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Students need navigate the Internet to find information and be able to evaluate the reliability of that information. The third standard listed by the International Society for Technology in Education is "Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate and use information."

There are some websites out there that do not have reliable information. Students need to determine what is truth and what is not. Students need to understand some websites may not be as truthful as they look. Is there really a Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus? Students need to analyze this site to determine the answer to that question.

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Help Save The ENDANGERED

From EXTINCTION!

The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

Rare photo of the elusive tree octopus
(Enhanced from cropped telephoto)

The Pacific Northwest tree octopus ( Octopus paxarbolis) can be found in the temperate rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula on the west coast of North America. Their habitat lies on the Eastern side of the Olympic mountain range, adjacent to Hood Canal. These solitary cephalopods reach an average size (measured from arm-tip to mantle-tip,) of 30-33 cm. Unlike most other cephalopods, tree octopuses are amphibious, spending only their early life and the period of their mating season in their ancestral aquatic environment. Because of the moistness of the rainforests and specialized skin adaptations, they are able to keep from becoming desiccated for prolonged periods of time, but given the chance they would prefer resting in pooled water.

An intelligent and inquisitive being (it has the largest brain-to-body ratio for any mollusk), the tree octopus explores its arboreal world by both touch and sight. Adaptations its ancestors originally evolved in the three dimensional environment of the sea have been put to good use in the spatially complex maze of the coniferous Olympic rainforests. The challenges and richness of this environment (and the intimate way in which it interacts with it,) may account for the tree octopus's advanced behavioral development. (Some evolutionary theorists suppose that "arboreal adaptation" is what laid the groundwork in primates for the evolution of the human mind.)

Reaching out with one of her eight arms, each covered in sensitive suckers, a tree octopus might grab a branch to pull herself along in a form of locomotion called tentaculation; or she might be preparing to strike at an insect or small vertebrate, such as a frog or rodent, or steal an egg from a bird's nest; or she might even be examining some object that caught her fancy, instinctively desiring to manipulate it with her dexterous limbs (really deserving the title "sensory organs" more than mere "limbs",) in order to better know it.

Map of estimated tree octopus maximum range, including spawning waters

Tree octopuses have eyesight comparable to humans. Besides allowing them to see their prey and environment, it helps them in inter-octopus relations. Although they are not social animals like us, they display to one-another their emotions through their ability to change the color of their skin: red indicates anger, white fear, while they normally maintain a mottled brown tone to blend in with the background.

The reproductive cycle of the tree octopus is still linked to its roots in the waters of the Puget Sound from where it is thought to have originated. Every year, in Spring, tree octopuses leave their homes in the Olympic National Forest and migrate towards the shore and, eventually, their spawning grounds in Hood Canal. There, they congregate (the only real social time in their lives,) and find mates. After the male has deposited his sperm, he returns to the forests, leaving the female to find an aquatic lair in which to attach her strands of egg-clusters. The female will guard and care for her eggs until they hatch, refusing even to eat, and usually dying from her selflessness. The young will spend the first month or so floating through Hood Canal, Admiralty Inlet, and as far as North Puget Sound before eventually moving out of the water and beginning their adult lives.

Why It's Endangered

Route 101, separating the rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula from Hood Canal

Although the tree octopus is not officially listed on the Endangered Species List, we feel that it should be added since its numbers are at a critically low level for its breeding needs. The reasons for this dire situation include: decimation of habitat by logging and suburban encroachment; building of roads that cut off access to the water which it needs for spawning; predation by foreign species such as house cats; and booming populations of its natural predators, including the bald eagle and sasquatch. What few that make it to the Canal are further hampered in their reproduction by the growing problem of pollution from farming and residential run-off. Unless immediate action is taken to protect this species and its habitat, the Pacific Northwest tree octopus will be but a memory.

The possibility of Pacific Northwest tree octopus extinction is not an unwarranted fear. Other tree octopus species-including the Douglas octopus and the red-ringed madrona sucker-were once abundant throughout the Cascadia region, but have since gone extinct because of threats similar to those faced by paxarbolis, as well as overharvesting by the now-illegal tree octopus trade.

Tree Octopus hat from 1923

The history of the tree octopus trade is a sad one. Their voracious appetite for bird plumes having exhausted all the worthy species of that family, the fashionistas moved on to cephalopodic accoutrements during the early 20th Century. Tree octopuses became prized by the fashion industry as ornamental decorations for hats, leading greedy trappers to wipe out whole populations to feed the vanity of the fashionable rich. While fortunately this practice has been outlawed, its effects still reverberate today as these millinery deprivations brought tree octopus numbers below the critical point where even minor environmental change could cause disaster.

