Entries Categorized as 'Immersion Overview'
December 18, 2011
We discussed quite a variety of topics just based on the visit to the landfill/quarry.
A single, half-day, visit to the landfill and quarry brought up quite the variety of topics, ranging from the quarry itself, to the reason for the red colors of the cliff walls, to the uses of the gases that come out of the landfill. I still have not gotten to the details about the landfill itself, but I’ve put together a page that links all my posts about the quarry and landfill so far.
There was so much information that we spent the better part of the following week debriefing it in the middle-school science class.
Click the image for more details.
The map below gives a good aerial view of the site.
View Landfill and Quarry (as of 11/26/2011) in a larger map
Citing this post: Urbano, L., 2011. Visit to the Quarry/Landfill, Retrieved May 19th, 2012, from Montessori Muddle: http://MontessoriMuddle.org/ .
Attribution (Curator's Code ): Via: ᔥ Montessori Muddle; Hat tip: ↬ Montessori Muddle.
Posted in immersion, Immersion Overview, Natural WorldNo Comments » - Tags: environment, geology, immersion overview, landfill, my art photos, St. Louis field trips, waste immersion
June 5, 2011
At the capitol building in Nashville.
Earlier this spring, we had an excellent immersion trip to Nashville. The primary purpose was to visit the capitol and meet with Memphis’ State Representative Mark Kernell.
State Rep. Kernell was kind enough to spend some time answering and asking questions of our students.
But we also had time to visit the Abintra Montessori School in Nashville (who returned the visit last month), and have an excellent hike along a limestone-bedded stream in Montgomery Bell State Park. The hike, however, was not without some controversy.
Bedding planes and joints.
Citing this post: Urbano, L., 2011. Government and Geology in Nashville, Retrieved May 19th, 2012, from Montessori Muddle: http://MontessoriMuddle.org/ .
Attribution (Curator's Code ): Via: ᔥ Montessori Muddle; Hat tip: ↬ Montessori Muddle.
Posted in immersion, Immersion OverviewNo Comments » - Tags: geology, government, history, immersion, nashville immersion
June 4, 2011
The Shiloh National Battlefield is only a couple hours east of Memphis (or west of Nashville), and its proximity to Corinth, MS, and a state park with a hydroelectric dam, make it an excellent place for an immersion trip during the cycle when we study the U.S. Civil War and electromagnetism. Two years ago, on a couple beautiful, sunny days in the middle of spring (early April), almost on the anniversary of the battle, we made the trip.
Paleozoic (?) (250-550 million years ago) fossils from Pickwick Landing State Park.
We drove over on a Tuesday morning, and since our very nice cabins at Pickwick Landing State Park were not quite ready yet, we ate the lunch we’d brought with us at a picnic shelter on the park grounds. The choice of picnic shelter number 6 was serendipitous, because not only was it beautifully located, but just down the hill, at the edge of the water, is an excellent outcrop of fossiliferous limestone.
After unloading at the cabins, we took a short, afternoon drive to see the hydroelectric dam.
Old turbine from the hydroelectric dam.
The next morning we hiked along the Confederate line of advance during the Battle of Shiloh.
Reenacting the Confederate skirmish line at Shiloh.
Confederate or Union?
It was a relatively long hike, but useful in that it allowed students a feel at least for the scale of the battle, and the conditions the soldiers endured. There was also a nice museum at the end, with an interesting video and an excellent demonstration from one of the park rangers (you need to book an appointment ahead of time).
Finally, on Thursday morning, on our way back to Memphis, we stopped at the Civil War Interpretive Center in Corinth, Mississippi. The museum is excellent, especially the Stream of American History, which is abstract enough that it makes a great puzzle for students to figure out.
Stream of American History.
The map below shows the locations of the stops, and has links to the posts about each stop.
View Shiloh Immersion in a larger map
Citing this post: Urbano, L., 2011. Shilo and Pickwick Immersion, Retrieved May 19th, 2012, from Montessori Muddle: http://MontessoriMuddle.org/ .
Attribution (Curator's Code ): Via: ᔥ Montessori Muddle; Hat tip: ↬ Montessori Muddle.
Posted in immersion, Immersion OverviewNo Comments » - Tags: civil war, corinth, electricity, geology, history, human rights, immersion, physics, shilo immersion
May 27, 2011
Dip netting in a small estuary.
As you may have guessed from the previous posts about waterspouts and the dolphin, we’ve been on the Gulf coast for the last few days. Specifically, we were visiting the Gulf Coast Research Lab‘s Marine Education Center for two days for our end-of-year trip.
It was excellent. The weather was perfect; sunny with lots of cumuliform clouds for shade but little rain. However, the what really made the trip work was that we had a good, interesting, and varied program, directed by an excellent instructor, Stephanie T..
