Project SOAR-High
Earth System Science
Exploring virtual learning communities for deaf students

Participants are students and teachers
at

Model Secondary School for the Deaf
Indiana School for the Deaf
University High School Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program
Minnisota School for the Deaf
Chinook Middle School Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program
North Carolina School for the Deaf

A project at
Gallaudet University and the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center

1999-2005

Project SOAR-High has been made possible through a generous grant
 from

and also

    

 Thank you  very much!!!

These photos are sent to you by the students in the SOAR-High Earth System Science class at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf.  We want to say Thank You for providing the grant, the computers and other equipment and which make possible our work in this course.  The SOAR-High class is a very different kind of course.  We enjoy working on computers and learning how to work independently.  We also like having partners at other schools to work with, especially signing with them in a videoconference.  SOAR-High is teaching us many technology and collaboration skills, and at the same time we are learning the science of the Earth as a system.  These photos show you what SOAR-High Earth System Science is about.

We hope that you enjoy the pictures and that you will come visit our classroom sometime soon!

From all the SOAR-High students and teachers ....

-  Thank you!

SOAR-High students at Indiana School for the Deaf  mug for the videoconference camera

   Contact:   Mary Ellsworth, SOAR-High Project,  Model Secondary School for the Deaf, 800 Florida Ave., Washington, D.C. 20002    PH:  202-651-5883,   EMAIL: Mary.Ellsworth@Gallaudet.edu

SOAR-High Earth System Science is  ......
Six schools  working together (95 students and 8 teachers)

The original three SOAR-High schools. In 2004 Minnisota SFD, NCSD, and Chinook MS joined the collaboration to study the Earth system.	Mary Ellsworth's SOAR-High students spell out "M S S D #1"!  Model Secondary School for the Deaf,  Washington, D.C
Chris Gonzales' students  at University High School, Irvine, CA	Michael George's class  at Minnisota School for the Deaf Faribault, Minn.
Kamilla Joskowiak's class  at Model Secondary School for the Deaf	Teresa Huckleberry's Class  at Indiana School for the Deaf
Chris Gonzales' 4th Period class  at University High School, Irvine, CA	Mary Ellsworth's 2nd Block Class at Model Secondary School for the Deaf,  Washington, D.C.

SOAR-High Earth System Science is  ......
Sharing online curriculum

The front Web Page for the SOAR-High online curriculum at  http://csc.gallaudet.edu/soarhigh Colored boxes, center, link to daily messages from Teachers, used to inform  students about each day's activities in the class.   Independent learning skills,  including reading and following directions, are reinforced for students at all levels.

 
 

SOAR-High Earth System Science is  ......
  Doing labs together

University HS (CA) students prop a water filled  jug at exactly the right angle to catch maximum  rays from the Sun.  The students are making a  measurement of the amount of energy arriving on  Earth from the Sun, and comparing if and how  that varies from one geographical area to another.	In the lab University students prepared their jar  of water by suspending a thermometer from the lid  so that it reads the temperature of the water.
Students at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf  record results from their measurements of energy  arriving from the Sun.  After leaving their jar in  the Sun for 20 minutes, they measure how much  the water's temperature has risen, then use  formulas to convert the temperature change into Energy.	Jason and Millie at MSSD take a final temperature  reading from their jar.  Later they will compare  their results in a videoconference with University  High School and Indiana students.
In Indiana, students carefully perform the same  energy experiment.  They read the water temperature  before and after exposure to full sun.  After calculating  energy, they must explain the surprising results that  all three schools found almost the same amount of energy arriving at the Earth's surface!	This Indiana students is calculating the area over  the water jar directly lit by sunlight, a factor that is  important to know when comparing between different  geographical areas.   Students learn they have to be  sure they are comparing similar quantities.

 
 

SOAR-High Earth System Science is  ......
Doing GLOBE measurements

GLOBE  (Global Learning to Benefit the Environment) is a US government program designed to involve  students worldwide in a scientific effort to gather  widespread local information about the environment.  Scientists are using student data to investigate  various global parameters.   Here MSSD students read  the Minimum/Maximum thermometer.	Indiana students paint their GLOBE weather  station prior to installing the instruments for  measuring temperature (daily minimum, maximum,  and current) and rainfall). Students learning the  importance of standardizing their measurement  techniques.
Students learn to determine soil characteristics in a soil pit study at Model Secondary School.  SOAR-High  students are involved on a daily basis in the  collection of environmental data.  The hands on aspects  makes more relevant the satellite images they also work  with to answer questions about global environmental patterns.	In California, UHS students prepare to set up  their GLOBE weather station by learning about  the equipment in a videoconference with MSSD  students (in DC).  Here the MSSd students  show them a view inside the weather station, looking  at the Min/Max and calibration thermometers.

 

SOAR-High Earth System Science is  ......
  Using Data to answer our questions

Students learn to communicate with other 'researchers' by publishing  the results of their investigations on web pages, and reading each other's work.  This shows the first page from a student's web page report on her  findings in GLOBE temperature data.

 

SOAR-High Earth System Science is  ......
Videoconferencing to share what we find

MSSD students talk (using sign language) with students at University HS about the GLOBE  weather stations set up at each school.	On the other side of the videoconference,  University HS  students join in the discussion.
Mary Katherine explains how the students gather  data on the amount of rainfall using a rain gauge.	The view from California, watching as MSSD  student Garrett explains how the Min/Max  thermometer much be read between 11:00 and  1:00 am daily.
On another day, students from the Indiana School  for the Deaf explain how to do the GLOBE estimate  of percent cloud cover in the sky to MSSD students (on the TV).	Students are very motivated to share information in  a videoconference, which tend to be highly student  centered activities.  Only the students are in view on  screen, (not teachers!) with an agreed upon agenda visible  on the side to structure the activity.

 
 

SOAR-High Earth System Science is  ......
Having fun

How does NASA get those satellites up above  the Earth? Students end the semester with a fun  activity involving making rockets out of soda bottles.  The challenge: who can design the bottle that will  fly the straightest and the highest?  Students at  MSSD think they have the winner.	Indiana School for the Deaf students display their rocket designs and the rocket  launcher.  The rockets are 'fueled' with water under  pressure - supplied with a bicycle pumps and a  top secret energy source. (student muscle power!).
Matt cheers Batangana who is pumping up the air pressure for their rocket on the launch pad.  Teacher Sarah Raymond looks on.	Indiana students prepare a rocket for launch by pouring  in a measured amount of water, corking the neck of the  bottle, and inverting the rocket onto the launch pad.  Plastic  tubing goes through the cork to allow them to then  fill the bottle with air.