Would You Rather: “Wish Upon a Star? Carry Moonbeams Home in a Jar? Be Better Off Than You Are? …Or, Would You Rather…” Design & Assemble Aquatic Ecosystems (for an entire school year)?

The title of this post is intended to convey an idealized spirit of free and engaged learning. The popular song upon which this post title is based is: Swinging on a Star.” According to Wikipedia, this song “is an American pop standard with music composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke.^[1] It was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song that year,^[1][2] and has been recorded by numerous artists since then. In 2004, it finished at No. 37 in AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.”

As it relates to the book/curriculum, Beyond the Classroom Aquarium, the title of this post invites teachers and learners to actively exercise their own choice, voice and Joyfullness in pursuit of knowledge and understanding. Every word in Beyond the Classroom Aquarium is intended to encourage students to engage in a uniquely personal sequence of learning projects. The educational jargon might call this “agency.”

According to his Indiegogo fundraising event in 2016, Bob, the author, is a knowledgeable and caring educator – recently retired; An “old-school” character in an ever-accelerating society; he appreciates natural and universal principles of our common “human condition.” He admires classical thinkers like Socrates, Plato, Euclid, Archimedes, Epicurus and Edu-Thinkers like Dewey and Escalante. Bob has long held hopeful expectations for a more peaceful and healthy society.

Bob continues to have an abiding interest in further sharing his Edu-Vision thru intensive weeklong ‘Beyond the Classroom Aquarium’ Professional Development workshops (as reflected in his previously unsuccessful Indiegogo curriculum PD campaign).

If this post puts a song in your heart then it has been of some great value. Thank you for visiting.

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FieldKit’s “DONATION” of Their State of the Art, Open-Source, Environmental Sensor (Hardware/Software) Technology

…so Local Learners & Citizen Science Persons May Engage More Directly in Environmental Data Collection/Analysis Processes

It has now been more than 35 months since I first received an exciting message from Fieldkit.org – about #FieldKit50 donation awards (message shared below). Every day, since receiving their award announcement, I have been imagining what this awesome FieldKit technology will provide for students in my sphere of influence (via camps, school and park district programs and other formal/nonformal educational plarforms) etc.

During our 2020-2023 Covid existence, the virus (among other things as described in FieldKit’s blog) have been delaying FieldKit’s efforts to expediently fulfill the FieldKit water-station shipment commitments they were dedicated to prior to the full emergence of the endemic world-wide economic and socio-political viral gridlock. Please see this FieldKit blog that describes some or their recent setbacks and amazing efforts to resolve factors that have been delaying successful completion of their product development mission.

As I await the next contact from FieldKit.org I have faith that they are engaged in an ongoing process to fulfill their offer to provide a unique technological opportunity for local students to engage in authentic “State of the Art” environmental data collection (and citizen science fieldwork) – Thank You for Your Ongoing Efforts FieldKit.org

As of May 30, 2023 and despite the occasional reassuring email corresponence from FieldKit, we implementers and students of the Beyond the Classroom Aquarium curriculum, numerous local citizen scientists and educators remain interested in seeing exactly when FieldKit.org ships their generously donated FieldKit water-station.

I am also interested to see the FieldKit.org blog post that publically introduces all fifty #FieldKit50 winners. I wonder if the other 49 contest awardees have been as on edge about this as much as i have? I feel that receiving the water-station will symbolize some kind of return to a more stable/reliable pre-virus existence.

Below is a copy of an email announcement I received on June 23, 2020.

“Exciting News about your #FieldKit50 Application

Congratulations Bob, you’re getting a FieldKit! After reviewing almost 200

Congratulations Bob, you’re getting a FieldKit!

After reviewing almost 200 entries from all around the world, we’ve chosen you as a winner of our #FieldKit50 giveaway. We’re so excited to see how you end up using your station. Here are the important details:

We’re going to put together a blog post announcing you and the rest of the winners in the coming days. We’ll be following up in a couple of weeks to….

Stations will ship in Fall, 2020 (our production schedule has been impacted by COVID-19). We’ll get you a more exact date when we have one.

Feel free to share the good news!

We’d love it if you used the #FieldKit50 tag & linked to our website: https://fieldkit.org where possible. And….

Yay!

The FieldKit team”

If you are at all familiar with my Beyond the Classroom Aquarium curriculum you will understand how excruciatingly awesome it was to receive this announcement. I have only been able to imagine sharing this kind of technology with students for the past 30 years!

I’m looking forward to exploring this FieldKit technology with local students & project teams for years to come. Thanks to FieldKit & Conservify, someday soon many students will have fabulous “state-of-the-art” opportunities to learn a lot more about current best-practices & technologies used for environmental monitoring, data collection & analysis & formulation of environmental policy & practical applications to pursue based on data/science & beyond.

Although by October 29, 2021 (via emails at the time) it seemed FieldKit would soon complete final rebuild & performance testing of water units and be rolling them off the FieldKit production line (released for purchase) now, as of May 30, 2023 it seems more delays continue to prevent final testing, assembly, and shipping (Perhaps by the end of summer 2023 the donation will have been made?).