While efforts were made in the past to preserve remaining tree octopus habitat, these were met with resistance by the timber industry, which has traditionally viewed the tree octopus as a nuisance, both because the octopuses favor the valuable, moss-shrouded trees of old growth forests-pitting conservation needs against lucrative sources of lumber-and because octopuses hiding among felled trees often gummed up sawmills and stained pulp vats with their ink.

Traveling sideshow exhibits, such as this one by Glen "Bones" Hartzell from 1942, demonized tree octopuses to the ignorant masses
(Click to enlarge)

These nuisances led many loggers to regard tree octopuses as bad luck, resulting in the pointless killing of octopuses on sight at logging camps in a misguided attempt at eradicating the troublesome species. Anti-octopus sentiment was so strong among loggers that some even began to fear that the octopuses were prone to attacking humans.

These fears were fueled in no small part by gratuitous stories involving tree octopuses harassing lumberjacks and distressing damsels in Northwestern-themed pulp magazines of the 1930-40s and variously "nipping", "entangling", or "suckering the flesh" of the heroes of men's action magazines of the 1950-60s. (The magazine publishers depended on cheap paper made from wood pulp and were glad to contribute to the anti-octopus propaganda campaign of the timber industry.)

To this day, misunderstanding and fear of these gentle creatures can still be found among many old timers, although education campaigns-and special octopus-separators installed at sawmills-have largely halted the practice of tree octopus eradication.

How You Can Help

More Tree Octopus Information

Posters motivate the citizenry to action! Post them!

Tree Octopus FAQs - Frequently asked questions, now with answers.

Tree Octopus Sightings - Includes photos of and behavioral research on the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus and other tree octopus species.

Tree Octopus In The Media - appearances of tree octopuses, both real and fictional, in the media and popular culture.

Research On Other Tree Octopus Species:

The author of this article and its subsections is Lyle Zapato.
This site is not associated with any school or educational organization,
other than the Kelvinic University branch of the Wild Haggis Conservation Society.
Not to be confused with the Pacific Northwest Octopus Tree.

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Information about the endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus and what you can do to save it.

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The students need to know how to use the technology itself. The sixth standard listed by the International Society for Technology in Education is "Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems and operations." This article points out some students may be more technologically savvy than others. We cannot assume every student knows how to use every available technology.

"Even though today’s students may have grown up with new technologies, they are not all whiz kids at using them, nor do they want to be" (Spector,1)

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Precautions to Think About With Educational Technology

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Literacy Daily-the blog of the International Literacy Association (ILA)-features education stories, teaching tips, book reviews, and more.

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"We need to guide the development of competencies to use technology inways that are meaningful, productive, respectful, and safe." (Office of Educational Technology,9).

This video is one of the resources on the site we were given this week: commonsensemedia.org. This website says this project fulfills this 6th grade common core standard:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.1
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

I think this video shows students how they can leave their "footprint" online. The students were able to see what is posted on the Internet stays on the Internet. They need to understand this "footprint" will follow them into adulthood.

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Sarah Jackson pointed out in our readings last week that students need to masters new skills including play.  Jackson says play is "the capacity to experiment with one's surroundings as a form of problem solving" (Jackson, loc 143).

This is not only a great way to teach students how to problem solve while playing a video game, it also allows them to further develop their writing skills.

This assignment would fulfill this 6th grade common core state standard:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3.D
Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to convey experiences and events.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

By Brenna R. Kelly
Brenna.Kelly@education.ky.gov

Fifth-grader Olivia Staples is building a castle, not just any castle - a floating castle.

Sitting at a computer in the Longbranch Elementary School library, she follows instructions written by a classmate to create the structure in the pixelated world of Minecraft. If the essay is detailed enough - the castle will hover over the video game world, if it falls flat, Olivia's partner will have to revise the essay until the directions match the intended outcome.

"It's a really great lesson for them to see where their writing lacks, what worked and didn't work," said Stacie Kegley, library media specialist at the Boone County school. "It allows partnership and collaboration and of course, I'm totally teasing them with the Minecraft game to get them excited about writing."

Like Kegley, teachers across Kentucky and the world are using Minecraft, a video game often likened to a sandbox as an educational tool both inside and outside the classroom.

"For my parents and fellow colleagues that aren't familiar with it, I tell them it's kind of like unlimited Legos and the sky is the limit," Kegley said. "You can build infinitely and that's what I love about it. I love the three-dimensionality of it and I love that they can create with an unlimited imagination."

The original version of the game, which has both a creative mode and a game mode, has more than 100 million registered users, according to its creators. An education-themed version is used by more than 3,000 teachers in more than 40 countries, according its creator TeacherGaming.

The cost varies depending on how schools plan to use the game; an iPad edition is $6.99 but a server with multiple players could be more than $1,000.

