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After
discovering the wreckage of the Titanic, oceanographer, geologist, and
explorer, Dr. Robert Ballard was inundated with thousands
of letters from students around the world who asked to go with him on his
next expedition. That inspired him to create the JASON Foundation for Education
and the JASON Expeditions. Read more about Dr. Ballard on at www.jason.org/ballard.html.
The name JASON comes from the mythological explorer, Jason, who sailed on
his ship, the Argo, with his courageous Argonauts in a mission to sail across
the Black Sea to recover the golden fleece from a fierce, sleepless dragon.
Bringing the Golden Fleece back to his king uncle would then make Jason
king of a mythological ancient Grecian kingdom.
For more than ten years, now, Dr. Ballard has been taking primarily
middle school students on virtual expeditions to many unique places.
Together they've shared the thrill of discovery with many other research
scientists in expeditions to:
THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA
THE GREAT LAKES
THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS
BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR IN MEXICO
BELIZE
HAWAIIAN VOLCANOES
UNDERWATER IN THE FLORIDA KEYS
ICELAND
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
MONTEREY BAY, CALIFORNIA
BERMUDA
THE HOH RAINFOREST IN WASHINGTON
A FOSSIL RAINFOREST IN COLORADO
A TROPICAL RAINFOREST IN PERU
The expeditions are a year round scientific expedition engaging students
in real science and the use of technology. Their teachers are provided
professional development opportunities to incorporate this multidisciplinary,
hands-on learning curriculum into their classroom experiences.
As part of the curriculum, teachers
involve students in local field investigations using the same scientific
methods employed by scientists
at the expedition sites. Students collect data, formulate hypotheses
that make the data meaningful, record data on the Team JASON On Line
web site, and compare the data to other data collected by students throughout
the world and that collected by researchers tied to the expedition.
Students can chat on line with researchers or pose questions to a number
of researchers associated with the expedition. The
JASON Expeditions web site is available for students to learn more about the expedition,
to
communicate with their peers, and to reinforce their learning experiences
through interactive exercises on expedition related material and past
expeditions.
Through a competitive application process,
the JASON Expedition selects both students and teachers to become
Argonauts and participate in the
expedition at the actual expedition site. Teacher and Student Argonauts
work with researchers at the expedition site to help collect data and
to share their experiences with students around the world.
That happens in a series of live satellite and internet broadcasts
from the expedition site to all the JASON Primary Interactive Network
Sites, Statewide Networks, and Regional Network Sites. The broadcasts
allow students at the PIN Sites to interact with the Teacher and Student
Argonauts, Dr. Ballard, and the Research Scientists on the expedition
site through the internet.
Following the expedition broadcasts, the data collected on site and
a variety of expedition experiences are recorded on the Team JASON On
Line site for students to analyze and review.
Check
out the JASON Expeditions Public Web Site at www.jason.org
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