When thousands of rubber ducks fell off of a cargo ship
in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in 1992, it had a ripple
affect (pun intended).
More than 12 years later, Eastern Michigan University
Professor Sandra Rutherford is riding one of those waves
to a five-year grant worth $461,000 from the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The grant will help
elementary school teachers put more science in their classrooms.
 |
FLOATING DUCKS: Eastern Michigan University
will
receive a five-year grant worth $461,000
from the
National Oceanicand Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA). The grant will help elementary school teachers
put more science in their classrooms through a
children's
book about rubber ducks that have been
floating in the Pacific Ocean since 1992.
Graphic credit from
The London
Daily Mail
|
"In 2003, I was in Australia and there was an article
in the local newspaper about how these rubber ducks were
landing along the beaches and how people should report
finding the ducks because they wanted to see where the
ocean surface currents were taking them," said Rutherford,
a professor in the geography and geology department.
Rutherford remembered the story of the rubber ducks, which
kindled the development of the idea for a grant proposal
that was one of only five in the nation to be funded by
NOAA this year.
Her proposal includes developing a children's book about
the rubber ducks that can be used by future teachers in
the classroom to teach students about the science of waves
and surface currents. The books will be similar to
books developed by University Corporation for Atmospheric
Research (UCAR) for the
GLOBE Web site. The books and lesson plans are free for
teachers to download (see http://www.globe.gov/elementaryglobe)
.
While there have been several fictional children's books
written about the rubber ducks, Rutherford said her children's
book will include more science accompanied by hands-on
activities to help the students learn about the science
behind surface currents.
"Elementary teachers usually only teach science for
about 20 minutes, three times a week, and many schools
provide teachers with science kits to help them with their
science curriculum," Rutherford said. "The children's book
will allow teachers to embed science into their language
arts curriculum and give them additional activities for
their science curriculum."
Another major component of Rutherford's grant is that
the pre-service teachers in her earth science class at
EMU will be taught how to use the book and accompanying
hands-on activities. The pre-service teachers also will
be taught more ocean science content and be introduced
to Web sites with data so they can develop other Great
Lakes and ocean-related activities. The pre-service teachers
will then be tracked to their next science class, biology;
to student teaching, and then to their first job to determine
if their increased knowledge in ocean science translates
into greater student learning.
