Ocean explorer shares wonders
By Kelly Feser Eells

A man Vanity Fair magazine calls the "Indiana Jones of the oceans" spoke at Buena High School in Ventura Wednesday - an event that two Mira Monte Elementary School classrooms had been buzzing about for weeks.

Indeed, oceanographer and adventurer Dr. Robert Ballard has had fans in Chris Hess' and Carol Paquette's Gifted and Talented Education classes since the beginning of the 2002/2003 school year.

Renowned the world over for finding the "graves" and remains of the Titanic, the Lusitania and PT-109 (the doomed World War II patrol boat piloted by Lt. John F. Kennedy), Ballard is also the founder of the JASON Project: a multimedia, interactive science program that has been "... turning kids on to the wonders of the world" for 14 years. And the JASON Project has been the cornerstone of this year's (science and technology-focused) GATE program.

Every year since 1989, a Ballard-led team of explorers has taken participating classrooms to a different part, or parts, of the globe via a 200-plus page curriculum; maps; models; referrals to, or "televisits" with, research affiliations; membership to Team JASON Online; supplementary videos; and access to live broadcasts of the culminating expeditions. Every year, the project answers three core questions: (1) What are nature's dynamic systems? (2) How do these systems affect life? (3) What technologies do we use to study these systems and why?

But, because every project is different - JASON VIII, for example, "Journey from the Center of the Earth," explored the world's geothermal hotspots, while JASON III, "The Galapagos Islands ... followed in the footsteps of Darwin" - there are as many different paths to the answers as there are different discoveries along every path.

This year's project, JASON XIV, "From Shore to Sea," is, like JASONS I-XIII, ambitious. Yet, early into the curriculum, students of all ages were making enthusiastic connections between ecology, kelp forests, marine ecosystems; biodiversity and more -the kind of response Ballard hopes will inspire "in children a lifelong pursuit of learning.

"Kids love to ask 'why?' They're passionate about learning before they even realize they're learning," he smiled. "After the Titanic, I got thousands of letters from kids asking me, 'how can I do what you do?' But without taking ten years of chemistry, oceanography, geology, of course! Well, exploration, discovery: these are what spark imaginations. Kids love discovery, exploration, adventure; so do I. And science, which leads to discovery ... and can always surprise us."

Hess and Paquette spark their students' imaginations by example: They have been "as fired up and excited" about the project as they were last September (when they first introduced it to parents) and continue to enhance the curriculum with both group and individual projects, recommended literature, e.g., "The Island of the Blue Dolphins," "The Case of the Missing Cutthroats," "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," and team teaching.

Though hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic JASON XIV participants would object, Ventura and Santa Barbara County's student Argonauts-in-training cannot help but feel as if they are enjoying the "From Shore to Sea" project a little more than anyone else.
Why?

This year, the focus is on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, its waters, and the islands of Channel Islands National Park, all of which make up the project's "laboratory," and all of which are, essentially, in Ventura and Santa Barbara County students' back yard. Ojai resident and native Chumash Julie Tumamait-Stenslie participated in the project, demonstrating Chumash culture.

Paquette's and Hess's classrooms have studied the ecologies of Anacapa Island, Santa Cruz Island, and Frenchy's Cove (West Anacapa Island), as well as maritime culture and its impact on these "laboratories."

In addition, JASON XIV partners with research affiliates Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History; Santa Barbara Maritime Museum; and UC Santa Barbara.
"It's just an amazing opportunity," said Hess.
JASON XIV's live expedition broadcast from Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is underway, now through Feb. 7. Check local listings for air time.

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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