Module III - Blog It!

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

After you have reviewed all TD resources and completed activities for this module, it's time to Blog It!

• Explain: Complete the 3 Questions & 3 Colleagues assignment for this module.
• Extend: Include images and/or links to other resources you found useful.
• Evaluate: Reflect on the value of the content and resources in this module.

It's always a great time to check out your classmates' blogs. Seeing how others present their ideas and resources is interesting, informative and inspiring!

Module II - Everything is Connected

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

ENGAGE


Introduction
You don’t have to be a Zen Buddhist to recognize that, somehow or another, everything is connected. However, such understanding may come from widely divergent perspectives, depending on your cultural point of reference.

Inua II -- Van Zyle, by permission

For example, an indigenous Iñupiaq or Inuit elder living primarily by subsistence in a small village on the northern coast of the Arctic Ocean, everything is connected may be understood as Sila or Inua, the Spirit within everything that connects all life, time, energy and the physical world.

Such a view is not far removed from the geoscientist's understanding that everything is connected in the earth system; that the biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, cryosphere, and atmosphere are all interconnected and interdependent.

Or to take it a step further, consider how peering through deep time using immense radiotelescopes, the astrophysicist sees everything is connected within the unified field theory in which the four fundamental forces of the universe were unified as one force at the instant of the beginning of our universe--the beginning of time.

Though Spirit and cosmogenic forces are not completely interchangeable perspectives, both views are not mutually exclusive either. Thoughtful consideration of these different cultural ways of understanding our world reveals distinct similarities and surprising harmony. This module, and this entire course, will focus on the overlap or intersection between these two models of understanding our world and our place in it. In order to integrate Alaska Native ways of knowing with Western scientific ways, we will begin by exploring some of the cultural roles of traditional native knowledge in Alaska.

EXPLORE

Click on this Venn diagram adapted from Sidney Stephens' Handbook for Culturally Responsive Science Curriculum.

It's a useful illustration of many of the meaningful ways in which Traditional Native Knowledge and Western Science diverge as well as the common ground they share.

EXPLAIN

• What are some differences between traditional Native knowledge and Western science?
• Describe some of the common ground shared between these two world views.

EXTEND

• What are some educational implications or opportunities presented by applying both ways?
• What other resources may be useful in integrating both perspectives?

EVALUATE

• What are some of the values of knowing both ways?

Module II - Cultural Connections

ENGAGE

Cultural Connections

Traditional Native knowledge is often described as holistic. For this reason, this course is designed to focus on how the strengths of both ways of knowing can be used to create a stronger unity between the two; by finding connections between reductionistic Western science and holistic Native ways of knowing.
 
It Takes a Village
It's been said, it takes a village to raise a child. Teachers are being called upon more often to assist students to make relevant connections between what they learn in school and how it applies to their own lives, particularly among indigenous students who may struggle to reconcile the different, and sometimes discordant, worlds in which they live.

It makes good sense that teachers should develop strategies to help students make important life and career connections. After all, the time students spend with teachers is time they used to spend with their family and others learning in more traditional, unstructured, holistic ways.

Scientific Connections
Most of us learned the natural sciences not as an integrated, holistic study, but as separate courses with little connection to other disciplines; Biology, physics, chemistry, geology, etc., are typically taught separately in differing order to different ages. 

Connections to other branches of learning, such as social studies, language arts or other humanities, still remains largely the exception in most schools' curricula. Perhaps it was just understood that over time we'd put the pieces together on our own as we processed the information; or that specific content is learned more effectively as discrete components.

Without attempting to make a case one way or the other for how best to structure learning in our schools, it's safe to say that sequentially ordered, discrete science classes were never intended to be holistic.

EXPLORE

Native Scientists Making Connections

Later in this module we will learn from the Alaska Native Science Commission and the Alaska Federation of Natives that a great deal of thoughtful work has already been accomplished by the Native communities to integrate western scientific knowledge into their cultures. 

One of the most powerful ways in which the integration of diverse worlds can be seen is in the lives of indigenous people taking on the mantle of modern sciences while also embracing their traditional ways.

Teachers often choose their career for noble reasons--to make a positive difference in the lives of students. The same is true for Iñupiaq science teacher, Dustin Madden. Madden's decision to become a science teacher in Alaska creates a powerful example of the advantages and strengths of knowing both ways.
Watch this TD video:

Dustin Madden: Science Teacher.

Helpful Hint: Consider the merits of a Native Science Fair. For more information and great resources, go to Alaska Native Ways of Knowing.

EXPLAIN

• How do you think students may regard the importance of education or science careers as a result of teachers like Dustin Madden?
• How can non-indigenous and indigenous teachers help students to value both ways?

EXTEND
Consider the community or larger region where you live and teach.

• How can/do you use the human and cultural resources in your community to provide learning and/or career opportunities for your students?

