Keith P. Thompson

Introducing Teachers to Geospatial Technology while Helping Them to Discover Vegetation Patterns in Owens Valley, California

A field course attended by science teachers in California’s Owens Valley incorporated geospatial technology to reinforce the relationship between elevation, aspect, or the direction a mountain slope faces, and vegetation. Teachers were provided GPS units to record locations and plant communities throughout the 9-day field course. At the end of the field course, they completed an exercise utilizing ArcGIS and/or Google Earth. A similar essay question about vegetation and elevation was answered at the beginning of the course and after the GIS/Google Earth exercise. Scores on this pre- and post-activity question as well as responses to a survey questionnaire indicate that GIS and Google Earth both helped the teachers understand how elevation influences vegetation. The role of aspect was not as well demonstrated in the post-test responses as that of elevation. Teachers reported being more likely to use Google Earth in their classrooms than GIS (75% to 58.3%). Combined with GPS, Google Earth provides a free, easy and flexible way to teach a number of earth science concepts and meet several National Geography Standards.

Internet Resources for General Music: The World Wide Web offers resources to help expand students' knowledge of many aspects of music. These tools can provide opportunities in the classroom and beyond

he rapidly growing Internet is exerting a profound influence on many aspects of contemporary life. Although its potential has not yet been fully realized, this virtual global library offers a number of helpful resources for general music teachers. Like any library, the Internet contains a variety of materials on many topics. Sites that offer model lesson plans, song lists, information about new music, or descriptions of teaching strategies are especially useful for general music teachers. However, the focus here is on materials to be used by students in

Working toward Solutions in Mainstreaming.

The music education profession supports the idea of mainstreaming, but teachers continue the debate over methods for implementing that idea Keith P. Thompson discusses the philosophy and practice of mainstreaming as it affects music education today.

A Different Drum: Percussion Ensembles in General Music

Almost all schools own percussion instruments that fascinate most students. J. David Morris and Keith P. Thompson suggest that this equipment be used in upper elementary and secondary general music classrooms.