cataclysmic events help inform students about geosciences and cultures?


We live in an uncertain world and cataclysmic events occur in a matter of moments. When we take a look back to New Orleans and Hurricane "Katrina,” we see how natural disasters can wipe out an entire city and their entire rich heritage in an instant.



Students quickly become interested in these events because they realize that these catastrophes can hit home, or may know someone who has been impacted by a tragic event like Katrina. They want to know why it hit, when it did, and if something like this will ever occur again (specifically in their location). The education about how it may hit again may enable them to partake in effective early warning systems better, as well as learning more about housing durability.


The aftermath of Katrina hurt the culture of New Orleans because it leaves a deep scar behind; a scar that symbolizes the constant reminder of how tragedy can strike at any time. It affected students, families, young adults, sports, and the norms of life along the river in Louisiana.


Learning about these events, and why they occur can help to prevent such terrible aftermaths from occurring when the next natural disaster hits. The Levees that were supposed to stand tall against the storm got tested and now the people of that area know what they need as well as the rest of America.



This natural disaster not only hit Louisiana, or just New Orleans, it hit America's heart; showing us that we can never be too prepared. It really brought a lot of people back home when they realized so many people lost their homes, communities and lives. When you go to New Orleans, people's faces tell their stories; they are worn and battered souls.

This disaster was bringing states and a nation of people together like you never seen before. It takes America to rebuild a place of rich history like New Orleans. It will take a nation at heart and time to grieve the lost and to rebuild a community. Lastly, trying to get the new generation to understand the severity of these cataclysmic events.

Geoscience is always going to be a mystery of our worst nightmares because we can’t predict the outcomes of our fatal earth structure. We have made hand devices to predict the earth and atmosphere movements daily and it constantly out-smarts us daily. So we are really at the beckon call of any cataclysmic events.

                                                        

Module 3

Essential Question: How are landscapes formed and how, in turn, are cultures shaped by their landscapes?

From my readings, I have learned that landscapes have evolved over time from glaciers, erosion, and the constant movement of plate tectonics. This knowledge will help us to understand how people in Alaska have adapted to life in certain climates.  

It’s hard to describe each part of Alaska since Alaska is made up of so many climates, but I think that it’s fair to say that Alaska’s climates can be broken into two categories: interior, and coastal regions.

For example, Seward, AK is located in a coastal region so its main source of business is fishing. As a result of its location, the culture of Seward is primarily based around water, fishing, marine life, charters, and tourism. In the summer, citizens of Seward celebrate the success of their fishing trips. Part of their culture has been to always appreciate the sport of fishing and share what you have earned with others. Another part of this culture on the coastal region is to use the water for sporting activities such as boating, jet skiing, and kayaking.

The interior of Alaska is quite different than life on the coasts. The interior regions are filled with more wilderness and surrounding mountains, and in turn, citizens endure a much harsher lifestyle. Temperatures can change from forty degrees above zero to forty degrees below zero in one day. This fluctuation in temperature can be a result from the mountains in Denali. Citizens in this climate have adjusted to these landscapes by building more durable homes for their warmth and high winds. Hunting is a major sport and source of food in these regions as well. During the summer, as well, the enriched soil permits large, plentiful vegetables to be grown and many partake in gardening.

In summary, not only have the landscapes shaped the culture of citizens in Alaska, but the citizens and their ever-changing cultures have changed the natural landscapes as well. 

Module II

Module II, Part II
Essential Question: How is everything connected from the perspectives of indigenous peoples and Western scientists? What are the advantages to knowing both ways?

While working in the rural bush areas daily and seeing the scientific ways and the (normal) native ways tends to make me wonder the advantage of using this method.  Over time the native people didn’t take advantage of the western ways, until they figured out, it does make things faster for their environment.

Spending time with Elders, parents and students daily listening about their hunting trips and the land that they covered daily for a feasible reward of food. They patrol certain areas due to the greater the hunt and easier terrain on snow machines, boats or four wheelers to make hunt successful, and to get home safely to feed their families.

Now they use more western devices to help them indicate where they are going to and coming from as a safety net.  They also still use their own traditional mind-set and beliefs when all gadgets fail in sum zero temperatures.  One advantage for our school students is that they all have laptops to take out to hunt with, so when they are at camp they make movies and come back to show us their great hunt. Rather than tell us all the stories play by play.  What they enjoy the most is when their Elders goes with them and teach them the traditional ways as well.

Lastly, this advantage of connections gives the native society a connection to the “outside” world; children are able to see what a more modernized society consists of.  One the flip side, westernized societies are able too see what the rural life in Alaska is like through integration of technology as well. 

Module 1

Essential Question: 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?


Technology it will give everyone a well-rounded view of the world at hand. It offers the uniqueness of pinpointing specific cultural aspects, and also provides graphics to explain the native cultures in Alaska, as well as the world. The integration of modern technology has provided society with more resources to gain knowledge than traditional library materials years ago ever could. The world is changing and we need to be a part of that vast change, not only to better our environment, but also to teach our students.  Native Alaskans have used this digital system to educate the nation about the reality of life out in the bush. Sharing their knowledge and experiences is important for Native Alaskans to show the rest of the world how their culture is preserved in their community through education. Utilizing digital systems has also been a significant tool in showing the Westernized societies of the United States the real way of life out in rural Alaska; helping to clarify many unrealistic views that so many have.


Native Alaskans cannot only use digital resources as a way to share their culture and traditions with the rest of the world, but they can use modern technology to help better their own environment as well. Many rural Alaskan communities can learn what other, westernized, societies are doing to provide more sustainable energy and resources through technology. Domains like Google Earth is a great way for Native Alaskans to see what life looks like in other, more modernized, areas, and can enhance their beliefs that anything is possible.


Since the time of man, science has always been a mystery, and misunderstood by Western societies. Technology and resources in modernized societies of the United State often refer to these tools as “Western Science.” Philosophers and historians define modern-day science as the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. Western science methods are used to collect data, provide communication, and use experimentation variables.

In talking to Elders, it seems Westernized science years ago consisted of watching the river and ocean currents because the way that the currents changed provided them with the data they needed about the land; they were able to predict by the way of the currents if hunting seasons would be successful or not. 


COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS

One big problem is communication problems often arise from the differences between Western science and Native people, like many children learn about their environment.  The holistic way, in which Native Americans have traditionally investigated their environment, everything is contextual.  The Elders are struggling to answer questions asked by Western scientists.