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Context/Situation
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Present-day
visitors to Nan Madol, whether they are locals or foreigners, always leave
with more unanswered questions than they had when they arrived. In past
years, some have attempted to concocted answers and theories that would
shed some light on the purpose for the existence of this site and activities
that might have taken place there. But, whether these explanations are
scientific or supernatural, they never fully satisfy the human hunger
for information.
This excursion
will have a similar intention: inquiry. Students will inquire, as would
paleontologists, and make connections between the care of the environment
and the history of Pohnpei. They will attempt to find some answers and
theories that can help contribute to the understanding or body of knowledge
that now exists about Nan Madol.
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Pacific
Science Content Standards and Benchmarks Addressed
(Pacific Standards for
Excellence in Science, PREL, 1995)
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- Science
as Inquiry
- Habits
of Mind
- Scientific
Connections
- Nature
of Technology
- The Design
World
- Motions
and Force
- The Living
Environment
- Matter:
Its Structure and Changes
- Human
Society
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Related
Grade - Level Goals and Objectives for Grade 9 Science Framework
(from
Bailey Olter High School, Pohnpei)
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- Force,
Work, and Energy
- Changing
Earth
- Life
on Earth
- Plate
Tectonics
- Changing
Ecosystem
- Humans
in the Environment
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Topic/Theme
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A Field
Trip to Nan Madol to Study Physical and Environmental Features of Nan
Madol and to Understand More About Its Historical Perspectives.
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Driving Question |
What can we learn
about the physical and living environment Nan Madol in order to better
understand its past history and appreciate/care for it in its present
state?
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Resources
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Print
resources:
D. H. Childress, 1988, Print: Ancient
Micronesia and the Lost City of Nan Madol
W. S. Ballinger,
1978, The Lost City of Stone
D. Hanlon,
1988, Upon a Stone Altar
Electronic
resources:
http://pats.edu/nanmadol.htm
Human
resources:
Dr. Rufino Mauricio, Director of Historic Preservation,
FSM National Government
Sites,
organizations, and agencies:
Pohnpei Historic and Preservation Office
Pohnpei Library and Archives.
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Excursion Preparations
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- Prepare students 2-3 days in advance.
- Briefly review investigations to be done
and tools needed. Data collection by transect line, pacing - do practice
at school.
- Assign students to groups.
- Gather tools they will need.
- Hand out assignments.
- Distribute and collect permission slips
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Pacific Science Content Standards
and Benchmarks Addressed
(Pacific Standards
for Excellence in Science, PREL, 1995)
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Science as Inquiry
Students will. . .
- State testable hypotheses about natural
phenomena.
- Describe some interactions of science,
technology, and society.
- Identify sources of bias, and personal
and local controversies.
Habits of Mind
Students will. . .
- Use computers for producing tables and
graphs, and preparing reports of investigation.
- View science and technology thoughtfully,
being neither antagonistic nor uncritically positive.
Connections
Students will . . .
- Use probability and statistics to make
accurate inferences from the data they collect, other research, and
historical events.
Planet Earth: Ocean and Land
Students will. . .
- Identify and describe
changes in their own environment and in other parts of the Pacific region.
- Identify and describe local examples of
how living things affect the non-living environment and vice versa.
The Living Environment
Students will . . .
- Describe why biodiversity is important
to life on Earth.
- Identify the impact of human activities
on plants and animals in the local ecosystem.
- Identify the various processes that utilize
energy within an organism (photosynthesis, respiration, and decomposition),
and describe how they work.
- Identify examples of organisms uniquely
adapted to their environment.
- Work with others to design possible ways
to sensitively address existing environmental problems and issues.
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Mathematics Content Standards
Being Addressed
(Pacific
Standards for Excellence in Mathematics, PREL, 1995)
Task 1: Investigating the Living Environment
- Reef
- Land
- Both Reef & Land
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Mathematics as Communications
Mathematics Connections
Teaching and Learning Activities:
Observations: Land/Reef/Both
- What kinds of plants and animals are found?
- How do they seem to interact with one
another?
- Which organisms seems to depend on one
another? How do you know?
- How do the mix of plants and animals change
from place to place?
Investigation:
- Learn how to do a transect study.
- Run 2-3 transects, working in pairs of
students: one observer, one recorder.
- Count different kinds of plants and animals
within a 1-meter radius, every 2 meters along the transect.
- Graph data.
- What are your hypotheses about the data?
- What factors cause change?
- What additional questions could be investigated?
Assessment:
Based on the following student products and performances:
- Quality of group reports, ability of students
to effectively communicate investigations done, and the results. Prior
to the investigation, determine with students the criteria forof the
repor and communications.
- Quality and accuracy of the graphs.
- Quality of hypotheses and identification
of possible interactions between the physical and living environment.
Expected Activity Outcome:
Prepare a report of the investigation,
and present it to the class.
Materials:
6 hand lenses, colored pens, chart paper, transect (50-100 meters,
marked at 2-meter intervals)
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Pacific Science Content Standards Addressed
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Science as Inquiry
Students will . . .
- Design and carry out valid, controlled
experiments, and report the results to others.
- Apply scientific knowledge and skills
to practical, everyday problems.
- Formulate testable hypotheses regarding
natural phenomena.
- Identify sources of bias and personal
opinion in personal and local controversies.
Habits of Mind
Students will . . .
- Use tools safely to shape, smooth, and
join wood, plastic, and other materials.
- View science and technology thoughtfully,
being neither antagonistic nor uncritically positive.
- Notice and criticize arguments or reports
that are based on faulty, incomplete, or misleading experimentation
methods, use of numbers, or other methods of reporting or analyzing
data.
- Cooperate as a team by interacting with
and listening to others.
