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lapazfarm
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| Posted: July 23 2009 at 4:14pm | IP Logged
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Well, I went ahead and designed a hands-on high school level marine biology/oceanography course and am sharing it as a blog.
I wrote about it on my main blog here:Marine biology:follow along?
If anyone want to follow along, we'd LOVE it!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Mackfam
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| Posted: July 23 2009 at 5:10pm | IP Logged
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I love it, Theresa!!!! 
I wish we weren't so landlocked or we'd definitely join in!!!
What a great job you've done, and you're so generous to share it!!! Thanks! 
I'll be watching for future student driven/led high school science studies eagerly!!!! 
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Jen Mackintosh
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: July 23 2009 at 10:20pm | IP Logged
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Oh, sign me up....but no, we are also landlocked now, far away from our lovely island!
We are going to study Marine Biology with my 12yo dd this year though, so I am looking forward to going through your plans.
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Kristie in Canada
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guitarnan
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| Posted: July 24 2009 at 6:27am | IP Logged
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You are an answer to prayer, Theresa! We are also doing 7th grade Marine Biology. We're near the Chesapeake Bay, not the ocean, but we can plan a field trip or two once the summer crowds die down.
Your weekly lesson plans are excellent. Thank you so, so much!
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: July 24 2009 at 12:24pm | IP Logged
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Nancy, we are doing 7th grade Marine Biology as well. I would love to be in contact to see how you folks will use Theresa's great plans!
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Kristie in Canada
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Nedra in So. CA
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: July 24 2009 at 7:08pm | IP Logged
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Thanks, Ladies!
Nancy and Kristie, I have been adding a few options to make it adaptable to a younger crowd and hope to add more as time goes on. It's still very much a work in progress.
The Seaside Naturalist is definitely easy enough for a 7th grader to handle, no problem (and I just use it as a read-aloud for my 7yo). Some of the websites I link to might be a bit thick for the youngers, but just skip any that look too hard or help them to pull out the necessary info.
Most of the hands-on stuff should be doable for any age, and that is really the focus of the course. The meat of it is all about getting out and observing,experimenting, and problem-solving. Learning science by doing science. The reading is just for background info, really.
Oh, and Chesapeake Bay should be perfect, Nancy! What a great resource to have on hand!
I'd love to have you join us.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
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stellamaris
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Theresa, we are loving your site! You have such fantastic ideas; we are trying to use them with our younger set as we do our "ocean unit", which has gotten to be an on-going project. Also, I love the sailing notebook your ds did...what a lot of beautifully done, inspiring work! Thank you so much for posting this. 
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amarytbc
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| Posted: June 29 2011 at 11:58am | IP Logged
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So glad Margot mentioned this study, prompting me to dig around for the thread. It's just what I wanted for next year. Theresa, how would you have done this if you weren't close to the ocean?
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: June 29 2011 at 2:00pm | IP Logged
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That is an excellent question.
I designed the course to be a hands-on, investigation-based course, so living near the ocean is quite helpful in that respect.
But there are some things you can do to make a landlocked location work fairly well.
---First would be to try to set up a salt-water aquarium in your home. It can get expensive, but what a wonderful source of enjoyment and learning for the whole family!
---Second, visit any local seaquariums often!
---Third, just visiting a pet sore that has a good salt-water section can be an opportunity to do some of the observations, sketches, etc.
(Doctors offices or restaurants will sometimes have a great aquarium set-up as well.You might ask to do some observations in their off-hours. This would be my last resort, but hey, it's worth a shot!)
---also, order preserved specimens from a biological supply house such as Carolina Biological or Home Science Tools. You can get a LOT of neat stuff to look at that way. This works well for specimens such as star fish, jelly fish, various seaweeds, crustaceans, etc.
---additionally, don't forget to go to the fish market or grocery and buy whole fish, crabs, lobsters, mussels, shrimp, squid, octopus, etc. Observe, identify, draw and label, then have a lovely fish stew!
---Finally, take a vacation to the shore if you can and apply all you have learned!
Good luck!
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Theresa
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Angel
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Thanks, Theresa. You've confirmed many of my own thoughts about how to proceed with marine biology for my 7th grade dd this year. We're hoping to use your final option (take a vacation) this summer... although the wildfires on the Gulf coast may have us altering our plans a bit! 
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Angela
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lapazfarm
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Oh, wonderful, Angela!
If you do end up getting to the shore before your study, then I suggest collecting as many specimens as you can while you are there, to be used/identified/sketched later during the study.
Shells and hard-bodied critters can be dried and then stored in paper-towel-lined boxes, soft-bodied specimens (fish, clams, jellyfish, seaweeds) can be preserved in denatured alcohol in canning jars.
It'll be nice to have them ready to pull off the shelves when you need them!
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Theresa
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amarytbc
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| Posted: June 29 2011 at 6:43pm | IP Logged
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Great ideas, Theresa, thanks! Unlike Angela I have very little imagination these days and appreciate the prompts.
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Chris V
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This is so wonderful, Theresa! You are so very inspiring!
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: free hands-on marine biology
