Biology teacher shares virtual lessons from the field, er, swamp
The classroom really knows no boundaries when it comes to one ninth-grade biology teacher at Southwest Junior High. Enlarge video
Ninth-grade biology students at Southwest Junior High School headed into Lisa Ball’s classroom like usual last week, and she was there smiling down upon them from the front of the classroom.
Except she wasn’t there in person. Her image was being projected on a giant screen.
“I’m confused,” pronounced one her students. “Where exactly are you?”
Ball is one of seven teachers from across the country who were at the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area in Louisiana, 40 minutes northeast of New Orleans. After winning a fellowship from the Earthwatch Institute, the educators took to the Louisiana swamps to study caterpillars.
Ball’s been keeping a blog and hosting video conferences with her students back in Lawrence throughout the trip. She left for the fellowship on April 17 and will return to Lawrence today.
“For this project, the researchers have collected over 11,000 (caterpillars) over the years that the study’s been going,” Ball said during the question-and-answer part of her video conference with her students. “Just on our trip in the last few days, we’ve collected about 400 different caterpillars and probably about 30 species.”
Ball and her colleagues are looking at the effects of climate change on caterpillars and on the parasitic insects that attack them and host plants. Ball splits her duties between tending the caterpillar “zoo” and heading out to the field to collect species.
“Because the field site is so flooded this year, we’re having to get to our field site by way of kayaking through the swamp,” Ball said.
She took her students along on a virtual field trip.
“Having my teacher come and explain this to us live from the field, it offered a great experience for all of us,” said ninth-grader Meixi Wang.
Even though she was nearly 1,000 miles away, Ball still made her students work by posting questions on her blog.
“She has challenge questions. We have to figure out what kind of caterpillar it is and we have a picture,” said ninth-grader Jessica Mielke. “Sometimes we have questions, and we write responses. She’s a really good teacher. She’s taught us a lot.”
Students have been keeping up with her blog, but the video conference gave them a different perspective.
“When we actually see her on the video conference, we can actually see what she’s doing,” said ninth-grader Elena Auer.
While the fellowship was a big reward for Ball, the living situation wasn’t exactly ideal.
“We’re sharing a bathroom and there are about 10 of us,” Ball said, while her students in Lawrence groaned. “Most of my clothes smell a little bit like swamp right now.”
When Ball returns to Lawrence, she’ll have some funding for a conservation project of her own design. She’s already planning to use the money to enhance stream sampling field trips she already does with her students.
“My goal is to show students just how fascinating our local ecosystem is if you actually take time to go outside and explore,” Ball said.
The grant is funded by HSBC In the Community (USA) Inc.
Ball’s blog is posted at www.earthwatch2.org/LFF/ball.
Comments
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Shardwurm (anonymous) says…
This seems to fall into the category of 'so what?' What, exactly, does this add to the learning experience? Are they just doing this because they can or because there's really added value?
Golf claps?
rodentgirl16 (anonymous) says…
I think it's really important to expose students to the many field opportunities in science. In popular culture, there's always this image of the geeky scientist hunkered down in the lab, or trekking through some unrelatable jungle looking for dinosaurs or a giant ape. By watching her do field work, students may realize that for many scientists, the world is their lab and for those scientists like me who cringe at the idea of being stuck in a lab, they may gain more interest in working in field biology. Basically, it just gives them a wider science perspective. I mean, who wouldn't want to kayak through a swamp capturing caterpillars? For me, it sounds like a dream come true!
Boeing (anonymous) says…
Math and science are real points of need for students in America, and anything like this that can used to spur any latent interest the student may have, and help them pursue a career in the field, is great. Growing up in LA, I always thought I would go into some kind of business or humanities field, but then I met a teacher in junior high who really convinced me that not only was I good at math and science, but I actually enjoyed it...years later, after a Bachelor's at KU and a masters in progress, I am an engineer...who would have thought. So I applaud the teachers who do these kind of things to inspire the students.
zzgoeb (anonymous) says…
Shardwurm,
Yeah, to an entire generation of students raised with cable tv and the internet, this really doesn't matter...DUH!!! And the funding she has to enhance the stream sampling doesn't really matter either...!!!
gr (anonymous) says…
Yea, what the others said, but what I really got from it was this teacher got an opportunity to go do something for fun and free due to some sort of spendulus money, past or present. There was no one left to teach the kids. So, they figured this video conference would meet all the requirements without having to hire another teacher.
jayhawker2016 (anonymous) says…
as a student this is an awsome experiance! i have enjoyed it alot! we have learned alot! and it has given us all a new perspective of the ecosystem! thank you for covering our story! we all greatly apreciate it!!!! and its kinda nice we dont have aton of homework other than the blog activitys! thanks again!!!!
gr (anonymous) says…
"and its kinda nice we dont have aton of homework"
I should add to my post,
and the kids get out of homework to boot!
Shardwurm (anonymous) says…
So...the summary of all of this discussion is this:
We could have one teacher in Topeka teaching math to the entire State by Video Teleconferencing with a low-paid assistant to collect and grade homework.
So we could cut our teaching staff by 50 to 75 percent.
Sign me up!