The Gulf of Mexico

I.       I. Plant Life

The Gulf of Mexico has thousands of species of plants that inhabit it.  Salt water marshes, coral reefs tide pools and deep waters are all areas of growth for these saltwater plants.  These plants are extremely important to the ecosystem of the Gulf because they provide food and shelter to creatures living in the Gulf.
 Salt Water Plants in the Gulf
Gulf Coast Salt Marshes

A.     A. Coastal Marsh

B.     B. Saltwater Plants

1. Smooth cordgrass, needle rush, codium repens, and sea grapes are all types of plant that live in the salt water

II.     II.  Physical/Mineral

The Gulf of Mexico is one of the major places in the US to produce oil and natural gas.  This oil and natural gas comes from deep within the floors of the Gulf.  Oil rigs located in the Gulf are there to dig the oil out of the seafloor.

Offshore Oil and Gas in the US Gulf of Mexico
General Facts About the Gulf of Mexico: Resources

A.     Oil

1.    It produces approximately 25% of the nations oil and 14% of the nations natural gas yearly.

B.     Natural Gas

III.     III. Fishing

The coastal waters of the Gulf are extremely popular with fishing.  Whether it be recreationally or commercially, the saltwater fishing is thriving in the Gulf of Mexico.  There are different seasons of fishing and also a limit on what a person may catch daily.

Recreational Fishing
General Facts about the Gulf of Mexico: Resources

A.     Commercial

1.    The saltwater fisheries in the Gulf are some of the most productive in the world.  The estimated harvest including fish and shellfish in the gulf one year was 1.7 billion pounds

B.     Recreational

IV.     IV. Water

The Gulf Of Mexico is the ninth largest body in the world.  It is bordered by five US states: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.  It is also bordered by five Mexican states and the island of Cuba.  It is a salt water body of water.
General Facts About The Gulf of Mexico: Location and Size
48 Facts you Should Know About the Gulf of Mexico: Ancient Beginnings and Recent Discoveries

A.     Size

1.    The Gulf of Mexico is approximately 600,000 Square miles and its deepest point is over 12,000 ft deep.

B.         Water Type

V.      Sea Creatures

There are thousands of different salt water species living in the gulf.  There are 29 marine mammal species living in the gulf, more than 900 species of fish, along with a number of different shellfish. 
48 Things You Should Know About the Gulf of Mexico
Marine Fishes and Shellfishes of the Gulf

A.     Types of Mammals    

B.     Types of Fish

1.    The array of species thrive in the salt water.  Depoending on the type of fish, they live in all areas of the Gulf.  For exampole, the sword fish and other deep sea fish can live up to 2,000 feet below the sea level.

MS Science Framework

3. Develop and demonstrates an understanding of the characteristics, structures, life cycles, and environments of organisms:
3.a. Describe and categorize plants and animals.

Horizon Report Notes

There are six trends that help accelerate the growth of educational technology in schools.  These trends are sorted into three categories: leadership, policy and practice.

Schools are are becoming mroe focused on being more student-centered learning so the need to rethink the functions of teachers.

Providing teachers with plentiful opportunities for professional development is important to nurture the teqachers with their new roles.

Part of finding success in this changing landscape is determining the right balance in how class time is used.  Flipped Classrooms.

Many believe that learning through doing things and creating students will become more engaged in their education, prepare them for success in college and careers, and develop a propensity for problem solving that will endure throughout their lifetime.

Open Educational Resources (OER) - The notion of sharing is inherent to the philosophy of open content, and in 2002, the non-profit organization Creative Commons began to address the need for alternative licensing so that people could legally share and adapt creative works.

Technology is developing so students do not have to be experts with it... they are able to learn on their own.

Self-directed and group based methods are both examples of personalized learning methods.

There is still a need for more concrete policies with this growing and changing concept of authentic learning.

The goal of integrating more personalized learning into schools is to enable students to learn with their own strategy and pace, and demonstrate their knowledge in a manner that is uniquely their own.

#2

This post tells the audience about how acknowledging and praising something that children have been struggling with is more beneficial than simply praising them for doing something good.  This is because  with perseverance, the brain grows and is able to recognize and understand that problem in the future.  As a future teacher, I think that this will be beneficial in the classroom because these children will recognize what they are struggling with, work hard at it, and once they comprehend it, they will know for the future.  This is because struggling with something will expand the brains capabilities of what is right and wrong.  When a child is praised on something that he is already good at, I believe that this will just make the child's "head grow."  By congratulating a student on finally working out a math problem or sounding out a word after many tries, he is proud of himself and will know how to do it in the future.