Week 6

Over this summer, I've learned a ton about how the zoo works. Working mostly with the aquariums, I've learned a lot about what an aquarist does and how to care for those animals. It's been a great experience, learning those skills and working on how to apply them to my classroom. I'm hoping to implement my "physics of animals" project in my 9th grade conceptual physics class, and when I return to teaching Earth science in the future, it would be very easy to relate what I've learned working with aquariums to the oceanography unit.

Advice to future Blank Park Zoo externs: people who are afraid of getting dirty need not apply. I think it was very beneficial to work with the aquariums, because for liability purposes, many of the jobs that aren't "sanitation" related can only be done by full-time zoo keepers. Working with the aquarist, I could do almost any job that he could do, with the exception of diving into the exhibits for cleaning/maintenance.

I think that this experience would have been great for a biology teacher, however I definitely feel that it has been beneficial for me as a physics teacher. I was looking for connections to physics on a daily basis, and it served as a constant reminder that different subjects are related, it isn't one set of rules for biology, one for physics, etc. I hope to convey that message to students in the future.

Week 5

As far as the zoo's involvement in my classroom, the zoo has a successful education program. There are some animals that aren't on display at the zoo, but they are taken to schools for various education purposes. If I found the time or place in my curriculum, I would love to have the zoo's education employees visit my classroom, or even have my students visit the zoo as an "invitation to inquiry" at the beginning of my "physics of animals" project.

On a side note, Dan and I took a "field trip" to Adam's Aquatics, which is a locally run aquarium shop. We had to pick up some things for the zoo, but Dan also wanted to see his new store. It has been interesting to meet many of the different players in the "aquarium game" in Des Moines. From Dan at the zoo, Kirk, the aquarium science teacher at Central Campus, Adam of Adam's Aquatics, there are several very knowledgeable people in Des Moines when it comes to aquariums. I've learned that there are some people in the area that clean aquariums for businesses like doctors offices. As I've met some and talked to them, I've been picking up a lot about employability skills. Kirk explained to me that in his aquarium science class, he teaches students how to breed brine shrimp for feeding, and that is a skill that can be used to get a job. Adam has been successful at running his own business, both his store and his aquarium cleaning business. The way that he runs his business even has me thinking about starting my own part time business for future summers, although that is just an idea at this point. I'm a person that has had several jobs in different industries, from fast food to retail, lifeguarding to my current job as an educator, but I still was able to learn more about employability skills, one of the Iowa Core's 21st century skills, and the importance of teaching them to my students.

Week 4

In my classroom, I can see myself becoming more interdisciplinary. In my school, we have a set curriculum that we have to cover, for fear that our students will perform poorly on the Common Benchmark Assessments. I'm hoping that I can find ways to make my class more related to things like biology, but still be able to cover the material that I am required to. This will be especially useful for my 9th grade physics students, as most will be entering biology in 10th grade.

Week 3

One concern that I had coming in to this job was the struggles I might have connecting the zoo experience to the physics classroom. I've been encountering all sorts of science as I work. One of my responsibilities at the zoo has been do do water testing for the various exhibits. I use probeware and various testing materials to test for things like pH, salinity, ammonia, etc. This is great because I wrote a grant to get several thousand dollars worth of high quality Vernier probeware for our science department, and this is just one extra place where I see similar probes used int he real world, and it is one more reason that technology literacy is an important 21st century skill. One of the Iowa Core's Characteristics of Effective Instruction is rigor and relevance, and I am finding several places where science knowledge is used in the workplace. I've always thought of myself as a teacher who did a decent job of making my class relate to the "real world," but through my externship I feel that I have even more ways of making my class relevant.

I've been mapping out my project in my head that I can use to relate my externship to my physics classroom. I think that it will have something to do with students investigating the physics of some time of animal. That way they will learn physics content, as well as understand that science is interdisciplinary. It will serve as a nice end-of-the-year transition into biology, which is where a lot of my 9th grade physics students will be going in 10th grade.

This week I also had the opportunity to visit Central Campus, which is a part of my district, although I have never been in the marine biology facility. One of the teachers there used to be the aquarist at the zoo, and he often helps the current aquarist if he has questions. It was great to see their facility; they have more aquariums than the zoo! He gave me a tour and I learned a lot about those particular animals, as well as being able to make a connection to several of my students who travel to Central to take the marine biology or aquarium science classes.

Week 2

The people I work with at the zoo are constantly concerned with safety. It is a necessity when working with animals that can potentially be dangerous. Because I am not a full time zoo keeper, I cannot do some of the jobs that look fun to be, like cleaning the Caiman exhibit or feeding the sea lions. I understand the liability issues, and I wouldn't ever ask them to break their rules.

The aquarist Dan had some concerns at the beginning of the job that showing me how to do various jobs would take up some time, which was true. Taking the time to show me how to properly prepare herring to feed to sting rays, or how to take the pH of the water, does take some extra time. However, I know he is okay with it because once he takes the time to show me, I can do it on my own, which will save him huge amounts of time over the next several weeks.

Week 1

Wow, it's been a busy summer and I haven't been blogging! Here's my recap of the first half of my summer experience at Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, starting with week 1.

The zoo has been great to work at. I've been mostly working with aquatic animals, shadowing the zookeepers for sea lions and penguins on day 1. Later in the week I made the transition to work mostly with the aquarist, Dan. I've been preparing food, cleaning tanks, checking water quality, and anything else aquarium-related that needs to be done. The aquariums are great to work in, because you don't need to be a full time keeper to do fun things like feedings. You do with most animals in the zoo.

My main concern at the beginning of my experience was that I wouldn't have the knowledge to be very helpful, being that my background is mostly Earth science and physics. As I've been working, I've come to realize that I can learn anything I need to learn to be successful at this job. If I don't know, there's always somebody to ask.

Intro

This blog will document my experience as an extern at Blank Park Zoo this summer.