Would you like your students to be citizen scientists? The Alaska Depratment of Fish and Game engages classes across Alaska to map grouse and ptarmigan populations. Despite the Willow Ptarmigan being our state bird, little is known about grouse and ptarmigan species. Biologists need your help gathering information on age and gender composition of these birds. Why can't we collect this data ourselves? Alaska is too big and there are too few scientists.
That's where your class comes in! Students gather hunter harvested grouse and ptarmigan wings. Using these samples they work with scientists to determine the age and gender of each bird. In the process, they explore bird ecology, anatomy and physiology, and the cultural importance of game birds. Intrigued? Come learn about grouse and ptarmigan ecology, identify the age and gender of birds using father patterns, and learn to input your data on our citizen science data collection website.
The OneTree Alaska teacher research collaborative will present an interactive session, including an overview of the project, research methodology, and initial themes emerging from participant Grinnell Journals. Each teacher will then lead a discussion of how she adapted lesson plans based on her classroom's experiences with the Grinnell System of Nature Journaling.
A number of sites on the Internet label content in children’s and young adult books for the purpose of helping parents and teachers make “smart” decisions about reading materials. Rating content goes wrong when censors use this information to pressure teachers and librarians to remove books commonly used in schools. This session focuses on what teachers and librarians need to know about these sites, and how to respond when the censor calls.
The Caldecott Committee is charged with evaluating illustrations in a picture book. They consider style, texture, shape, line, color, and the overall design of the book. This session focuses on how to read pictures, and how the Caldecott Committee works together to reach the final decision of which book wins the medal.
