Welcome to Our Andrill Blog Site

The pictures include our C2S2 logo,  the whole group, Pound students presenting, Chicago on screen, Alaska on screen, students, and all 4 sites on screen.

The first pilot Climate Change Student Summit was held at Morrill Hall, UNL, on Saturday, November 15, 2008.  Sixth grade students from five middle schools, Pound, Lefler, Lux, Dawes, and Culler, took part in a half day summit.  Thirty-six students prepared presentations from PowerPoints to table demonstrations/exhibits for this day, while thirty-one were able to present them.  These students spoke to ANDRILL scientists who supported this day also through comments they provided to the students about their presentations, to answering climate change questions. 

The highlight of the summit was the live video conference call with three other sites, Chicago, Greenland, and Alaska.  In this call, questions were discussed about our role to protect our earth and what we want our leaders to do to help make it better now.  Culture and latitude questions were exchanged about our locations.  It was interesting to hear the students from Alaska express their hope for us to "hurry up" and help make the changes we MUST DO so that our environment improves and reduces the CO2 emissions we currently create.  Students came away with an excited feeling about challenging their families to "go green" and be alert to the kinds of things we can do to improve our present condition here in our schools, city, state, and the country. 

This was an amazing day!   We thank our parents who came and volunteered, the teachers who inspired their students, the ANDRILL community of Scientists, Louise Huffman, the Education and Outreach Coordinator from ANDRILL, Lois Mayo, LPS Science Curriculum Specialist, and the Cooper Foundation for funding our project.

For three days we learned about the role diatoms play in telling climate history.  Diatoms are single-celled algae that are important microfossils found in sediment cores.  The types, numbers, and conditions of their skeletons help scientists determine the climate history of Antarctica.  Our science lab, Dead Diatoms Do Tell Tales, gave us an opportunity to make mock core samples using sand and adding beads representing different environments where diatoms are found.  We exchanged core samples, then found and charted diatoms on a core barrel sheet like a micropaleontologist would do in Antarctica. 
The fourth day, we had a guest speaker, Dr. David Harwood.  He is a professor in the Geosciences Department at UNL, and one of the chief scientists in the ANDRILL Project.  His special science area is studying diatoms.  Students asked several detailed questions about diatoms and the science behind their importance in helping us discover more about out climate past, present, and future.

Have you ever wanted to know more about volcanoes?  On Friday, we met two scientists who work together to analyze the structure and history behind volcanoes, Jay and Joreg.  Jay is a volcanologist and has traveled around the world and into the oceans to see for himself the make up of volcanoes, how they flowed, and studies the cores of rock that are taken from inside the oceanic crust.  Joreg is a geochemist who studies the chemistry behind the rock samples.  Then there was SATURDAY school.  We spent Saturday working on lesson projects that match information we have learned this week.  We did a magnetic poles activity with swimming noodles which was fun.  We also spent time investigating core samples from Antarctica which matched our ANDRILL program this year.
Sunday will be a day for us to work on our lessons, finish up with any questions, and have a final get together "Night at the Museum."  There has been so much to take in each day.  I have witnessed teamwork  in every aspect of this week.  The team of scientists we have met all work together to come up with the pieces that tell us the history of our earth.  This has been an amazing School of Rock!

Busy, Busy, Busy....but FUN, FUN, FUN!  That is how I feel about this experience.  
ON WED. .....We went to a Chemistry Lab on the campus of Texas A & M and watched a Mass Spectrometer, a scientific device that examines the chemistry in shells found in the core.  We played the role of science detectives to come up with a way to analyze the clues in the core to help us determine the reasons for climate change.  What I found was that from core sampling around the world, you can discover evidence of climate changes that happened at the same time but in different places.  This evidence from 55 million years ago helps scientists find a code for climate change that is happening today.  Debbie Thomas, a paleoceanographer, showed us her new chemistry lab that is ready to be used. 
ON THUR. we took a field trip to a lake nearby to College Station to look at the outcrops and investigate the layers of sediment from our present time back 34 million years ago.  What an amazing sight to see.  We found an ash layer (the white layer) that is from a volcano that erupted millions of years ago-how cool is that?  I know that we have similar sediment beds around the Lincoln area to check out.  This opportunity to study the cores, listen to scientists, discuss ways to bring this cool authentic science back to the classroom, and meet some incredible science teachers, has been remarkable. 

