Learning Unit
Where in the World is Cynthia San Francisco? A weather-related challenge

Creating Learner – Focused
Schools

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

Declarative

• Understand collected weather-related data
• Satellite weather images
• Weather stations and station models
• Weather vocabulary

Procedural

• Use bookmarked internet sites to obtain required weather data
• Interpret, compare, and contrast satellite weather images
• Convert current local time to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
• Use the Weather Visualizer to create weather maps of the United States using real-time weather data
• Read and submit e-mail communications to the project coordinator

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

• How can weather-related data be used to solve real-life questions?

"Where in the World is Cynthia San Francisco" is an Internet based collaborative project sponsored by the New Jersey Networking Infrastructure in Education (NJNIE) project which is located at Stevens Institute of Technology, Center for Improved Education and Science Education, Hoboken, New Jersey. We wish to give full credit to NJNIE, without whom, this unit would not have been possible. The NJNIE web site can be located at:

http://k12science.stevens-tech.edu

INITIATING ACTIVITY

Students will undertake a real world scientific investigation in which they will use internet-based resources to solve "the crime of the century". During a two-week period, students will receive clues to help them locate the United States’ leading nuclear physicist, Dr. Cynthia San Francisco, who has been kidnapped by an unknown group. The clues will be gathered form current weather data, such as satellite images, weather stations, and current weather maps. In addition, students will use interactive web sites along with their clues to determine the location of Dr. San Francisco. A variety of hands-on experiments are available through web sites linked to the project’s home page. Teachers will be given an "answer page" so that they can be sure their students are on the right track. Students will also have the opportunity to talk with other schools, via e-mail, as well as the support of an on-line meteorologist who will be available to answer weather-related questions.

At the onset of the project, students receive the following e-mail, and the search begins:

** Monday, December 1st, 1997 0800 EDT

Secret Service Headquarters, Washington D.C.

Office of Top Agent Dr. Ostow

You are sitting in your office enjoying your first cup of coffee of the day when your SatCom EEP (Emergency Email Program) begins to beep in a loud ear piercing tone, almost causing you to spill your steaming drink onto your new suit. You quickly switch on your laptop computer to receive the incoming FLASH traffic. Your good mood quickly dissipates as you read the following email message from the White House.

Dr. Ostow:

The White House has just learned of the kidnapping of Dr. Cynthia San Francisco, the United State's leading nuclear physicist, by unknown forces. She disappeared from her home early this morning and was seen being dragged into a white van by two individuals. Your orders are to find the location where she is being held so that a rescue operation can

be launched. Because of an existing medical condition, You MUST find her within two weeks since she cannot survive much past that point without her medication. All escape routes leaving the United States have been blocked so Dr. San Francisco must be somewhere within the US.

Shocked by the news, you sit back and ponder how to begin your search. Just as you are beginning to have serious doubts about your mission, the EEP begins to beep again!

Dr. Ostow:

I hope that you get this email message because my very life depends on it! My name is Cynthia San Francisco, and I have been kidnapped by an unknown group this morning. I was blindfolded and transported to some type of isolated building. During my trip I became completely disoriented, so I have no idea where I am. Luckily, I was able to sneak my laptop computer, cellular phone and modem into the room in which I am being held. I have used my computer to tap into the computer system in the building where I am, but the only data I can retrieve is on the local weather. I will begin to transmit this data to you via email in hopes that you will be able to track down my position using the weather information. Dr. Ostow, you are the only one that can save me now, please come to my aid!

Cynthia San Francisco.

** The above document can be found at this web site: http://k12science.stevens-tech.edu

Students will receive 5 more e-mail messages over the next two weeks, giving them specific weather-related information. Based on those messages and the information they collect, they will develop a map to narrow the location of the missing scientist, from anywhere in the United States, to near one weather station.

CONNECTIONS TO STANDARDS

Content Area: MATH / SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY

Level: Elementary / Intermediate

Standard 1

Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design, as appropriate, to pose questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.

Scientific Inquiry

1. The central purpose of scientific inquiry is to develop explanations of natural phenomena in a continuing, creative process.

Students:

• formulate questions independently with the aid of references appropriate for guiding the search for explanations of everyday observations
• construct explanations independently for natural phenomena, especially by proposing preliminary visual models of phenomena
• represent, present and defend their proposed explanations of everyday observations so that they can be understood and assessed by others

1. Beyond the use of reasoning and consensus, scientific inquiry involves the testing of proposed explanations involving use of conventional techniques and procedures and usually requiring considerable ingenuity.

• carry out their research proposals, recording observations and measurements

1. The observations made while testing proposed explanations, when analyzed using conventional and invented methods, provide new insights into phenomena.

