Our neighbor is an elementary school teacher and a few years ago, she told me how she had shared a live-streaming of bald eagle eggs hatching in their nest. Without ever leaving their seats, her students saw nature at its best. Those kids probably didn’t realize how lucky they were to witness something so incredible, something the generation before them wouldn’t have dreamed of experiencing.
Technology has made the impossible possible, the once inaccessible now totally doable. As an educator, I marvel at the opportunities we can give our students without ever leaving the confines of our classrooms. This free Virtual Field Trip to Peru is one of those opportunities.
WHAT:
Live Science & Geography Lesson: How Nature Works in Coastal Peru: The Amazing Biodiversity of a Coastal Ecosystem
Join fisheries scientist Matias Caillaux, from The Nature Conservancy, to explore the current Ecosystem off the coast of Peru while learning about the area’s amazing diversity and productivity. While Peru is most frequently recognized for its rainforests, mountains, and ancient Inca civilizations, it is also home to one of the most productive ocean ecosystems. AND IT IS GORGEOUS! Students will learn about the Humboldt Current—a cold water current that pushes nutrients from the deepest ocean toward the surface, forming the basis of a unique and abundant ecosystem where a variety of sea birds, flamingos, and even penguins live!
The content of this virtual field trip is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.
WHO:
Grades 3-8 (but all grades and ages are welcome!)
WHEN:
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 at 12:00 noon Eastern Time
HOW:
Easy peasy, just register HERE
LESSON PLANNING STUFFS:
This Virtual event lasts 45 minutes, which is longer than most classes. Options for working around time constraints and for interactive materials and lesson plans, see below.
If you can’t catch the live-streaming on March 16th, register anyway so you get the YouTube viewing link, which you can watch anytime after the live event. This will allow you to break up the lesson into a few class periods if needed. The virtual field trip will also be optimized and posted at a later date on the website and hosted on Vimeo.
Interactive websites for the classroom with background info:
Fishing for Tomorrow:The Artisanal Fishers of Ancón Story Map
Accompanying lesson with the virtual field trip – good for introducing to classrooms either before or after the Virtual Field Trip: Fishing for a Future:
Fishing for a Future: interactive activities and plans
In this set of activities, students explore sustainable fishing through a specific case study in Peru, which is home to one of the world’s largest fisheries. The fishing activities that occur in the waters off of the coast of Peru represent a microcosm of the rest of the world. This lesson includes: interactive story maps that explore the Humboldt Current, El Nino, and artisanal fishing; a fisheries management activity using data; and a Socratic Seminar that explores the challenges of open access fishing areas. The need to protect this ecosystem and effectively manage its resources is important both for its health and for the communities that depend on it.
Includes downloads for the classroom
· Teacher Lesson Plan: Fishing for a Future (PDF & Word)
· Student Handout on Fisheries Management (PDF & Word)
· Student Handout on the Humboldt Current (PDF & Word)
· Student Handout: Anchoveta Socratic Seminar (PDF & Word)
I hope you’ll share this opportunity with all the teachers in your life, and take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime free trip to Peru!
Your two-cents here: