So all my students know I'm new to CO, and they've been so kind telling me about all the stuff to do...
"Have you done a 14-er yet?"
"Did you check out this hiking trail?"
"What mountains do you like to ski in the winter?"
I can hardly answer any of them yet, but when I told students I've been interested in mountains for some time, they were intrigued. I told them about a tweet I found last year that really had me intrigued...
"Have you done a 14-er yet?"
"Did you check out this hiking trail?"
"What mountains do you like to ski in the winter?"
I can hardly answer any of them yet, but when I told students I've been interested in mountains for some time, they were intrigued. I told them about a tweet I found last year that really had me intrigued...
We dug a little deeper and read an article about Everest, realizing that not only is the mountain getting taller annually, it's also shifting to the NE. Students were asked to make their own initial models explaining these changes, and after sharing models with partners and groups, we attempted to come to consensus:
We didn't agree on much, and have lots of ideas around what's causing Everest to change. But these students know a lot about mountains...in fact, they've been to many all over the world. So we agreed to dig a little deeper and do some research about other mountains in the world. Students agreed that looking at mountains over the world might help us figure out what's going on at Everest. They asked for data specifically related to:
- Mountain height
- Weather/climate
- Earthquake activity
- Volcanic activity
- Rock type (as some rocks are softer than others)
- Ecosystems
Their research proved helpful because while there are many similarities between all these mountains, there are lots of differences, too! Especially the fact that there are mountains that shrink. It was mind-blowing to us that some of the mountains in the world were actually possibly taller than Everest at one point! We agreed our initial consensus model showed nothing about the ability of mountains to shrink, so we developed initial models and came to consensus yet again!
All these factors are leading us to ask some pretty incredible questions. Our next steps?!?!?! To set up our Driving Question Board and brainstorm data/information/investigations to help answer our questions! So proud of you 8th grade!