EVALUATE

• What is your perspective on the role of teachers in assisting students to make connections between science in the classroom and the larger world outside.

Module II - Traditional Native Knowledge

ENGAGE

Traditional Native Knowledge
How is a Native understanding of Spirit to be understood from a western point of view? What is Spirit? What is Inua? What is Sila?

EXPLORE

Let's set the stage for our exploration of the cultural roles of Inuit traditional native knowledge by watching the TD video, People of the Arctic. As you watch the video, see if you can relate to the many strong connections between the Inuit and where they live.

People of the Arctic

Helpful Hint: Consider Frame, Focus Follow-up. Reading the brief background provided for each TD video is a great way Frame and Focus your time and learning.

ENGAGE

In what ways do traditional Native knowledge systems differ from Western science knowledge? What are the values of each system and how do they compliment each each other?

EXPLORE

To further illuminate the intersection between these two world views, please read the TD background essay for the TD video, The Spirit of Subsistence Living. It’s an excellent description of traditional native ways of knowing presented alongside modern scientific ways of knowing. It further discusses the value of integrating both world views.

After you've read the essay, watch the TD video, The Spirit of Subsistence Living. While watching the video, think back on the essay you've just read and the questions posed above. Imagine yourself in the role of one of the teachers visiting the village of Chevak, and think about how the world of Western science intersects with Cup'ik ways of knowing.

The Spirit of Subsistence Living.

Helpful Hint: Did you see the other TD resources associated with The Spirit of Subsistence Living? Keep those resources at your fingertips by saving materials you like in your TD folders.

EXPLORE SOME MORE

Alaska Native Science Commission
Now let's consider the perspective of the Alaska Native Science Commission (ANSC). Among other interests, the ANSC, "seek(s) participation of Alaska Natives at all levels of science." Go to the About Us link on their website and read the ANSC list of Mission and Concerns. Take a few moments to consider how their interests may align and/or differ from those of modern western science.

The ANSC essay Traditional Knowledge Systems in the Arctic states, "while it is not appropriate to compare scientific and traditional knowledge as equivalents, the use of traditional knowledge in scientific knowledge...means that the two knowledge bases will be in contact with each other as practitioners attempt to weave the two together." While detailing the value of traditional native knowledge, the ANSC essay also offers an indigenous perspective on the culture of modern science.

Read Traditional Knowledge Systems in the Arctic and note in particular the table comparing and contrasting both systems of knowledge. Continuing on the same page, review the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) Board Policy for Research.

EXPLAIN

• In what ways do traditional native knowledge compliment modern scientific knowledge?
  

EXTEND

• How do the ANSC and AFN perspectives help inform your view of the roles of modern and traditional ways of knowing?

EVALUATE

• How you personally value the "participation of Alaska Natives at all levels of science"?

Module II - Western Scientific Ways

ENGAGE

Western Scientific Ways

Now that we've spent some time exploring Native ways of knowing, let's take a look at how everything is connected from a strictly western scientific point of view. To better understand this point of view, we'll explore some of the discoveries of Galileo and Einstein, as well as more contemporary scientists who have greatly expanded our view of our world and its place in space and time. Even though it might be fun to travel back through time to better understand how discoveries change cultures, for now we'll have to settle for considering historical contexts and use our imaginations a bit.

Since the earliest efforts by ancient western cultures to formalize a more objective understanding of our universe, science has struggled to come to grips with its own shortcomings as it evolved along with the societies in which it developed. Take for example the comparatively recent emergence of experimental science and how it led to Galileo's, controversial at the time, confirmation of Copernicus's notion that the Earth is not the center of the universe; Though it's a well-accepted notion now, it was a radical idea in the 1600's.

EXPLORE

Galileo:Sun-Centered System

Helpful Hint: Check out the engaging TD Lesson Plan (9-12), Our Knowledge of the Universe.

EXPLAIN

• How did Galileo's discovery of our Heliocentric (Sun-centered) planetary system challenge traditional knowledge at the time?
• How can traditional knowledge sometimes become an obstacle to better understanding?

EXTEND

• How do you think Galileo helped demonstrate that everything is connected?

ENGAGE

300 years after Galileo, Einstein also perceived that underneath the confusion of various invisible forces and subatomic particles being discovered and described in his time, there must be some kind of simpler unity; That all the disparate forces and particles are all somehow connected; that everything is connected. In particular, Einstein hoped to live to discover the connection between gravity and electromagnetism, as discussed in this TD video;

EXPLORE

String Theory: A Strange New World

Helpful Hint: For more great articles, interviews, slide shows, interactives and video resources about string theory, visit NOVA's Elegant Universe.

EXPLAIN

• How did Einstein's discoveries challenge traditional knowledge at the time?
• How did Einstein help demonstrate that everything is connected?

