Module VI

Sunrise Akiak, AK

Essential Question:
How are the Earth, atmosphere and cultures all connected?

Explain:
While traveling on an exchange to Akiak, Alaska last year I was lucky enough to experience these connections first hand. I remember walking to the school early in the morning with my students and wanting to get a picture of the sunrise. My five students and I bundled up and walked out to the front of the school to see the sunrise and we were awed by its beauty. It had such beautiful vibrant colors, and although we were all very cold we stood outside together and watched the sun rise above the trees. As I was working through this module it struck me that at the time I did not recognize the significance of this experience. I now understand how something that I considered so beautiful then is a significantly different importance to me as an educator.
This experience is something that I can bring back to my students not just as an image, but with a story. With this story I can teach not only the scientific significance of this experience, but how something so beautiful can be such an important indicator to the indigenous people of that region. I can explain how this sunrise is created by the particles of pollution trapped within the atmosphere (transported here from various regions such as North America, Europe and China). I can teach about the atmospheric process that pushes the equatorial or lower latitude warm air towards the poles which creates a belt of subtropical high pressure system which ultimately comes in contact with the Polar Front (creating very complex wind patterns). These wind patterns that are drawing air from other regions of the world end up bringing that air, and any pollutants in it, to the Arctic regions.

Global Circulation


This phenomena indicates how important it is to have an understanding of how the Earth’s processes work because they are directly connected to the atmospheric processes that influence the changes occurring in all regions of the world. Whether it be a change in the seasonal weather patterns, the migratory patterns of animals due to these changes, or the direction of the surface winds that will in-turn alter Earth’s weather patterns, we must recognize that every natural process can alter the process somewhere else. It is essential that we understand that by increasing our influence on these natural processes with our activities, we will impact the natural flow of the Earth in ways that we may not understand until much later. The beautiful sunrise in Akiak, for example, should not have been so beautiful.

Evaluate:
While taking in the vast amount of information through this module, I found myself being excited by the quality and number of its great resources - and even more excited by the array of resources I found while exploring “teachers domain” and the NASA website. Amidst my excitement, I was taken aback by the realization that although I knew much of this information I lacked the “stuff” that makes the passing of information and knowledge exciting and engaging… until now! Being a new teacher I know that I will build a mecca of resources throughout the years, but for me it is not about quantity – it’s all about quality. This class has introduced me to a pool of resources that will allow me to diversify my teaching and provide me with updated data and information. This will allow me to quit spending my time “recreating the wheel” and spend more time differentiating my instruction. This also made me reconsider how I classify resources. As I explained above, I need to remember that a simple photo or recollection of an experience is enough to get our brains processing. We do not always have to have bells and whistles to engage learners.