Jason V
New Educational Models
The Jason Project was conceived of by Dr. Robert Ballard of the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute six years ago. The project is funded
by EDS, NGS, Cray Research, the National Science Foundation, Toyota USA
Foundation, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Department of Education. Ballard
developed the Jason Project in response to his desire to connect children
throughout the world with live science.
At the Belize sites, in 1994, specialized scientists conducted
scientific studies, along with student and teacher Argonauts, for two
weeks. Fifth to twelfth grade students from area schools attended
real-time, interactive satellite broadcasts from this years expedition
sites in Belize. Using the latest video, telecommunications and computer
technologies, the project scientists in Belize interacted with students
at 30 PIN Sites in the U.S., Bermuda, and the United Kingdom. The Jason
broadcast format consists of five, one-hour broadcasts each day for the
two-week period. During each broadcast Ballard and his team of
scientists answered student questions, demonstrated on-site research
techniques, and challenged students with observation tests. Students also
remotely operated underwater cameras mounted on an ROV (remote operating
vehicle) allowing them to explore the Belize coral reefs from the various
PINS. The PIN sites shown include the auditorium at The National
Geographic Society in Washington, DC, the New England Science Center in
Worcester, Massachusetts, and a site at Bridgewater State College in
Bridgewater, Massachusetts. The Bridgewater site was the host for the
1994 Jason V Project.
The Burnell Lab School, in Bridgewater, Massachusetts was an example
of how teachers incorporated the Jason Project into the science
curriculum. The 5th and 6th Grade Classes at the school led by, led by
Ragen Tiliakos and Melinda Learning, developed a training model to help
science teachers nationwide integrate the Jason curriculum into their
regular science classes. At the Burnell school students engaged in a
year long curriculum using the research projects scheduled for the Jason
Project broadcasts.
While scientists in Belize studied the relationship of insects and
plants students simulated the same experiments by measuring the thickness
of a plant's leaves with a penetrometer. By measuring the weight of
water needed to puncture a leaf the students compared the toughness of
the leaves eaten by insects. The data from different leaves is collected
and compared.
To simulate the interdependence of ecosystems in Belize, the students
constructed a model using household items that contain a terrestrial and
an aquatic ecosystem. They planted bean and radish seeds to simulate and
rainforest and used aquatic plants and aquatic snails for the aquatic
system.
Students observed their ecosystems regularly and wrote about their
observations.
The Burnell students learned to simulate how stalagmites and stalactites
are formed by mixing saturated solutions of washing soda and water. As
the solution travels up the yarn and evaporates, the calcite in the soda
remain. The students wrote reports on Jason related classroom projects
which were then entered on the Jason Online folders in order share their
experiences with students worldwide via the Internet.
