Wasilla
People
Memory Lake (2007-2009)
Cheryl Williams' Wasilla High School science classes are participating in ALISON. They include her 11th and 12th grade Ecology class (data collection and climate change); her 11th and 12th grade AP Environmental Science class (data collection and climate change); her 9th grade Honors Physical Science class (heat and energy, data share project, one visit to lake); and her 9th grade Earth Science class (climate/weather, data share project).
Measurements are done every other week after school. Ecology and AP students travel 4 miles out of town to Memory Lake. The observatory is ¼ mile from the public access for Memory Lake. Students “volunteer” (for points) to collect data. Group size varies from 1-10. If possible, the physical science classes visit the observatory one time at the beginning of the season. During the field trip to the observatory the class collects a full set of data.
Lucile Lake (2002-2007)
The Lucile Lake observatory will be operated by Cheryl William and her ecology class at Wasilla High School. Lucille Lake was chosen because Cheryl has an Alaska Department of Natural Resources grant to study the water quality in the lake. The ALISON study and the water quality study make a nice combination, one for the frozen lake and one for the open lake. Cheryl is originally from Palmer, about 20 km east of Wasilla. She has taught at Wasilla High School since she graduated from the University of Idaho six years ago and participates in the Alaska GLOBE Program. Observatory training included a classroom session on Tuesday 28 January 2003 and a meeting on the lake at 8 am on Wednesday 29 January. Think about the implications of 8 am in Alaska in January. The photograph below might help. Our early morning visit to the ALISON observatory was also featured in the Wasilla newspaper, "The Frontiersman".
Wasilla High School ecology students gather in the dark at Lucille Lake.
