Welcome to Teachers on the Estuary 2016 - Data Edition (TOTE 2016)!
The materials in this online portion of the course are intended to provide you with some background information on the Chesapeake Bay, it's environment, history and culture.
Please review these resources and participate in the discussions.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call or email Bart Merrick
(bart.merrick@noaa.gov - 410-295-3142)
So that we can hit the ground running during the workshop this summer the documents and articles in this section will provide us with a solid background on the Chesapeake, the health of the Bay and the health of the watersheds near our schools and homes.
This doc. is a good source for a fairly deep dive into the Chesapeake. It discusses everything from watersheds to food webs.
This link will bring you to the University of Maryland's Integration and Application Network's 2015 Chesapeake Bay Report Card. This report card give a good general assessment of environmental conditions throughout the Bay and will allow you to access information on specific regions in the Bay.
Use this resource and this LINK to take a look at the region (tabs at the top of the report card) in which your school is located or where you live.
This link will take you to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's State of the Bay Report. Like the Chesapeake Bay Report Card, this site captures information on the current state of the Bay and progress towards a healthier Chesapeake Bay system.
This document is published by the Chesapeake Bay Program and like the other "report cards," the Bay Barometer describes the progress made (or not) towards a healthier Bay system.
For this section you will be referencing the various Bay report cards.
This is a discussion activity where we hope you all will respond the the posted question and comment on each other's responses.
In this section we will be exploring some resources about the Next Generation Science Standards and discuss how the ideas explored in the resources could apply in an Environmental Investigation.
This is a really good article about what Planning and Carrying Out Investigations (really the suite of NGSS Scientific Practices) looks like and a model for designing this type of instruction.
Article about inquiry to be read along with the jello lab examples below.
The documents in this folder provide a good example of the different forms inquiry may take.
In this section of the course you have looked at a few resources discussing components of planning and carrying out investigations and inquiry in general.
In this discussion we will be looking at how you are our could apply aspects of these resources in your classroom.
As a component of this year's TOTE workshop we will be visiting Smith Island, the only Island in Maryland inhabited by folks and not connected by a road. It's a pretty interesting time to be living on the island and having the opportunity to listen to locals' opinions about the current state and future of the Island and the community. Please read the following articles pertaining to hurricane Sandy and a Smith Island buyout option for those living on the island as context for our visit to Smith. For consideration and comparison, also read the New York Times article on the first climate refugees in the United States. While reading these materials, pay attention to any values mentioned (human values, ecosystem services values, etc).
Baltimore Sun -- Smith Island Buy Out Dropped
WBOC -- Smith Islanders Speak Out Against Buyout Option
DelmarvaNow -- Smith Island far from closing door, moving on
Smith Island United (Website on visioning process and islanders' perspective of their future -- spend a few moments here looking into the process and major themes)
CBS News has been documenting life on Smith Island for decades. See the most recent short video:
For consideration and comparison: Resettling the First American 'Climate Refugees'
Lastly, watch this powerful art piece about the last house of Holland Island:
This is another good article about the dilemma communities in low lying coastal areas face.
This section has some of the documents relevant to the course covering course content and logistics. Hopefully this will be an easy place to access these items.
This doc. is a copy of the ppt. we used during the June webinar. Please take a look at this so you have a more detailed idea about the goals, expectations, agenda and logistics related to this workshop.
Here are some docs. that will be helpful in planning your CIP.
Here are some resources that will be helpful when planning your Curriculum Integration Project (CIP).