 
Another very full day.  We are introduced to scientists who daily work on core samples to locate evidence of climate change in the past and predict the climate change in the future.  Today, Kristin St. John, (pictured) an Associate Professor in Geology, a Sedimentologist, from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA studies the sediments and what can be found in them to help us understand Earth's history.  Mark Leckie (pictured), a Professor of Geology and a Paleontologist at University of Massachusetts shared with us background about Biostratigrapy or the study of the species that live in the sediments across the latitudes of the Earth.  Wow!  So much to take in each day.   We created smear slides of actual core samples, and mine was taken where the dropstone is seen in this photo.  I found a new species I didn't know about, the radiolarian, a glass-like microfossil found in my slide (pictured)which is in the same kingdom as the diatoms we learned about in ANDRILL.  We also discovered the google link that shows us all the sites around the world that the ship has drilled for core samples.  We have been working hard, very hard.  On Wednesday, we are learning about the connections to global warming.   I was interviewed about our trip on Monday into the core repository.  Check the blog video for Monday, July 7,  when you go to: http://oceanleadership.org/learning/SOR2008blog    This continues to be fun and engaging!

Wow! There is a lot to learn here.  We heard from several scientists today about how the drilling ship brings up the core and loads it, then scientists document it, describe the core, and then store the core for study.  The pictures I am sending include two of the scientists, Chieh Peng, an Assistant Lab Officer on the JR, the drilling ship, and Stefan Mrozewski, a Logging engineer.  Chieh is in charge of the Technical Staff on the ship and makes sure when the core comes on deck that it gets labeled, analyzed, measured, and oriented before the core is split in two.  Stefan builds and works with sending instruments downhole to measure rock properties.  Today, we also got to see the Core Repository at the University, the second largest in the world, next to Bremen, Germany, and right above Japan.  The cores are stored in a refrigerated warehouse because of the oxidation process that would change the chemical makeup of the core if it hits the air.  Scientists come from all over the world to take samples of the cores.  When they warehouse them, the put them into long 1.5 meter length containers with a "W" for the working half that can be sampled, and  an "A" for the archived half of the same core that is kept for the future.  We will get to make our own samples of the cores later this week.   It is amazing to see the storage of these cores and how important they are to scientists to help us tell the Earth's history past, present, and for generations to come.  

 
Howdy Ya'll, am I a Texan yet?
I am in College Station, Texas, home of the Aggies, or Texas A & M University.  This evening I met the other 11 teachers from all over the U.S. that were selected to be at the School of Rock.  We also met the scientists that coordinate this week-long core study and will teach us about climate change.  Yes, I am in class this week.  I've gone to school to study rocks and what secrets they have about our Earth's history.  Tonight we each presented a PowerPoint presentation on a topic we chose from the ODP or Ocean Drilling Program, that sponsors the School of Rock.  We met Adam Klaus (pictured with me), who is the program manager or liaison between the scientists, educators, and crew on the JOIDES Resolution, the drilling ship.  He has been on 12 ODP drilling adventures all over the world collecting deep ocean cores to study climate change history.   Check the Bubba Tour to find out more about the drilling ship: http://www.oceanleadership.org/learning/Bubba   Now, email me a question you want to ask the scientists here about the Ocean Drilling Program.  I will try my best to get them answered.  "GIG 'EM" (means Go Aggies here in Texas)

