Annual Report for Mary Ann DeMello
January 15, 2004 - January 15, 2005

Teacher Info Page | Annual Login Page

Field Experience

Were you in the field this season? No

Continued Collaboration with Research Team Members

Type of Interaction / Outcomes / Dates / Locations / Parcticipants: I continue to communicate with team members. May 13-15, 2004 I went to the University of Maine, Orono to meet with some of my team. Dr. Brenda Hall invited me to do a presentation for local teachers and students. Tom Whittaker, a graduate student on our research team, took me through the labs to show me the work that is being conducted on the sediment cores that we collected in the Dry Valleys. Present for my visit were team members Amber Hawkins, Tom Whittaker, Sean Birkel, and Brenda Hall. I continue to communicate with these members.

Presently, Brenda and I have arranged for some classes in Rockland to follow her in her research at Reedy Glacier in the upcoming weeks. She leaves for Antarctica December 5th and will be there through late January. To date, eight classes in Rockland have expressed an interest in following her. I have distributed a flyer throughout the district which invites people to follow her in the field and which indicates the curriculum connections to the Massachusetts Science Frameworks. Because the TEA website will be unavailable for new postings, Brenda has arranged for an "Expeditions" page to be posted through the University of Maine website so students can read about her trip. The address is http://www.ume.maine.edu/iceage/

Has a member of your research team visited your classroom in the last year? No

Transfer

How are you sharing your research experience with your colleagues, district, community, etc? I continue to do presentations for schools and various organizations. When I teach technology courses, I use polar science as a theme whenever possible. I am working with Dr. Hall from my field research team to continue to engage teachers and students in following polar activities.

TEA Collaborative Learning Group

Name: Susan Rice-Patton

Active? Yes

Contact Hours: 3

Name: Mara Carey

Active? Yes

Contact Hours: 8

Name: Melinda Learning

Active? Yes

Contact Hours: 43

Have you submitted your TEA Collaborative Learning Group Annual Report? Yes

Associates Network

Number of Associates in local network: 3

Type of Interaction / Outcomes / Dates / Locations / Parcticipants: The three associates are my three collaborative colleagues. Refer to mentoring log.

Presentations and Real Audio Sessions

Presentation Date, Title, Number of Attendees, Etc. May 11 - Retired Teachers Association : Approx. 100 attendees May 13 - University of Maine, Orono Local teachers & students: 11 attendees June 14 - Grade 6, four classrooms: Approx. 120 students July 23 - South Boston Public Library - 23 attendees Sept. 14 - Dighton-Rehobeth Retired Teachers - 22attendees Oct. 14 - Teacher Travels program for Rockland Community - 14 attendees Oct. 19 - Westville Women's Club - 30 attendees Nov. 4 - Friends of Taunton Public Library - 26 attendees

Have you presented to your local board of education this year? No

Activities Development

Title: ICE - Ice Continent Encounter

Description:
An Antarctic WebQuest

Has this activity been submitted to the TEA Web Site? No

Title: Polar Connections

Description:
Designing graphic organizers (webs) to compare and contrast poles.

Has this activity been submitted to the TEA Web Site? No

Title: Population estimating

Description:
Using grids to estimate populations of penguins.

Has this activity been submitted to the TEA Web Site? No

Other Classroom Connections: Again, I am working with Dr. Hall to invite classrooms to follow her research project during Dec. 04- Jan 05. I would like to invite her to visit classrooms in the spring.

A flyer has been distributed through our local collaborative of 8 towns in which I offer to visit schools to present to any grade level.

I will be posting information about TEA throught tNSTA's "Building a Presence in Science" network.

NSTA Convention in Atlanta. March 31-April 4, 2004: Booth hosting, SWAT team, TEA meetings & functions.

Contacted by TEA to present at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC July 28, 2004 for the TRUST program.

Have you submitted all press-related materials concerning your TEA experience to the TEA Archives? Yes

Have you submitted 20 digital images to the TEA Archive with electronic captions? Yes

Have you submitted 6-8 photos to the TEA Archive? Yes

Release Days

Number of Release Days Covered by School/District for TEA Program/Activities: 9

Dates: March 31-April 2; May 11; May 13-14; July 23; Sept. 14; Nov. 12th

Reasons for Release: NSTA Convention; Visit with Research Team in Maine; one mentoring day & three presentations

Approximate Daily Rate of Substitute and Number of Substitute Days: $65.00 per day x 7 days = $455.00

TEA Meetings Covered by School/District/Corporation

Names of Meetings: NSTA

Dates: March 31-April 4

Approximate Cost of Travel Expenses Covered: $300.00

Permanent Materials and Equipment Provided by Institution/Corporation/District for the TEA Program

Type of Equipment: n/a

Other Grants

Other Shared Costs
In Conjunction with Pembroke Public Schools, a competititve grant, Technology Enchancement Grant, was written with the goal of providing professional development to teachers in the area of technology. This grant was awarded by the Massachusetts Department of Education. This was a two year grant shared with Pembroke Public Schools. The grant was not written with the TEA program in mind, but as it turned out, the collaborating team was able to receive extensive technology training and used this time to create polar WebQuests, data logs, internet searches, etc. Grant money was used to pay for the development of the polar units. Over 75 hours of curriculum development time was able to be financially compensated for a total of over $2250.00. In the future, mobile computer labs, proscopes, GPS, & digital cameras obtained from the grant will be used in polar units and to communicate with Dr. Hall this winter.

NSTA Convention

Continue to work with Dr. Hall to bring polar science into classrooms.

Continue to conduct presentations