Though another school year has ended and comprehensive plans for total curriculum integration with this technology may be pushed back anothet scool year on the academic calendar, I am looking forward to receiving a FieldKit water station and putting it in the hands of local students. In the meantime, I will continue seeking ways to support local businesses and neighbors and hope you will try this too for those in your corner of the world.

Thank you FieldKit for your ongoing efforts and gallant mission.

“…to give people the tools to measure the world around them and empower everyone to advocate for the environment. FieldKit aims to dramatically reduce the cost of research-grade environmental sensors, and to simplify the processes of data management, visualization and sharing.” (2019, FieldKit in the Real World)

We have not given up on you!

A List of Questions About Beyond the Classroom Aquarium (for example: Why does it not cost less? Why select it over curricula produced by major publishing houses? Why use it when student success would require extensive effort, time, work and support? Why use this curriculum in view of the financial expenses it requires? and more)

Starting with…

        Question NUMBER TEN-A;

10A. Why, Aside from:

• Receiving 60% royalty on all monies beyond the minimum $41.90 sale price that covers Kindle’s printing cost ($25.14) and other fees ($16.76)? As for example the price for this book is currently set at $58.56 I may expect to receive a royalty of $10.00. ….AND;
• After years of committing portions of my own personal teaching salary funds to procure and install classroom aquatic ecosystem materials, equipment and livestock, AND;
• Committing further personal monies associated with attendance at more than a dozen classes, professional conferences and professional development workshops to explore and develop Beyond the Classroom Aquarium? curriculum related ideas, AND;
• Dispensing additional funds associated with royalty payments to other publishers who granted premission to use portions of their content in Beyond the Classroom Aquarium, AND;
• Considering the many intangible costs associated with years of reading, studying, photocopying, etc. related to the curriculum, AND;
• Years (20+) spent thinking, writing, and revising conceptual designs of the Beyond the Classroom Aquarium curriculum and the persistence to complete it; Why then

        … does this book not cost less?

Moving right along to:

          Question Number 10-B

10B. If

• a publishing company did not publish it (Beyond the Classroom Aquarium is self-published and print on demand) …and
• my school district’s curriculum committee did not authorize adoption of it,

Why should I give it the time of day? After all, a lot of experts and top dollar educational corporations have developed and endorsed a plethora of reviewed and highly rated curricular materials.

     … Question Number NINE

9. The level of knowledge and skill required of the lead teacher in this project based curriculum is uncommonly extreme. Getting students to be successful with this curriculum would require extensive effort, time, work and support. No thanks (Please share your reaction to this comment).

    … Question Number EIGHT.

8. It would cost way too much to implement the projects in this curriculum at my school (a small fortune). Even though it may well be worth it, where do startup funds to implement this curriculum come from? Why DIY so many systems and components when many high quality components can be purchased (plug and play). Cutting corners and finding novel ways to design and produce system components is just not how I view my role as an educator (Please share your reaction to this comment).

    … Question Number SEVEN.

7. Projects in this curriculum are designed to address modern day math standards, next generation science standards, and standards relating to integration of technology, engineering and the arts into learning activities. This kind of integration may make daily work with students more complicated than some educators might prefer (Please share your reaction to this comment).

      … Question Number SIX.

6.  The man who wrote this curriculum has put a lot of passion into it. Somehow he devised a way to unify all of these aquatic ecosystem themed projects into a logical curricular sequence. In addition to being a veteran educator (of more than 35 years), he went to great lengths to ensure this work would address a range of issuses of interest in numerous professional aquatic ecosystem fields of study and work. Obsessive/compulsive? Maybe he should have just joined a rock band instead? (Please share your reaction to this comment).

     … Question Number FIVE.

5. How can modern day persons perform these projects via digital learning or while being home schooled? These conditions make implementation of such a project based curriculum even more difficult. (Please share your reaction to this comment).

     … Question Number FOUR.

4. I think students would never buy-in to a yearlong project based, aquatic ecosystem themed structuted sequence of multidisciplinary learning activities. They have such limited attention spans and get bored so easily….  What do you think? (Please share your reaction to this comment).

    … Question Number THREE.

3. What examples of application of knowlegde and skill could be presented from students who have participated in this sequence of projects – in science, technology, engineering, art, and math? The author seems to think that learning about aquatic ecosystem is an enriching vehicle for guiding students to learn math & more (and apply it in real world contexts). (Please share your reaction to this comment).

     … Question Number TWO.

2. What might a classroom look like after a full school year of successful project participation in all 14 projects and related assessment activities has occurred? Could such a learning space serve as a demonstration  model and professional development learning space? (Please share your reaction to this comment).

     … And finally, Last but not least,

         Question Number ONE.

1. Has this author put together a Beyond the Classroom Aquarium professional development workshop for interested educators; a workshop that could be held in an operational beyond the classroom aquatic ecosystem learning space? Would it be FREE? (Please share your reaction to this comment).

I believe you can find answers to these questions and many others in the book. I will be happy to read your own comment about any of the questions on this list or other relevant concern(s) even if you have not yet read or used this curriculum. In particular, I am deeply interested in what you believe a fair price for this book might be. What do you think is a reasonable expectation for a royalty of this book? Although I did not write this book to make money I did hope I might recover expenses in the process of sharing this amazong curriculum.

Thank you.