More than 100 educators from across California, including more than a dozen from Orange County, visited San Pedro’s AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles earlier this week to learn from famed ocean explorer Dr. Robert Ballard’s peers and crew about educational technologies they can integrate into classrooms.
The Daily Breeze reported how scientists believe that there are perhaps more than nine million species still waiting to be discovered on the planet Earth. And thanks to new resources provided by AltaSea and Ballard, it’s possible that local students might see some of these creatures being discovered before their very eyes, live in the classroom.
“We want teachers to be equipped with real-world applications of what they’re teaching, and to be able to connect students with the why,” Megan Cook, manager of education partnerships and programs at OET, told the Daily Breeze.
Educators were invited to step aboard the Exploration Vessel Nautilus, where Ballard’s Ocean Exploration Trust conducts its most important work. The tours were led by scientists who just returned from their 2019 season, where they tried to locate legendary aviator Amelia Earhart’s downed plane and revisited the Davidson Seamount off the coast of Central California.
The OET scientists explained to teachers how various scientific explorations are performed across the ship. On the main deck stood the gigantic A-frame and winch responsible for lowering the remotely operated vehicles Hercules and Argus into the water.
These submersibles connect to the ship via long, heavy cables capable of reaching 4,000 to 6,000 meters, respectively, according to the Daily Breeze.
They feature an impressive array of technology designed to protect the vessels from the crushing depths of the ocean, to protect any sea life from the ROV and to observe and probe the ocean floor.
Here are some more education-related news stories from throughout the region for the week ending Oct. 25.
- The California State Legislature has been busy considering dozens of proposed education bills that could affect everything from charter schools and mental health support to when the school day should start for middle and high school students.
- As part of National Bullying Prevention Month, the Capistrano Unified School District joined schools across the country to celebrate Unity Day, a national event that brings students together against bullying. Hundreds of administrators, staff members and students dressed in orange to celebrate the occasion.
- The Disneyland Resort is contributing $350,000 to the Anaheim Union High School District to support a popular summer internship program.
- This week marked the official start of Red Ribbon Week, which continues through Oct. 31. Red Ribbon Week encourages students of all backgrounds to pursue healthy, drug-free lives.
- The Mendez family name is featured prominently in a sign outside the Westminster School District headquarters, and similar honors of their civil rights legacy are in the works.
- After years of planning, a complicated land purchase and sale, and necessary approvals from multiple public agencies, expansion of Orange Coast College’s School of Sailing and Seamanship is finally underway.
- To make room for 100,000 students who otherwise could get squeezed out of higher education, California’s public colleges and universities need to graduate students faster, operate more on weekends and summers, and share facilities and degree programs, according to a new report by the College Futures Foundation.
- The California School Boards Association and its partners last week took the next step toward putting a $15 billion tax initiative for K-12 schools and community colleges on the ballot, setting up the possibility that two competing tax measures will go before voters in November 2020.
- The NPR Student Podcast Challenge is back. It’s a chance for local students to compete with young people all over the country for the grand prize — to have their story featured on NPR’s Morning Edition or All Things Considered.
This is the part where we encourage you to keep up with local education news stories by bookmarking the OCDE Newsroom, subscribing for emailed updates or following us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.