The classroom applications for Minecraft are infinite, said Marty Park, chief digital officer at the Kentucky Department of Education. Students can recreate historical settings, learn to manage resources, see the workings of an economy or even build machines that create energy.

But as with any technology in the classroom, teachers should know what they want their students to gain from using the tool, he said.

"No matter what the digital experience there is going to be some learning of skills associated with it that make it the right and acceptable experience for our kids," Park said.

Bringing video games into the classroom is a trend called the gamification of learning. The idea is that students will learn through playing games because they are engaged and motivated to play. Gamification concepts in learning are different than simply playing games for entertainment value or reward systems.  The focus is on student-centered motivations while learning. So if students are already playing a game at home, like Minecraft, teachers can use that interest and turn it into creative ways of learning.

With video games such as Minecraft, students can not only gain a deeper understanding of the content, but also they use critical thinking skills and learn how to fail, Park said.

"It's that idea, you fail fast and learn," he said. "You are trying things and you are failing but that helps you learn how to be awesome."

Minecraft also teaches students to collaborate because they can work together inside the game and the teacher can be there too, said Jeff Sebulsky, program manager for Kentucky's Student Technology Leadership program.

"There are teacher tips and tools available to put your class into this virtual world and then you can manage your classroom while you are in there with them," he said.

This year Sebulsky saw a dramatic increase in the number of projects using Minecraft at the regional STLP showcases. Students at Tyner Elementary (Jackson County) learned how to generate power in the game. Their project "Minecraft Keeps the Lights On", explored energy sources including wood, biofuel and nuclear power.

"This was really chemistry, and these are 3 rd graders," he said. When they blew their city up using the nuclear power, they decided it wasn't the best option, he said.

"That's a lesson, they figured out what worked best for them," he said. "It was resource management, it was chemistry, it was economy and it was amazing."

In addition to using Minecraft at school, some teachers use it to encourage students to continue learning at home.

Fifth-grade teacher Jason Hubler and his wife Crystal, who both teach at Carter Traditional (Jefferson County), built a Minecraft server that can host more than 100 students at a time.

Their customized version of the game includes historical settings and educational games that are built around the Kentucky Core Academic Standards. Students get in-game rewards for completing tasks and answering questions tied to the English/language arts and mathematics standards and the social studies standards.

Students play from home usually in the evenings when Hubler or his wife are on the server helping guide them or answering questions.

"This way we can actually work on the standards outside the classroom," Hubler said. "And it really helps you build more friendships with your kids and be closer with the kids."

Hubler, a self-described gamer, said building a server isn't for every teacher. He and his wife spent six months building the customized version and have been working on it ever since.

But a lack of gaming experience shouldn't stop teachers from exploring Minecraft's use, Park said. Teachers who want to use it should just spend some time playing to see how it could fit into the experiences they are designing for their students, he said.

"Playing is not bad," he said, "The idea that, 'Oh you're just playing on a computer', we need to break that mentality. Playing is learning."

For Kegley, who describes herself as the "furthest thing from a gamer on this planet", the more she learned about Minecraft the more she saw its potential as a learning tool.

"I'll do anything to make my children want to learn," she said. "If they are going to walk in my door and not want to leave - I'm going do it."

She bought the program last year with money raised from a book fair and started a Minecraft hangout. More than 40 students quickly filled two computer labs playing for 45 minutes before school.

"I allow that to be very student led," she said, "it's a chance for them to teach each other." They also taught Kegley enough about the game that she decided to use it in instruction this year.

She chose writing because test scores in that area lagged behind others at the school.

Under the English/language arts standards 5th graders must be able to write an informative/explanatory essay. So for the Minecraft lessons, students write the instructions in a five-paragraph essay.

In addition to Olivia's floating castle, students described how to build the White House, a football field and giant iPhone. One student was instructed to build his name floating in the sky.

Revising the essays after seeing how their directions work or didn't work in the game allows students to hone their writing skills, she said.

Kegley hopes the lesson is just the start how she'll use the game in her instruction.

"Even the short period of time I've been working with Minecraft I've seen huge benefits," she said, "and I know I'm nowhere near tapping what I could do with it."
MORE INFO....
Stacie Kegley Stacie.Kegley@boone.kyschools.us or @Stacielyn2000

Marty Park Marty.Park@education.ky.gov or @MartyPark

Jeff Sebulsky Jeff.Sebulsky@education.ky.gov or @JeffSebulsky

Jason Hubler Jason.Hubler@jefferson.kyschools.us @AdventureEdu

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed By Brenna R. Kelly Brenna.Kelly@education.ky.gov Fifth-grader Olivia Staples is building a castle, not just any castle - a floating castle. Sitting at a computer in the Longbranch Elementary School library, she follows instructions written by a classmate to create the structure in the pixelated world of Minecraft.