ENGAGE

To bring us back to Earth, pun intended, our discoveries and questions about the origin of the Universe, and of the matter and energy that remains since the beginning of time, have created a larger, more integrated understanding our our planet; That Earth is a large, complex, dynamic, interconnected system created by, and subject to, the laws of the universe set in place some 14 billion years ago.

EXPLORE

To help us visualize Earth as a System, watch the TD video by the same name.

Earth as a System

EXPLAIN

• How have space missions and satellites helped integrate the sciences and shape the way we understand our planet?
• Describe some of the many different pathways for the flow of matter and energy you identify in Earth as a System? How are they all connected?

EXTEND

• How do you think our growing understanding of Earth as a System has changed our view of the world and our place in it?

EXPLORE SOME MORE

YouTube
YouTube resources are frequently used in this course to add interest and/or specific information to a topic. Consider this mash-up of modern physicists set to a nice ambient music soundtrack. Symphony of Science - 'We Are All Connected'.

Symphony of Science - 'We Are All Connected' 

Helpful Hint: Many schools' filter YouTube from its Internet service because some of its content is objectionable and inappropriate for educational purposes. You may wish to download YouTube resources from your personal service and save it on your computer for later classroom use.

Otherwise, school IT personnel may be able to provide an approved Internet path that bypasses the school's content filter for teachers.

EXPLAIN

• How is Everything Connected literally and metaphorically?
• How has western science changed our view of the world and our place in it?
• What are some of the challenges cultures face when confronted with dramatic new discoveries?

EXTEND

• What are some examples of how cultures have adapted to new knowledge about our universe/world, or;
• What are some examples of how cultures continue to struggle with new knowledge about our universe/world.

EVALUATE

• Reflect on the value of western science in a world of diverse cultures, values and beliefs.

Module II - Introduction to Google Earth

Do you Google Earth? By now almost everybody with a computer either has or will use this amazing geographic information system (GIS). Whether for directions to an unfamiliar place, finding the closest pizza parlor, buying a new home or planning your next travel adventure, there are as many useful and interesting uses for Google Earth as there are people using it. And it's free!

If do not already have Google Earth downloaded and installed on your computer, please do so now. While it is free and easy, it is also a large program and may take a while to download, depending on your Internet service.

While you're online using this powerful GIS program, you'll find it runs more quickly and smoothly if your Internet service is up to speed. And because it's large, it can also slow down your computer if you have too many applications open at the same time you are using Google Earth.

If you're new to Google Earth, spend some time learning how to navigate using the onscreen controls. You can fly, zoom in and out, go submarine and even view the landscape in 3D. It's fun and fascinating for students and adults. But be careful. You might lose track of time exploring the world.

If you run into any problems using Google earth, or if you want tips on some of its myriad features, YouTube is a great place to find tutorials, pointers, examples and insights.

ENGAGE 

Where on Earth were you born?

Mountains, valleys or plains; rivers, lakes or deserts - we all live in and rely on landscapes shaped by tremendous forces. It’s likely your parents had good reasons for living where you were born, and some of those reasons probably relate to landscape one way or another.

So, here's a question: Where on Earth were you born? Not the hospital, house or even the town, necessarily. But where on Earth were you born? What landscape? What physical environment? Where on Google Earth were you born?

EXPLORE 

Google Earth 
For this activity, use Google Earth to visit and represent the landscape of your birth, or some other personally significant place. You can fly directly there if you know how and where. Or you can type the location in the search box in the Google Earth menu, and the program will take you there automatically.

When you get there, spend some time looking around. Experiment with perspective by trying different elevations and directions. What do you see? How would you describe the landscape? 


EXPLAIN 

Special Assignment 

Add a description of the landscape of your birthplace to your first blog post describing a special place.

• Landscape is a general term that can mean many things to many people. Most adults are familiar with basic terms: mountain, valley, plain, canyon, plateau, lake, river, ocean. Other, more specific, terms add precision and depth to descriptions. For example, flood plain instead of plain. Or, fjord instead of channel. Please feel free to use terms comfortable or familiar to you, but use of specific geographic, scientific terminology whenever possible is always appropriate.

• Describe any evident forces shaping the landscape. (geologic faults, volcanoes, rivers, glaciers, wind, ocean, etc.) 

EXTEND 

• Include a Google Earth screenshot or two that provide the best perspectives on the landscape you are describing

EVALUATE

• Describe how Google Earth or other global information systems changes the way you and your students look at our world.

Module II - Blog It!

After you have viewed and read all resources required for this week's lesson, It's time for a New Post. Please offer your response to the 3 Questions & 3 Colleagues weekly assignment.

• Now is a good time to review the evaluation criteria that will be used to evaluate your blog.
• Please post before 8:00 AM Monday for the previous week's module.