Connections
Students will . . .
- Accurately use measurement and functions
to connect science to math, as well as connect different branches of
science to each other and to other subject areas.
- Use computers to perform computations,
run simulations, and analyze models.
- Make connections between science and other
subject areas using systems, models, scaling, constancy, and change
as useful themes.
Matter: Its Structure and Changes
Students will . . .
- Explain why equal volumes of different
substances usually have different masses.
- Relate the properties of the materials
to their atomic structure.
- Describe Earth systems that cause physical
and chemical changes.
Nature of Technology
Students will . . .
- Design and carry out appropriate projects
using the necessary tools.
- Care about the traditional examples of
engineering that enable Pacific Islanders to adapt the environment to
meet their needs.
- Gather information to make informed judgments
regarding technological development and change, and be willing to communicate
their opinions in an appropriate manner.
Motion and Force
Students will . . .
- Apply their knowledge of motion to construct
simple motors.
- Identify applications of principles of
motion.
- Identify the applications of the gravitational
forces in technology.
The Planet Earth: Oceans and
Land
Students will . . .
- Describe the formation, weathering, sedimentation,
and reformation of rock that constitute a continuing "rock cycle"
in which the total amount of material remains the same even when the
form changes.
- Identify the solid crust of the Earth,
including continents and ocean basins. Explain how the crust consists
of separate plates that ride on the Earth's fluid mantle.
- Predict how large-scale changes on the
Earthís surface will affect local ecosystems.
Students will be able to understand
. . .
- Mathematics as Problem Solving
- Mathematics as Reasoning
- Geometry
- Mathematics as Communications
- Mathematical Connections
- Trigonometry
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Task 2: Investigating the Physical
Environment
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Teaching and Learning Experiences:
Observations:
- What kinds of rocks are found here?
- How many geometric shapes can you identify?
Sketch shapes. Describe features.
- Are the rocks flat? Round? In columns?
- Where else do we see rocks like this?
- How do you think they were formed?
Investigations:
- How big are these rocks?
- Choose two or three large rocks to measure.
- Measure the base (length and width).
- Estimate the height. Use a protractor.
Measure the distance from the base. Calculate the height.
- What is the volume of the rock you selected?
- What is the mass of the rock? (Density
of the volcanic rock averages 1.5g/cm3.)
- How much force would it take to move one
rock?
- Calculate the force in newtons needed
to move one of the rocks you measured.
- How much work would be done in moving
the rock 1 meter?
- Invent a way to move the rocks into place
without breaking them. Demonstrate your idea using a model.
- Discuss how these rocks might have been brought here.
How could it have been done?
Assessment:
Based on . . .
- Quality and effectiveness of the report.
Decide what constitutes a good report; define criteria ahead of time.
- Demonstrated ability to make measurements
and estimations.
- Creativity in developing models of technology
to move larger masses.
Reports:
- Prepare to give report of investigations
to an audience.
- Obtain a piece of basalt and determine
its density in the laboratory.
Materials:
Hand lenses, chart paper, protractors, colored pens, tape measures, tangent
table, and calculators with trigonometric functions.
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Pacific Science Content Standards Addressed
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Science as Inquiry
Students will . . .
- Apply scientific knowledge and skills
to practical, everyday problems.
- Identify possible explanations for anomalous
events.
Habits of Mind
Students will . . .
- Be curious, honest, open, and skeptical.
- Use critical thinking skills in their
own lives to make informed choices on issues.
Connections
Students will . . .
- Use computers to compute, simulate systems,
and analyze models.
The Designed World
Students will . . .
- Identify some of the complex interactions
of these technologies with economics, health and nutrition, politics,
and their impact on culture.
- Describe the traditional manufacturing
processes and their relationship to culture.
- Describe some complex communication technologies,
including the traditional Pacific island communication systems designed
to pass knowledge from one generation to another.
- Describe the impact of health technologies
in the Pacific.
Human Society
Students will . . .
- Demonstrate sensitivity and respect for
the ways in which science has evolved throughout the islands over time.
- Describe the changes occurring in the
Pacific, and their impact on their culture and traditions.
- Participate responsibly in community affairs
and governance.
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Task 3: Investigating the Human Society
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Teaching and Learning Experiences:
Observations:
- How is the area arranged? What do you
think the purpose is for such arrangements?
Investigation:
- Sketch the area.
- Pace the distances. Estimate heights,
sizes of spaces, etc.
- Record these in your notebook.
- How is the environment designed to meet
human needs? What are those human needs?
- How do you think this environment was
built?
- Discuss some of the legends you know. Which ones
do you believe? Why?
- What other explanations can you suggest?
- Archaeology is the science that tries
to interpret how people long ago lived, based on observations that we
can make today.
- What would it be like to live at Nan Madol?
- What kind of people might have lived here?
- Why do you think they lived here?
- Why did they build it?
Assessment:
Based on student products
and performances.
- Quality of the report. (Prior to making
the assignment, establish criteria for report writing.).
- Ability to interpret observations in terms
of human needs.
- Creativity and accuracy in making a model
site.
Expected Outcomes:
- Imagine that you lived here long ago.
Write an essay or poem expressing what it would be like to live at Nan
Madol. Share it with the class.
- Back in the classroom, make a model of
Nan Madol using the data collected.
Materials:
Chart paper and colored pens
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"From the islands
to the west they came beating up the lagoon in canoe after canoe . .
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Their canoes will never sink, and the song holds true.
We'll sail, we'll sail on the waters so blue.
Like a feather, oh! We'll float in our breadfruit canoe."
(Traditional canoeing chant from the
island of Oneop)
In remembrance of our beloved
and late Pathfinder
Sohnis Johnny, BOHS Pohnpei
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