ISS07 Blogs

questoins on seals

Hey it's Devon. I was wondering four questions, how long is the life expectancy for the seal? How long can the seal stay under water? What are the seals main predators? My last questoin is that what is the avrege of age do the seals mate? thank's for reading these questoins

biolojest

dear mr hawke why did you want to be a biolojest. oh and how much can a wedell seal weigh

Final Thoughts on Polar Science 2009

Hello Everyone!

Firstly, I want to thank you, the students and teachers, for dedicating your time and energy to this project. When Shane and I agreed to do this project again, we wondered what level of interest there may be. As researchers, who are also university professors, we invest many hours mentoring our students, writing papers & grants and teaching university students. So, when we invest our time in something like this, we only hope that the students find it interesting and learn a lot from it. All I can say is, 'I AM SO HAPPY I DID THIS! You were all wonderful!' Your questions were insightful and showed us that you were listening to what we were saying and synthesizing information. You were young polar scientists!

Although Dr. Kanatous is a close friend of mine, I would also like to thank him publicly for his work in this project. He is an excellent educator and admittedly, I also learn new things from him when we do these projects!

Finally, thank you to Diane and Susan. Your organization and use of novel educational tools meant that Dr. Kanatous and I could bring our work into the classroom in new and exciting ways. You truly are a wonderful asset to the education system. I only wish more schools would/could use your resources, it most certainly would engage more students in science (and learning in general).

So my young polar scientists, I would like you to remember that learning can take place anywhere at any time. The world around us is full of wonderful, exciting things just waiting for you to discover them.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and I hope one day you come to McMaster University so that you can do research in my lab!

Tom (Dr. Hawke)

Thank you!

Thank you so much fro taking your time to talk to us about polar science and Wedell seals. We learned so much!!

Thanks, Katie

Thanks

Thank you for everything you have done for us. We enjoyed your informative and entertaining webcasts on the Weddell Seal. Thanks again for your cooperation and we hope to see you in the future.

Muchas Gracias

THANK YOU SO MUCH! It has been a great experience working with you and we hope to do it again sometime. This project has really expanded our knowledge of Weddell Seals. Once again, we'd like to thank you so much for the time and effort you put in to make this experiment successful.

Allison,Kali,Gillian and Alessandra

good bye

It has been a great experience being part of this polar science adventure. It is very sad to say our time will be up at the end of this week.We have learned so much about Dr. Kanatous and Dr. Hawke. It was a lot of fun doing the webcast live with Dr.Kanatous and learning about the Weddell seal.I am almost certain that our class will be as amazed about the Weddell seal as we are.We are the Weddell seal squad from Sir Arthur Carty Catholic School in London,Ontario Canada saying good bye and thank you so much.

Thank You!

Dear Diane and Susan,

Thank you so much for such a wonderful learning experience. My students had a great time learning about the Weddell seals and were always looking forward to the webcasts and blogs. The learning experience also put into real world context what we were discussing in biochemistry. We look forward to working with you again next year.

Sincerely, Cristina Wage and all of the eighth graders at St. Rose of Lima Academy, NJ

'Final Words' - Reflections on the Polar Science 2009 Project

I meant to write this blog post this morning, but frankly I've had a hard time writing a 'goodbye' to all of you. Susan and I both agree that of all the projects we have done, this has been our favourite! If I tried to list all the things I really liked about this project, you'd have to keep scrolling down for a long time :-). In no particular order, here are some highlights for me:

Even though we have already done two previous Polar Science projects, I learned a lot more about the research that Dr. Kanatous and his team are undertaking, and the potential benefits for humans.
I really appreciate the dedication to education that both Shane Kanatous and Tom Hawke exhibited. They gave freely of their time and expertise in order to help us learn.
After many years in the classroom I already have a profound respect for educators, but teachers, I really appreciate the efforts to which you have gone to make this a rewarding experience for your students - trying new technology, monitoring your students' online activity, re-arranging your schedules to fit in the webcasts, and sharing your own learning. This has been a great opportunity for your students to see you as co-learners.
Students, you were amazing! You had fun, but you also showed that you took learning seriously. You treated the blogs and webcasts as learning tools - asking insightful questions, engaging in conversations, and sharing what you learned with others.

Now it's your turn!

Individually, in small groups, or as a class, (like Angus Morrison students did), we'd like to hear your 'final words' about the project. Your feedback is important to us! We'll use it to help us design future projects. We'll also pass it on to the project sponsors to show them how important their sponsorship is to your education.

Diane

Polar Science Admin Team

Webcast #5 Replays Posted

I have no idea where the time went, but we have now completed the final webcasts for the Polar Science 2009 project! Dr.Kanatous, Dr. Hawke, and special guest Dr. Trumble took us through the daily life of an Antarctic researcher. This was a "by invitation only" webcast, extended to the school teams that have been most active in the Polar Science 2009 project. Whether you took part in the webcasts or not, you'll want to watch the archives as a lot of information was shared.

You can find links to all of the Polar Science webcasts in the Webcasts Focus Area.

Diane

Polar Science Admin Team

Anesthestetic

Where do you inject the anesthestetic into the seal? Is it in their neck?

Immune System

Do the seals have a weak immune system due to the fact that there are less diseases in colder climates?

Hearing

How well can the seals hear? Is their hearing better underwater of above water?

Our Questions

Do you all enjoy recieving and answering our questions?

Thanks

The USA Big Bad Wolves say a great thank you to all Polar Science participants: scientists, co-coordinators and schools. The webcasts have been the highlights of the past 5 weeks and something we have waited for eagerly. It will almost be like losing our Web family. Thank you thank you!!