On Sunday, July 6, 2008, I will be flying south to Texas for a week of science exploration known as the School of Rock. I will be joined by eleven other teachers around the globe to study with scientists who share an interest in exploring what climate history lies inside core samples from the sea floor. The Deep Earth Academy provides teachers with hands-on experience side by side with scientists who have taken core samples and stored them in this Texas core depository for study. Join me on my journey of discovery as I journal about this experience. Read about what I do, who I meet, what discoveries I make about myself and this important field of science, and then comment back to me. Hope to hear from you while I am there from July 6-14.  If you want to get a head start on knowing what the Ocean Drilling Program and its Deep Earth Academy is all about, check out the following websites:
1.  Bubba's interactive tour of the ocean drilling ship, the Joides Resolution or JR
http://www.oceanleadership.org/learning/Bubba
2.   Check out the teachers and scientists involved in this summer's School of Rock at Texas A & M
http://www.oceanleadership.org/schoolofrock2008/teachers.html
3.  From ocean floor to climate reconstruction video-this 5 minute video explains ocean drilling research
http://www.deepearthacademy.org/climate
4.   What on Earth is a core?  Understand the focal point of ocean drilling
http://www.oceanleadership.org/classroom/cores
5.  Legacy of Scientific Ocean Drilling-a comprehensive view of the ocean drilling program
http://iodp-usio.org/About/legacy.html

The Dinosaurs and Disasters Day at Elephant Hall at UNL was a tremendous success with over 2,000 visitors exploring the day away.  The exciting part for our class, was creating the Andrill Flexhibit activities which were available for families to explore that day.  Students in our 6th grade science class at Pound experimented with the activities and built the exhibits to be shared during the day at the museum.   There were 20 students who volunteered their time on Saturday to demonstrate these Flexhibits.  We created diatom core samples, made two drill models, demonstrated the glacial ice melting with "flubber," shared the animal adaptations through blubber gloves and the food chain, and showed how the ice sheet becomes an ice shelf and drops sediment to the sea floor.  Two of our students shared their new hit song, "Rollin on the Ice Shelves" with several crowds of onlookers during the day.  Their tune will be posted at the bottom of this blog soon for all to hear. 

Our students became the scientists behind the activities as they talked the science talk to the families that came to hear, see, and touch their exhibits.  Student volunteers even learned more as Andrill scientists shared details about their Andrill experience with them.  What a grand day to learn so much and give so much, all in the name of Science. 

There are so many people we want to thank.  We want to thank Louise Huffman, Andrill's Education Outreach Coordinator, for helping us experiment and display the Flexhibit activities, to LuAnn Dahlman for creating and developing the Flexhibit materials so we could understand the science behind Andrill, and ALL of the Andrill Scientist friends we made who encouraged us as we shared our information with the public and gave us other vital information so our demonstrations would be so successful.  We also thank Michelle for designing the incredible "Andrill Rocks" t-shirts we wore. 
THANK YOU ANDRILL for all you have done to help us understand, grow, and explore the world beyond our Science classroom.  We will continue to Think South and Think Globally because of our experiences.
 

We made core samples that had fake diatoms.  The diatoms were beads.  Each different color of bead stood for a different diatom from a different past environment.  The next day, we traded our cores and dug up the diatoms.  Diatoms help to tell scientists about the climate history in the area they are found.

 
Louise Huffman is the education coordinator for the Andrill Project.  She happened to come to our class.  She showed us many pictures of her trip to Antarctica.  We did an activity with her and she taught us about diatoms.  She also showed us how the Andrill drill works and the people who work there.  She brought back our Pound banner with Antarctica air on it and it was signed by some of the scientists.  It was a great honor to have Louise Huffman, an Antarctica scientist, come to our school.

Krill is the most popular food for sea animals.  Next to phytoplankton and zooplankton, it is the main food in the Antarctic food chain.  Then fin fish, and squid.  We learned that if krill dies out, then many other Antarctic animals will die, too.  Whales, seals, and seabirds are at the top of the food chain, which means they don't get eaten.

We learned about the carrying capacity of the ocean in which the krill live.  We played a game with buttons representing the krill.  We harvested the krill to see if we could keep the carrying capacity of the ocean stable.  We found out krill are disappearing because of overfishing.  Many creatures in the ocean around Antarctica depend on krill to live.  If there is not enough krill, the animals won't survive either.  Phytoplankton, tiny floating plants, that grow in Antarctic's summer season, get eaten by the krill. 

The Inconvenient Truth is a video about global warming by Al Gore.  It focuses on the effects of global warming in our society.  One of the segments showed us how in the Arctic, polar bears are going to be gone because they go out too far in the ocean to find their food.  There is no ice for them and so they don't survive.  The ice is melting due to warmer climates.