23 April, 2003

Combining TEK and SEK

Today in Kotzebue
Warmer and warmer, a few cracks on the ice. We get about 20 more minutes of light every day.

What science is happening?
We are mainly doing outreach today. We did a teleconference today with Dr. Lisa Clough (who works with Scientific Ecological Knowledge), Dr. Jeffery Johnson, sociologist and Dr. David Griffith, anthropologist (Both of whom work on the Traditional Ecological Knowledge). We talked about the reasons behind using TEK and SEK together and the benefits of combining both to get the most complete knowledge.

Classroom Connections:
Lisa and I also went to Kotzebue Middle School and spoke with the 7th graders. We talked about the project and showed a video of my students back in Aurora. We hope to have made some partners for doing joint inquiry based learning projects between students in Kotzebue and my students in Aurora. Anyone wishing to join in, please Email me.
Reflections
Today was a relatively light day, work wise. We are busy packing and gearing up for the trip to ice camp. I’m a bit nervous to be going 30 miles away, but we will have a satellite phone with us (just like you see on CNN) and people who are familiar with the country and the equipment, so I’m sure I’m in good hands. So I will just trust that this will be my greatest adventure and get some sleep.

Links

Learn more about our project here
View curriculum for this project, “Ask a Scientist” and learn about other Arctic Real Time research at Arctic Alive
City of Kotzebue Webpage
Listen to the local radio station KOTZ live

Dr. Lisa Clough and I talk to students at Kotzebue Middle School about the project and show them a video of my school and hometown of Aurora