Stephanie T. pointing out the finer points of piscine morphology.
For reference (to link all posts about the Coastal Science Camp):
View Coastal Sciences Camp, Gulf Coast Research Lab in a larger map
Citing this post: Urbano, L., 2011. Coastal Science Camp at the Gulf Coast Research Lab, Retrieved May 19th, 2012, from Montessori Muddle: http://MontessoriMuddle.org/ .
Attribution (Curator's Code ): Via: ᔥ Montessori Muddle; Hat tip: ↬ Montessori Muddle.
Posted in immersion, Immersion Overview, Natural WorldNo Comments » - Tags: adventure trip, coastal science camp, gulf coast immersion, immersion
April 1, 2011
70 million year old shell and its imprint collected at the Coon Creek Science Center.
Just got back from our immersion trip to collect Cretaceous fossils at the Coon Creek Science Center, and hiking in Natchez Trace State Park.
It was an excellent trip. Despite the cold, Pat Broadbent did her usual, excellent job explaining the geology of Coon Creek and showing us how to collect and preserve some wonderful specimens. Back at the cabins, we looked at some of the microfossils from the Coon Creek sediments (and some other microscopic crystals); similar fossils can tell us a lot about the Earth’s past climate.
Back at the Park, we traced a streamline from the watershed divide to its marshy estuary, and cooked an excellent seafood dinner as we learned about the major organ systems.
Dinner was delicious.
Our trip was not without difficulties, however. The group learned a bit more about self-regulation, governance and the balance of powers, as a consequence of “The Great Brownie Incident,” and the, “P.E. Fiasco.”
We were also fairly well cut off from the “cloud”: no internet, and you could only get cell reception if you were standing in the middle of the road in just the right spot in front of Cabin #3.
But more on these later. I have some sleep to catch up on.
View Coon Creek Immersion in a larger map
Citing this post: Urbano, L., 2011. Coon Creek Immersion: Visiting the Cretaceous, Retrieved May 19th, 2012, from Montessori Muddle: http://MontessoriMuddle.org/ .
Attribution (Curator's Code ): Via: ᔥ Montessori Muddle; Hat tip: ↬ Montessori Muddle.
Posted in Classroom Community, Experiential, immersion, Immersion Overview, Natural World, Social WorldNo Comments » - Tags: biology, coon creek immersion, geology, government, immersion, Natchez Trace State Park, science
June 2, 2010
I had not particularly wanted to go up into the St. Louis Arch myself, but the students really wanted to and we had a little time to spare after the Science Museum. So I grabbed tickets for the last tram to the top, and I’m glad I did. Looking down on the city and river from above you could, in an almost tactile way, reconcile the geographic elements with the history that we’d talked so much about at Anheuser-Busch.
Eads Bridge across the Mississipi River in St. Louis.
Standing in line, waiting for the tram to the top, we were treated to a short documentary on the Eads Bridge, the first across the Mississippi in St. Louis. The video stressed the importance of the bridge in allowing the city to become the gateway for westward expansion.
The tram arrived and small rectangular doors opened up to reveal tiny escape pods fit for a spaceship. Five of us squeezed in, fortunately we were all friendly. The distinct possibility of claustrophobia tinged the air. Three minutes 47 seconds later we reached the top. Forty-five degree rain was pouring down outside. The wind was so strong you could, if you held still and waited for it, feel a slight sway in the Arch itself.
Barges in the distance.
Grain silos and transhipment docks.
Looking east we saw the mighty Mississippi. Not quite so mighty as it is in Memphis, which is downstream of the confluence with the Ohio River, but enormous nonetheless. On the river, huge barges carried freight cars with unknown cargo south toward New Orleans. Just below, an helicopter sat on an helipad barge waiting for an emergency call. Directly across the water, on the east bank, enormous silos with their own docks waited to load barges with grain collected from across the mid-west.
It was still pouring when we left the Arch, and the rain continued on even during dinner. But leaving the restaurant, heading back to the hotel, the setting sun to the west, refracted through raindrops over the river, created one of nature’s own ephemeral monuments. A poignant reminder that forty-five, or even one hundred and forty-five years are but a moment in the deep span of geologic time.
Citing this post: Urbano, L., 2010. St. Louis overview, Retrieved May 19th, 2012, from Montessori Muddle: http://MontessoriMuddle.org/ .
Attribution (Curator's Code ): Via: ᔥ Montessori Muddle; Hat tip: ↬ Montessori Muddle.
Posted in immersion, Immersion Overview, Social WorldNo Comments » - Tags: geography, history, immersion, st. louis
