Friday, June 26, 2015

Look - A moose came by to visit, SO EXCITING!! According to the locals, this is a very rare happening!!

Video of our visitors

Today was so exciting, and all the Duke teachers were collaborating to solve a local environmental issue. We discussed what we thought was causing the local citizens to become ill; then we put our research and hypothesis to work! 

After traveling down the most exciting and beautiful road ever…. We arrived at the Blue River/French Creek area. Three different teams analyzed three different parts of the river. Duke sponsored teachers tested the low water area. We spent quite some time testing the river for oxygen, Ph, and zinc levels. Then we moved on to analyzing stream velocity and organism diversity. This experience was absolutely the best part of this professional development, and I can’t wait to allow my students to see how much fun it can be to solve problems and answer questions related to their local environment. We got to put on waders, enter the river, and actually use real testing equipment to analyze the river.

Beautiful view on the way to the Blue River

Duke Energy Sponsored Participants at the river. 

Here I am testing the river water for Ph levels.

Kellie and I observing the water. We are figuring out what our next step will be!

We are using this large net to catch organisms in the water. We can use the collected organisms to analyze how healthy the river is. We have on waders which keep us not only dry, but from freezing! The water was around 50 degrees! So cold........

After we finished at the river we got to visit a local mine that has since been shut down.

Abandon mine tour 

We had to wear hardhats during the tour. It was dark, cold, very wet.........and a very narrow path!

This was also a very informative field trip, and all the Duke teachers are excited to share what they had learned with the students in their classrooms.

Duke Energy Teachers had such an amazing time at the river!!!!

When we returned to the conference room we analyzed our findings from the river, mine, and local restaurants and we decided to rule out the mine and restaurants as contamination sources. Tomorrow we will figure out which local water source is polluted and how it became polluted.  To finish out the day we rode a gondola to the top of a local mountain. What a beautiful and thrilling experience!!

What an amazing view!!

Local band playing at the top of the mountain.

Something we will never forget. Again, thank you Duke Energy and Keystone Science School for allowing all of us to experience such a terrific learning experience that will reach so many of our students. This will allow us to use engaging lessons that will inspire our students to become the scientists and mathematicians of the future!

3-D graph activity