Thursday, August 12, 2010
Group A Researcher
Researcher: Your job is to find some background information related to an important idea in the reading. Search through available references such as library books, reference books such as the encyclopedia, magazines. You might even interview someone who knows about your topic. Find some websites on the Internet so that you can do your investigation online. Share an interesting tidbit related to your reading.Please respond to each others' Research entry.
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The Loch Ness Monster aka Nessie, is a cryptid; an animal, which may exist in nature but whose existence, has not yet been accepted by modern science. It is said to live in Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands near the city of Inverness.
ReplyDeleteLoch Ness is a large deep freshwater Loch in the Scottish Highlands. It is 25 miles long and 1.5 miles wide. The max depth is 812 feet. (Wikipedia) There is more water in it than all the other lakes in England, Wales, and Scotland put together. There is enough room to fit every person on earth in it three times over. (Cryptid Files)
The water appears black and the average water temperature is 42 degrees. You can swim and engage in water sports in Loch Ness, but because of the water temperature, many are deterred.
Scientists believe that the Loch Ness Monster is nothing but a modern-day myth and attributes sightings to wishful thinking.
Information about this monster began in 1933 after a sighting. On November 12, 1933, Hugh Gray was walking back from church when he saw an object of considerable dimensions making a big splash with spray on the surface of the Loch. Luckily he had his camera with him, so he began snapping pictures. Only one of the pictures showed anything. Nessie believers hailed it as the first photographic evidence of the monster. Skeptics, however, dismissed it as a blurry mess that doesn’t show anything at all. Many have suggested that it looks like a distorted image of a dog (perhaps Mr. Gray’s own) carrying a stick in its mouth as it swims through water.
Since then, Nessie has been a key tourism draw, bringing an estimated 6 million pounds ($12 million) a year into the Scottish Highlands, according to The Times.
If this same creature is the same one that was spotted in 1933, it would be 77+ years old. Many believe that Nessie is a creature that represents a line of long-surviving plesiosaurus; an aquatic reptile that could tolerate the cold-water temperatures.
In the late 1980's, Loch Ness boat skipper, George Edwards was taking part in routine coastguard exercises on the waters of the Loch when he noticed something unusual on his ship's sonar. The sonar recorded a depth of 787 feet, a good 37 feet more than had been previously recorded in the area. Since that initial discovery, several other ships have checked the waters in that area of the Loch and confirmed the presence of what was to become known as "Edwards Deep", an anomalous rift in the floor of Loch Ness.
It is believed that Edward’s Deep gives access to Nessie’s home and a whole network of caves underwater in Loch Ness. It is believed that there are several air pockets in these caves, which would allow Nessie to stay underwater for such long periods of time.
Some other creatures known to inhabit the Loch Ness are; European eel, pike, three-spined stickle back, brook lamprey, Eurasian minnow, Atlantic salmon, sea trout, brown trout, and Artic char.
Here are some interesting sites!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mysterycasebook.com/lakemonsterphotographs.html This site shows photographs known to many as Nessie. It also provides articles about sightings of Nessie as well as professional and amateur video footage of Nessie.
http://www.nessie.co.uk/ This site is the official Loch Ness Monster site with up-to-date information and photographs of new and past sightings.
http://www.crystalinks.com/loch_ness.html This site provides several arguments for and against the existence of Nessie.
Some Arguments For the Existence of Nessie
1.Thousands of people, including priests and clergymen are certain they spotted Nessie. Did they all lie?
2.1,000’s of pictures of objects in Loch Ness, claiming to be Nessie? What is it?
Some Arguments Against the Existence of Nessie
1.How can multiple people see Nessie at the same time in different locations?
2.The whole lake has been checked out and mapped using sonic waves. The only thing that was relatively the same size as Nessie was a rock - a very big rock, at the bottom of the lake.
3.If creatures similar to plesiosaurs lived in the waters of the Loch Ness, they would be seen very frequently as they would have to surface several times a day to breathe.
4.In 2003, the BBC sponsored a full search of the Loch using 600 separate sonar beams and satellite tracking. The search had enough resolution to pick up a small buoy. No animal of any substantial size was found whatsoever and despite high hopes, the scientists involved in the expedition admitted that this essentially proved the Loch Ness monster was only a myth.
