Cudahy General Mitchell Fifth-Graders Follow Scientists In Antarctica Submitted By School District of Cudahy
Posted: Jan. 13, 2011
January 11th was an exciting day for General Mitchell School 5th Grade Students, in Cudahy WI. They received a phone call from Dr. Steve Hasiotis, and Dr. Peter Flaig directly from Antarctica. The call came from a remote camp on the Beardmore Glacier, via satellite phone.
On this day the students gathered around the speakerphone to ask questions about the many emails they have received. Many questions were asked, one specifically about what caused the mass extinction between the Permian and Triassic periods. The scientists answer was complex, they don't think it was just one event, but many events over a half million years that caused two different extinctions. Some of the events like climate change were probably caused by volcanoes, some by a rising ocean and some by a comet or meteor. No one knows for sure but this is the best guess right now.
It has been very exciting for this group of 5th grade students because they have been able to follow the findings of these scientists since November. This study is being funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to search for and research fossils from the Permian and Triassic periods, looking for evidence of climate change and reasons for the largest mass extinction in history. A requirement of the grant funded by NSF is to communicate with elementary school students. The 5th grade students at General Mitchell School are one of 10 other schools in the country participating in this geological study.
The student’s collaboration with the scientists on this study has been worked into their social studies and science classes. The students participate in many activities structured to give greater meaning to their experience.
Other activities the students have engaged in:
• Developed and mapped the locations of the scientists in Antarctica.
• Reviewed and discussed the actual NSF study proposal.
• Researched scientific vocabulary words used in proposal.
• Discussed on the scientific method used by the Antarctica study, and comparing it to studies done in the classroom.
• Students participated in a rock hunting activity and compared it to the experiences of the scientist in Antarctica.
• Learned how scientists collect, classify and catalogue specimens
• Students adopted and collaborated with Carroll University to visit their geology department for some hands-on work.
• Studied climate and climate changes and related what they learned to how it affects Antarctica and the rest of the world. Students kept a daily excel graphic on a blog that compares the temperature in Cudahy to that of Antarctica.
• Students are reading novels about survival relating them to the way the scientists live and survive in Antarctica.
To conclude their experience these students will be designing and conducting an experiment of their choosing. They will write a proposal and include the scientific method, vocabulary and write and article about their experience that they will put into a class journal.
The scientists will conclude their exploration of Antarctica this January. Once their findings are complete they will be published, and the Students from General Mitchell School will be noted for their participation.
To follow General Mitchells’ 5th graders and the many activities related to this exploration visit their blog at: http://gmgrade5.weebly.com/science.html
Posted: Jan. 13, 2011
January 11th was an exciting day for General Mitchell School 5th Grade Students, in Cudahy WI. They received a phone call from Dr. Steve Hasiotis, and Dr. Peter Flaig directly from Antarctica. The call came from a remote camp on the Beardmore Glacier, via satellite phone.
On this day the students gathered around the speakerphone to ask questions about the many emails they have received. Many questions were asked, one specifically about what caused the mass extinction between the Permian and Triassic periods. The scientists answer was complex, they don't think it was just one event, but many events over a half million years that caused two different extinctions. Some of the events like climate change were probably caused by volcanoes, some by a rising ocean and some by a comet or meteor. No one knows for sure but this is the best guess right now.
It has been very exciting for this group of 5th grade students because they have been able to follow the findings of these scientists since November. This study is being funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to search for and research fossils from the Permian and Triassic periods, looking for evidence of climate change and reasons for the largest mass extinction in history. A requirement of the grant funded by NSF is to communicate with elementary school students. The 5th grade students at General Mitchell School are one of 10 other schools in the country participating in this geological study.
The student’s collaboration with the scientists on this study has been worked into their social studies and science classes. The students participate in many activities structured to give greater meaning to their experience.
Other activities the students have engaged in:
• Developed and mapped the locations of the scientists in Antarctica.
• Reviewed and discussed the actual NSF study proposal.
• Researched scientific vocabulary words used in proposal.
• Discussed on the scientific method used by the Antarctica study, and comparing it to studies done in the classroom.
• Students participated in a rock hunting activity and compared it to the experiences of the scientist in Antarctica.
• Learned how scientists collect, classify and catalogue specimens
• Students adopted and collaborated with Carroll University to visit their geology department for some hands-on work.
• Studied climate and climate changes and related what they learned to how it affects Antarctica and the rest of the world. Students kept a daily excel graphic on a blog that compares the temperature in Cudahy to that of Antarctica.
• Students are reading novels about survival relating them to the way the scientists live and survive in Antarctica.
To conclude their experience these students will be designing and conducting an experiment of their choosing. They will write a proposal and include the scientific method, vocabulary and write and article about their experience that they will put into a class journal.
The scientists will conclude their exploration of Antarctica this January. Once their findings are complete they will be published, and the Students from General Mitchell School will be noted for their participation.
To follow General Mitchells’ 5th graders and the many activities related to this exploration visit their blog at: http://gmgrade5.weebly.com/science.html
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