The (Cold and) Windy City Chicago's famous football team, the Bears, was not named for the polar variety, but I came to this city to share about my Arctic expedition— a story of polar bears and sea ice! I was selected to deliver a workshop at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) conference along with two other Grosvenor Teacher Fellows, Mrs. Bugg from North Carolina and Mr. Szymanski from right here in Chicago. We wanted to let teachers know about this amazing National Geographic/Lindblad Expeditions fellowship that brings teachers on voyages of discovery all over the world.
In Dr. Shubin's talk, and Your Inner Fish, he also tells the story of his research team's 2004 discovery in the Canadian Arctic of Tiktaalik roseae, a 375 million year old fossil fish that has both fish and amphibian traits. Thus, Tiktaalik is an important transitional fossil between fish and tetrapods (creatures walking on land). In delivering his address, Dr. Shubin emphasized that science is a collaborative endeavor; that is, scientists work together to conduct investigations and solve problems. Though now based at the University of Chicago, Dr. Shubin had also served as Provost of Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History. I planned to visit this museum before I left Chicago.
Our Presentation This morning, about 30 teachers attended our session, and they were a very enthusiastic audience! Our talk was entitled "Exploring Global Regions and Resources with National Geographic." Mrs. Bugg, Mr. Szymanski, and I had all taken different voyages aboard the National Geographic Explorer through our fellowship: Mrs. Bugg journeyed through the Canadian Maritimes, Mr. Syzmanski got to explore Antarctica, and I, of course, was cruising through Arctic Svalbard. Our talk introduced the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship and described our particular voyages using expedition photos. We emphasized the importance of imparting geo-literacy to students; that is, an awareness of global interactions, interconnections, and implications. So, we tried to describe how our adventures enriched our own geo-literacy of the regions we explored and how it impacted our teaching. Expeditionary learning can be incredibly powerful!
Soon I would be actually traveling back to Hawai'i. I have learned a lot, but I am anxious to get back home to the warm weather and my wonderful Star of the Sea 'ohana. Aloha Chicago!
12 Comments
john
3/19/2015 11:12:39 am
what's a red eye flight and how was the snow was it soft or hard. Did you take any pictures of the specimens. Also how was the coffe
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Miss V
3/19/2015 11:22:22 am
John, a red eye flight leaves late at night...so you leave Honolulu late in the evening and fly all night. The snow was pretty hard-- good for snowballs! And the coffee I got at a place called Dunkin' Donuts...it is delicious, but unfortunately we do not have it here!
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Ely
3/19/2015 11:13:12 am
Your trip to Chicago sounded fun! I would have liked to go to the Field of Museum of Natural History and look at all the cool artifacts there. I assume that you had a good time there.
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Miss V
3/19/2015 11:31:07 am
Ely, it was fun! It was very similar to the Natural History Museum we went to in DC...but there were no butterflies :)
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David
3/19/2015 11:15:54 am
I think that it is super awesome that you got to go to Chicago for the NSTA. I think that the story about Tiktaalik roseae was very interesting and i wish that i was a teacher to go this meeting.
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Miss V
3/19/2015 11:38:41 am
David, maybe someday you can go! (when you become a science teacher) :)
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Kylee Redoble
3/19/2015 11:28:42 am
That sounds so fun but that much people!! i can't stand that. I wish i came and i hope u had fun. thanks for sharing this experience with us.
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Liam
3/19/2015 11:32:03 am
No fair! I've always wanted to go to Chicago. Your trip sounded super fun. Next time you go say hi to Sue for me!
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Amber
4/7/2015 11:49:51 am
I hope I can go there.
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Alex Oda
4/7/2015 04:07:51 pm
Sounds like you had a fun trip Miss Veresan. It looks like you had a good time.
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Kahanui
5/27/2015 05:07:25 am
You had many good facts and other things about how to save the polar bears
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Rina
6/9/2015 06:24:22 am
It looks like you had a lot of fun there! I wish that I could go to Chicago sometime! I'll miss you a lot next year. Have fun in D.C.
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AuthorThis blog contains occasional dispatches from my science classroom and professional learning experiences. Thank you for reading! Archives
October 2024
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Cristina Veresan
Science Educator |
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