Gravity, part 2

I have tailored the videos to meet my classroom needs. This video is a great example of how I will use skits to engage students before designing their own experiments, answering their own questions.

Slow Work

I've been working on the engagement videos for a while now in my spare time (which hasn't been as much as expected). I have so much raw footage that organization has been a real challenge. I have over a terabyte and am almost filling up a second external hard drive. My Macbook has not had enough memory to add the newest videos, so I've decided to create and delete to make room.

This video is perfect for my classroom. It is inquiry in nature. I begin with one topic and end with another. There is space for the students to take notes and answer questions as they build evidence to support a claim and later write an argument for a class discussion. I simply cannot wait to use this and see what the students research and write. I hope that it makes sense without me standing nearby to push pause and have students turn and discuss before moving on. This video will launch us into a 3 day exploration on the topic of density; then it will be used for another 3 day unit based on their research on the topic of environmental impact vs. personal rights. Enjoy!

Home... Well, almost.

After nearly 7,800 miles, 35 days, and 21 States, we arrived safely in Chattanooga!

But... We are still on the road. After unloading our latest home, we are traveling South to Savannah to continue our journey and film some more. Why? My aunt lives in Statesboro; and she loaned us the motorhome. But besides returning the vehicles, I'm also looking for a few extra shots from the coast. I didn't get enough the first time.

This is video is just for fun!

Yellowstone

This entire trip has been one amazing adventure after another. Our country is rich with diversity of people and places. But there is nothing like Yellowstone! I have never seen anything like it. Absolutely incredible.

Check out this a Bison that was holding up traffic our first day in the park.

Extended Stay

We were supposed to leave the Forrest of Gifford Pinchot days ago, but we were captivated by the beauty of the landscape and the people. Despite scars from stinging neddles and yellow jackets, scrapes and scratches, we could not have loved a place more. We fished and hiked and climbed in the most amazing places, while learning about the diversity and preservation as well as the reconstruction after devastation at Mount Saint Helen's. I interviewed sportsmen, loggers, and forest rangers and realized misconceptions that I will use in my classroom to initiate debate and conversation that may lead to a common ground and understanding, which from my investigation has not been successful in the adult world. Maybe our students can be the mediator and concentrate on the "common" in common sense. 

We are now in Anacortes on the way to the San Juan Islands to meet a scientist with NOAA who runs the fisheries science for University of Washington. It is way too busy and the ferry is moving. I don't want to miss a thing!

Now in Washington State and Oh My!

There is no way for me to put in words the beauty that I see all around me. We are so far off of the main roads that we no longer have cell phone service. And, once again, "Free WiFi"is what you pay for because I cannot upload any videos so far. I will simply add pictures from now on. Since this journey's main goal is to create short videos, I really felt that this blog should include as many samples and video logs as possible, but that just hasn't been feasible.

I have lesson after lesson all around me, from nurse trees' importance to plant adaptations to change in ecology due to climate factors. We will be here a little while for sure. If you want to know exactly where we are, find Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, and Mt. St. Helens. We are in the middle of this "Volcanic Triangle"!

I've made connections with our neighbor campers and have a lot of unexpected events ahead. These old gold miners are taking me with them to their secret spot and showing me their methods, all for the sake of science. This will be a great density introduction!

It seems all the retired here are former geologists or biologists or physicists and now just enjoy the land in one way or another. These that know the most about the world around them appreciate it the most. This is the transcendent message that I hope for to instill in my students: The more you know, the more you love. I am seeing with new eyes and learning more than I anticipated. I'm beginning to see that this trip may be more about my growth as a teacher with a greater appreciation for the subject that I love and teach.

Life is more fun with kids

What do you do when you want to explore and have little ones? Either stay inside or...

Take them with you!

 

Plans change

The plan was for us to stay in Colorado Springs/Canon City for 3 days, exploring the Royal Gorge suspension bridge and the rich area around them, but nature and unforeseen circumstances had other plans.  

We didn't get far on our path to Colorado Springs. In fact, as we climbed the pass that crosses from New Mexico to Colorado, red lights on the dash started flashing, so I pulled over immediately. There was an oily (but not oil) liquid that had bubbled over, and I knew that we were running hot. I found the nearest truck shop that could handle a big rig like this, nearly 37 feet long with a Catepillar diesel engine. Luckily, one was nearby. They weren't able work on it immediately (I'm learning that this is normal). So, we stayed the night in Trinidad, Colorado, a quaint little town at the foot of Fisher's Peak which is the highest point of the Great American Plains (9,631ft). When the mechanics looked at the rig the next morning, the best of all possible scenarios was the problem, a extremely dirty radiator caused the overheating which in turn caused the lower oil pressure due to lower viscosity of the oil resulting in antifreeze boiling over. There is a science lesson for sure in this as well!

A steam clean and test ride and we were on our way.

At our unexpected stop in Trinidad, we found out that the RV camp and entire Royal Gorge area had been burned by the forest fires recently. In fact, much of the area that we had planned to visit had lost all buildings and was "closed indefinitely." I will have to find a new place to complete the content for my gravity lesson now. Although the fire's aftermath would have been a good video lesson on nature's fury and the necessity of occasional blazes, for safety reasons, I decided to travel North and camp closer to Denver. We are now in Golden, Colorado with plans to check out the absolutely incredible area around us for the next few days before heading West to Utah, Oregon, and Washington.

Swamp ride video sample

Here is a sample from the footage that we shot on the boat in Morgan City, Louisiana.

So far it's been amazing!

I am now in New Mexico! After driving through the night from Morgan City, Louisiana, we are now at the base of Capulin Volcano. This is an unexpected stop; I was just too tired to go on to our planned stop of Colorado Springs. While we are here, we will explore the volcano and create a video from the experience to go along with our videos from the Bayou as well videos from our drive across the Plains.

In the Bayou, we ate more Crawfish than we could handle, Catfish, and Frog legs. I have eaten a bite of Elk, Bison, and pickled Quail and haven't been in the campsite for more than an hour! These are all unexpected experiences that have enriched this experience all the more.  

What will tomorrow bring? That is the excitement right now!

Until we get Internet...

We are on our way to Colorado via West Monroe, LA. Until we can find a place with wifi, feel free to follow @t3joyner on twitter, instigram, and/or Facebook.

Check out the new links page for details.

We are off!

We left Statesboro, GA Sunday after a full day of packing and organizing the RV. We drove to Montgomery , AL. It was a wake up call for us. With the two little ones, 2 and almost 1, Laura was constantly changing diapers and getting drinks. Her mother was a stewardess on an airline, but Laura was quite motion sick. We used time in Montgomery to get our sea legs back before driving in the night to Mobile. What a beautiful site! The kids woke up feeding ducks in the pond, but we are on a mission so off we went.

We have some  mechanical issues that have to be addressed, so we are FORCED to stay in New Orleans in the French Quarter for at least a night while a part is shipped overnight to nearby Slidell. Hopefully, we will get the part changed and be on our way, but if not today, we are having so much fun learning and playing that I doubt we'd mind another day in the Big Easy. I can't wait to get to the Bayou though. I haven't filmed much yet. Mostly driving.

The first step of our journey happens to be only 90 minutes from home!

After having to postpone 6 weeks ago, I finally was able to do something that I have always wanted to do but never had the opportunity for... SKYDIVE. It is an exhilarating feeling to accelerate from a plane at 14,000 feet. I cannot wait to share this experience with my students as we begin our lessons on the force of gravity and rates of acceleration.