journal 7

Retracing Shackleton’s Journey to Antarctica to Connect Math and Literature
By Erin Colfax

A science teacher by the name of Erin Colfax, also the author of this article, has created a new and exciting way to teach math, science and even literature. Erin has brought in her own passions of traveling into the classroom and then turns her adventures into lessons. In this article, she mentions the several different ways in which she incorporated math, science and literature. For example, Colfax had her students read about the different weather patterns around the world and had her students make predictions of what it would be in places such as Africa, Thailand and even Antarctica. To implement technology into these lessons, Colfax used HOBO data probes with her students to help collect their data. Erin mentions that her latest lesson includes a story of a man named Sir Ernest Shackleton, whom made a journey in the Atlantic Ocean near Antarctica. Colfax had her students formulate questions that would help understand the environment Shackleton would be traveling in as well as had them analyze the lines according to his voyage. Allowing the students to explore the different ways in how to obtain data, made their interest rise in all subject matter, without them ever knowing. Being able to connect real world situations with actual math, science or even literature lessons in class brings a definite advantage, and also allows teachers similar to Erin Colfax, enjoy what they are teaching only that much more.

Question 1 – What are some other ideas you could bring in from the “real world” to teach different lessons?

If your school is near the ocean, a fun experiment/lesson would be analyzing and making predictions about the tide charts. Students could educate themselves on what tides are, when certain tides occur and when the best time would be to go to the beach. Once students can show their competency in these areas with the use of technology, they could all take a field trip on the day they all predict to be one of the best days to go.

Question 2 – What level do think would be appropriate for lessons such as the one Erin Colfax created?

Although her lesson does involve some algebra, it seems that a teacher can bring this idea into almost any grade from fourth up to high school level. This lesson is such a great idea; I believe all students should participate in some type of similar activity. One of this reasons this lesson is so appealing is because of the diverse levels you can create for any grade level.