Kinesthetic Fun With Rob Causton

The MARE curriculum is an all inclusive smorgasboard!  Knowledge from the classroom is included in physical education games and activities, thanks to the imagination and talent of Mr. Rob Causton.  Participants worked cooperatively in teams during the Vent Shrimp Kinesthetic Activity, where bean bags represented vent shrimp who must live in clearly defined areas surrounding hydrothermal vents in order to survive.  Physical education goals such as tossing, running, and catching were imbedded in the fun and educational activity.  For more information and corresponding core curriculum content standards please visit Mr. Causton’s website at: https://www.oxfordcentral.org/causton/.   Remember the words of advice from Rob, “Stay flexible, make the MARE curriculum fit your needs.  The information/ knowledge is important, not necessarily how we deliver it.”   Hints:  Special needs modifications=they take the first turns to throw the bean bags, Playing cards are a quick easy way to make (4) teams (4 suits) and order participants by number, Avoid competition (winners/losers) by having teams try to improve their own score with each round.

Measuring Temperature with Dr. Carrie

The Summer Institute crew used non-contact temperature sensors by Pasco (PS-2000) to determine the indoor and outdoor temperature in various areas.  These sensors measure temp by determining the amount of heat energy given off by an object.  They detect infrared radiation and use this value to estimate temperature.  Two kits of these sensors can be borrowed from the Marine and Coastal Science Building in New Brunswick for your classroom use.  Scientists use similar sensors on satellites to measure the temperature of the land and ocean from space.  Images are produced on computers, with red=hot   blue=cold.  Students can compare local environmental temperature with data available for daily average, state average, and country’s average.  Student friendly data is available online at: https://climate.rutgers.edu/   Collecting data and using it is a key part of the MARE curriculum.   Let’s get our students thinking and acting like scientists!

 Ocean Home-Swimming Fishes with Laura Dunbar

Laura shared a great activity with a human-sized  gameboard designed by Rutgers students Jason Turnure and Jason Werrell. It was used to  demonstrate how changes in water temperature  affect fish distributions and, ultimately fisheries.  With the expected change in ocean temperature due to global climate change, many commercial fish populations will move in response. As a result this will have a “domino” effect on surrounding populations.  One Ocean, one habitat, one change, many repurcussions! Further directions and the fish cards are available on this Cosee site: https://coseenow.net/blog/ocean-home-swimming-fishes/.

Using Literature with MARE by Karen Lobby and Crystal DiBetta

Think about your daily life, what percentage of your daily reading is nonfiction?  Most participants replied 75%, 90%.  Does your classroom reflect your daily practice?  Using nonfiction in your language arts lessons reflects the national and state standards, morrors tasks on standardized tests, and provides a way into literacy that narratives cannot.  Academic achievement in school relies heavily on informational reading and writing.  Above all, nonfiction motivates students with its beautiful, engaging and interesting photographs and information!  Be sure to refer to the list of resources Crystal provided.  A few highlights to investigate on the list:  science journals or notebooks in the 8th grade list (Antarctica, Penguins), timely books on Jacques Cousteau in the 4th grade books (100th anniversary of his birth), and the Tsunami books in the 5th grade list (going out of print).  Crystal also recommended that you join: The  National Science Teachers Assoc.  Sign up to receive their journal;  which includes the best of the best trade books, published in March. Join at: https://www.nsta.org/  ($75 fee, $34 if you are a new teacher of less than 5 years experience).  Crystal also recommends The National Geographic nonfiction newsletter for tips and techniques on using nonfiction  with your students. Sign up is free online at https://www.nationalgeographic.com/resources/ngo/education/teacher_store/product_lines/windows/index.html   Karen reminded the participants to utilize newspapers and other periodicals for timely information on marine science.  Encourage your students to demonstrate their knowledge in different ways: acrostic poems, build a windsock to show the zones of the sandy beach,use ABC books with any grade level where students demonstrate information in an alphabetical book  or list.  One of Karen’s hints:  Give parents and staff members a small zip lock bag when they head off on vacation to collect sand samples from around the globe for your classroom.

The Blah, Blah,Big, Big, Blog, Blog  from Susan and Mike

Remember, the purpose of this blog is to keep our community of Marvelous MARE Enthusiasts COMMUNICATING!!!

Do you have a comment on the Summer Institute?  send it to the Blog through Comments!

Do you need an idea or help with your project? send it to the Forum for an ALL Call for ideas!

Are you trying to recall the mountain of information we crammed into the 4 day Institute? Check the daily record in the Blogs!

Do you want to plan an Ocean Day or Ocean Week at your school?  Send a question out to the Forum or Check the Blog for our ideas on how we started!

You can search the Cosee site using the search box.  Blogs are “tagged” by topic to help you find the one you need.  The search box will search these “tags” for you!

Is there a topic in your current curriculum,  that you want to incorporate MARE into?  Send Mike, Laura, Karen, Crystal, Rob or Sue and email or post it in the Forum and watch the ideas swim into shore!