• design charts, tables, graphs and other representations of observations in conventional and creative ways to help them address their research question or hypothesis
• interpret the organized data to answer the research question or hypothesis and to gain insight into the problem
• modify their personal understanding of phenomena based on evaluation of their hypothesis

Standard 2 - Information Systems

Students will access, generate, process and transfer information using appropriate technologies.

Information Systems

1. Information technology is used to retrieve, process, and communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning.

Students:

• use a variety of equipment and software packages to enter, process, display and communicate information in different forms using text, tables, pictures, and sound.
• Telecommunicate a message to a distant location with teacher help
• access needed information from printed media, electronic data bases, and community resources

Standard 4 – Science

Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principals, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.

Physical Setting

1. The Earth and celestial phenomena can be described by principals of relative motion and perspective.

Students:

• describe patterns of daily, monthly, and seasonal changes in their environment.

Standard 6 - Interconnectedness:

Students will understand the relationships and common themes that connect mathematics, science, and technology and apply the themes to these and other areas of learning.

Patterns of Change

5. Identifying patterns of change is necessary for making predictions about future behavior and conditions.

• use simple instruments to measure such quantities as distance, size, and weight and look for patterns in the data
• analyze data by making tables and graphs and looking for patterns of change

Standard 7 – Interdisciplinary Problem Solving

Students will apply the knowledge and thinking skills of mathematics, science and technology to address real life problems and make informed decisions.

Connections

1. The knowledge and skills of mathematics, science and technology are used together to make informed decisions and solve problems, especially those relating to issues of science/technology/society, consumer decision making, design, and inquiry into phenomena.

Students:

• observe phenomena and evaluate them scientifically by conducting a fair test of the effect of variables and using mathematical knowledge and technological tools to collect, analyze and present data and conclusions.

Content Area: ENGLISH / LANGUAGE ARTS

Level: Upper Elementary

Standard 1

Students will read, write, listen and speak, for information and understanding.

Listening and Reading

1. Listening and reading to acquire information and understanding involves collecting data, facts, and ideas; discovering relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and using knowledge from oral, written, and electronic sources.

Students:

• gather and interpret information from children’s reference books, magazines, textbooks, electronic bulletin boards, audio and media presentations, oral interviews, and from such forms as charts, graphs, maps and diagrams
• select information appropriate to the purpose of their investigation and relate ideas from one text to another
• select and use strategies they have been taught for notetaking, organizing, and categorizing information

Speaking and Writing

1. Speaking and writing to acquire and transmit information requires asking probing questions and clarifying questions,interpreting information in one's own words, applying information from one context to another, and presenting the information and interpretation clearly, concisely, and

Students:

• present information clearly in a variety of oral and written forms such as summaries, paraphrases, brief reports, stories, posters and charts
• include relevant information and exclude extraneous material
• observe basic writing conventions, such as correct spelling, punctuation and capitalization, as well as sentence and paragraph structures appropriate to written forms

Content Area: SOCIAL STUDIES

Level: Upper Elementary

Standard 3

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live - local, national and global - including distribution of people, places and environments over the earth's surface.

2. Geography requires the development and application of the

skills of asking and answering geographic questions; analyzing theories of geography; and acquiring, organizing, and analyzing geographic information.

Students:

• ask geographic questions about where places are located; why they are located where they are; what is important about their locations; and how their locations are related to the location of other people and places
• gather and organize geographic information from a variety of sources and display in a number of ways
• analyze geographic information by making relationships, interpreting trends and relationships, and analyzing geographic data

LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Declarative Knowledge

Procedural Knowledge

Extending and Refining

Planning Guide

Unit: "Where in the World is Cynthia San Francisco" - A Weather related Challenge"

Rubric:

The key elements to be evaluated are:

Understanding of weather-related vocabulary

Interpreting and analyzing weather maps

Internet skills – bookmarks, web sites, e-mail

Reference Books / Atlas

** All elements of the rubrics will receive equal weight with the exception of Interpreting and analyzing weather maps. This component will receive either a 4 (excellent) or a 1 (not yet).

REFLECTIONS:

Students at different grade levels are able to enjoy and learn from this activity. Depending on the time classroom teachers wish to spend, the unit may be a quick ten day internet search, or a longer, more involved science unit, filled with on line and real time experiments. Visiting the "Cynthia" web site offers the classroom teacher many additional sites with experiments and information for the students.

We found that it was helpful to print out clues for the students in the morning, just in case our internet connection failed. This way, students would have a safety net, with all of the information they needed. We did have to use the pre-printed material twice during the course of the 10-day unit. The "Cynthia" web site also provides teacher answers and helpful hints for interpreting the clues. This feature proved invaluable!