It was a surreal moment in Feb 2017, when I received a call from JT Hardin- a member of National Geopgraphic Education team, that I had been selected as a Grosvenor Teacher fellow. Once I got over the disbelief and initial euphoria, I started to wonder what this expedition would be like? I had never been on an expedition like this before and I looked forward to it with much anticipation and excitement.
Now, after having visited Galapagos in June, I can say with certainty that this expedition was way beyond my imagination. It was truly a life-changing experience. To experience a pristine natural world which has not been impacted by human activity was amazing. I had never seen a bird or an animal not afraid or wary of humans, but in Galapagos, the blue-footed boobies sat nonchalantly on their eggs barely 6 feet away from the visiting humans. This was an amazing experience to witness the fearlessness of animals. I saw many endemic species of animals like Blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, marine iguanas, and giant tortoises and of course, Darwin’s finches. Here are some pictures of each of these animals. I was fortunate to witness mating rituals of blue-footed boobies and frigate birds and the nesting sites of giant sea turtles. It is hard to imagine how big giant sea turtles and land tortoises are without actually seeing them.
Now, after having visited Galapagos in June, I can say with certainty that this expedition was way beyond my imagination. It was truly a life-changing experience. To experience a pristine natural world which has not been impacted by human activity was amazing. I had never seen a bird or an animal not afraid or wary of humans, but in Galapagos, the blue-footed boobies sat nonchalantly on their eggs barely 6 feet away from the visiting humans. This was an amazing experience to witness the fearlessness of animals. I saw many endemic species of animals like Blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, marine iguanas, and giant tortoises and of course, Darwin’s finches. Here are some pictures of each of these animals. I was fortunate to witness mating rituals of blue-footed boobies and frigate birds and the nesting sites of giant sea turtles. It is hard to imagine how big giant sea turtles and land tortoises are without actually seeing them.
Galapagos is on the bucket list of many people and is the ultimate destination for a science teacher. Following Charles Darwin’s journey offered a wealth of information and insight into his journey as well as his theory of Natural Selection. It was equally intriguing to hear about Charles Darwin’s academic journey from National Geographic Naturalist. Even though, Darwin’s parents wanted him to be a doctor, his destiny pushed him towards a journey on HMS beagle. This one journey changed the way science looked at speciation and evolution. Main takeaway- exploration and curiosity must be a goal for educators to develop in their students.
While I was prepared to be amazed by the natural beauty and by the uniqueness of animal species at Galapagos, what totally blew my mind was the visit to Tomas De Berlanga School. This school is a bilingual school with focus on developing tomorrow’s global leaders and advocates for Galapagos who are aware and knowledgeable about the unique environmental issues related to Galapagos. It was amazing to see the poise, knowledge and eloquence of the students at this school.
As a chemistry teacher, I was curious to know about their chemistry curriculum. I learned that they are not able to do labs since chemicals are not allowed on the islands and they longed for that. The school’s principal, chemistry teacher and I decided that we could easily overcome that problem by facilitating collaboration between my students in Cupertino, CA and Tomas De Berlanga students in Galapagos. My students can show chemistry experiments and all students can work on together on common chemistry concepts. While the focus is chemistry for this collaboration, I am excited for the connections around global citizenship and their different lives. My hope is that students in two hugely different places will realize that they have more in common than they think.
In addition, we may expand this collaboration to some more of my fellow GTFs who also went to Galapagos. This will bring a cross section of educators and students from different grade levels, geographic locations and curricular areas together. We are in the infancy of this collaboration but I look forward to sharing more information with you as our collaboration unfolds. Stay tuned!
Here is to new friendships, new learning and some chemistry!
In addition, we may expand this collaboration to some more of my fellow GTFs who also went to Galapagos. This will bring a cross section of educators and students from different grade levels, geographic locations and curricular areas together. We are in the infancy of this collaboration but I look forward to sharing more information with you as our collaboration unfolds. Stay tuned!
Here is to new friendships, new learning and some chemistry!
Pictures
https://goo.gl/photos/EBpLwNxagCcch3CA6
https://goo.gl/photos/EBpLwNxagCcch3CA6