By reading the book and this research it is almost impossible to not believe that the Loch Ness monster is a real creature. Jean Flitcroft really brought Nessie to life in the story and all the newspaper clippings that she included definitely support the idea that this crypted exists. There have been so many sightings of this creature that it seems impossible that it doesn't really live in Edward's Deep in Loch Ness. The only reason that I am skeptical is because every sighting has this creature being a different size, color, etc. The facts are never consistent, but I am sure that these same things happen when scientists and cryptozoologists and regular people find when looking for big foot, chupacabra, and other creatures. I guess you have to really see it to believe it!
ReplyDeleteWhen first handed this book, I was kind of dreading it but then got pulled right in! As Amelia stated, this book really makes you think that there is indeed a Loch Ness monster. I love the sites you provided Jennifer. It was great to see pictures people have taken. I wonder if divers can eat moss and go deep enough to explore (ha!). Is there any research about the supposed caves that Nessie uses to breathe instead of resurfacing?
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started this book, I myself thought it was going to be silly and I was a non-believer. The fact of it is, is that after reading this story and all the newspaper clippings to go with it, I am on team Nessie :) I honestly don't think that so many people would lie about such a creature. Why would they? What good would it do for them? All the research and sightings is incredible to read and it honestly has made me a true believer.
ReplyDeleteI was completely swept up by this book. I was especially interested in the theme of longing: Vanessa longed for her mother, and also longed to believe in something illusive and beautiful...and prove to herself that it was real. She was carrying on the work her mother started, thereby keeping her alive, in a way. That theme was almost more interesting to me than the question of whether the Loch Ness monster is fact or fiction (though I guess I'd count myself on team Nessie). Per XJeNnAoX's comment about the caves, I wondered the same thing! I'm going to research that. P.S. I missed the fist class, and Dr. Kurkjian has assigned me to be a researcher in Group 1.
ReplyDeleteWelcome Jennifer to group A! There are so many other sites to research for this topic besides the ones already mentioned. I found myself online for AWHILE looking at research regarding Loch Ness and the Loch Ness Monster.
ReplyDeleteLike Lindsay, I am a believer. What makes me believe in Nessie the most is that clergymen, doctors, well hundreds of people, have stated that they have believed to have seen Nessie. I have faith that all of these people are not lying.
Did anyone see the sight that claims that the original photograph taken in 1933 was a fake? One website, http://www.creationtips.com/nessie1.html claims that the photographer admitted on his deathbed that it really was a toy submarine rigged up. I don't know about this!
Jenn, I did not see that sight about the claim about the original photograph, but I think that to hear that it was fake, is really disappointing to hear. Especially because I just became a believer about Nessie, and to hear what that man said is kind of in a way sad to me, even though I had just learned about her. I do think that believers in Nessie would ignore his comment, so they wouldn't lose faith in the Loch Ness creature.
ReplyDeleteI am disappointed to hear that it was a fake as well, but I don't believe it. After researching other sites on the internet there is no way that I can't believe that Nessie is real. We should take a field trip to Inverness and find out for ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure where I stand on believing in Nessie or not! I find that it is much easier, and MUCH more entertaining to believe in Nessie when I read stories of sightings and facts about the size of the Loch where all the Nessie sightings have been rather than look for facts and scientific evidence that "proves" Nessies existence. I am assigned the "golden lines" role and one quote that justifies my point of relying on "faith" rather than "fact" is one from Lee's journal where she describes Australian researchers discovery of the kangaroo: they were "...creatures that had heads of deer, stood upright like men and leapt like frogs. Sometimes, they even had two heads one on top and another on the stomach. " (163).
ReplyDeleteI think this would be a great activity to use with our K-2 students. I would love to use the description of kangaroos and have my students guess which animal I was describing!
I also think that Nessie seems more believable when she is described as a prehistoric creature, like a dinosaur (that we all KNOW exist) rather than "monster." The negative connotation in the word monster makes it harder for me to believe in Nessie. IF she does exist I don't think that she is a monster!
After reading the book and looking at the websites I'm still really skeptical! I want to believe but I have a gut feeling that it is a myth that people want to keep alive. I really enjoyed the book but had a very hard time with the eating of the moss. I just found it so far fetched and unbelievable. Perhaps that is just another part of the myth. I think this could be a really great research project for kids. Let them get all the information and decide weather or not Nessie is fact or fiction and let them debate about why they feel this way. This could actually be done with younger students, perhaps as young as 3rd grade, especially if they really got into the idea that a monster walked the planet.
ReplyDeleteSince we are torn about whether we believe or not, it makes me wonder about the author. Do you think that she believes or is still skeptical? The book left us all questioning (granted most are leaning to the existence), but I wonder what the author believes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kathryn that Nessie seems more believable when she is described as a prehistorc animal like a dinosaur, rather than a "monster". To me, monsters are in no way real. You thinik of "monsters" under your bed or in the closet when you are younger. That is what I associate them with, and we all know that they are not real.
ReplyDeleteJenna - I don't know if Jean Flitcroft believes in the Loch Ness creature or not. She does not seem to have any biast throughout the story towards or against Nessie. It seems as she just took the newspaper clippings and wrote the story from there. Do we have an opportunity to talk to Jean in a class? I don't remember what Dr. K had said. That would be a very interesting question to ask her though, if we did.
I believe that many people did see something in the Loch, but perhaps it isn't Nessie. It is more entertaining to be believe that she does exist, but what are the logistics of it? Could Nessie really be in the Loch when new technologies can not support this idea? Could there really be a creature lurking in the Loch for 77+ years and it is still living?
ReplyDelete(Just playing devil's advocate here, not really sure where I stand. I go back and forth!)
I've come to be a believer of Nessie and agree that it is more believable to think of Nessie as a dinosaur-like creature rather than a "monster" but I think that the way Flitcroft portrayed Nessie in the book was as far from a "monster" as can be. In the story Nessie seemed peaceful and caring; she was harmless. Vanessa was not fearful of Nessie because there was a sense of comfort around her. Nessie was a warm-blooded mammal just like Vanessa and kept her safe while she was in the Loch. None of us will probably ever know if Nessie really exists but if she does, how are we to know if she is "monster" like or not. Isn't it just better to believe that Nessie is this harmless and calm creature that lives in the sea?
ReplyDeleteI would also love to know Jean Flitcfroft's thoughts on the existence of Nessie. I remember hearing Dr. Kurkjian say that at some point we will be able to blog with her. That would be the first question I would ask, but I do feel that if she wasn't a believer she wouldn't have wrote the book. I think that she had to be a believer to write this book because the language and descriptions that she used throughout the story really brought it to life and made this idea of Nessie a reality. I don't think she could have done it that well if she didn't believe.
Amelia,
ReplyDeleteLike you, I believe that it is much easier to believe that Nessie is some sort of prehistoric creature than a monster. Nessie protected Vanessa while she was in the Loch, in my opinion, monsters would not do that. I think that Nessie is misunderstood, she's a lonely creature living at the bottom of the Loch who grieves over the death of her mother. Again, here's another similarity between Vanessa and Nessie; they are both grieving over the deaths of their mothers.
It's funny, I was so much more focused on Vanessa's personal anguish (her mom has died, her father has a new romantic interest, she has found her mom's secret files in the attic), that I didn't really wonder if Nessie was real or not. I was more wrapped up in whether it was real to Vanessa. Like Jennifer says above, a common factor between Nessie and Vanessa (interesting name similarity...) is that they both grieve the deaths of their mothers. Nessie IS real for Vanessa, and that was good enough for me. In "Children's Literature Briefly," there's a part where the authors talk about believability (p. 13): "The key to creating a good book is to make everything believable. We know that fiction is a product of an imagination. The people never lived. The story is made up... So why do we care? ... Because the emotional reality is absolutely true." Because I was completely in Vanessa's head, I believed right along with her--even though, in "real life," I'm not as sure.
ReplyDeleteAs for the caves, I researched more and found, not surprisingly, a 50/50 opinion split on whether they exist or not. (Interestingly, many of the sites discussing it have UFO-sighting posts and ads running along the sides!) At nessie.co.uk, a boat skipper, George Edwards, talks about how the press suddenly started calling him back in 1997 about his discovery of a "cave" or "den." It was not, though: It was simply an area significantly deeper than other areas in the lake (812 feet, and now called Edwards' Depth). In his accounting of all the media attention, he sounds slightly exasperated by the misinformation. "But I am intrigued as everyone else about my discovery and hopefully someday, someone will come along with genuine intentions to investigate the anomaly that is Edwards Deep." Maybe a Group A field trip is in order?