Tiny Ice: Bits From Antarctica Video Series

Standards Other

NGSS Alignment:

The video series is meant to introduce the viewer to different aspects of Antarctica throughout the series. Topics and standards include:

Video 2: US Research Stations in Antarctica

• K-PS3-1 Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth’s surface.
• 3-ESS2-2 Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.
• MS-ESS2-6 Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

Video 3: Extreme Cold Weather Gear

• 3-ESS2-2: Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.
• MS-ETS1-1: Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

Video 4: Wildlife

• 3-LS4-3: Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less, and some cannot survive at all.

Video 5: History of Antarctica

• HS-LS2-7: Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
• MS-ESS3-3: Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

Video 6: Multiple South Poles

• 4-ESS2-2: Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features.

Video 7: Life and Work at the South Pole

• 3-5-ETS1-2: Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
• HS-ETS1-2: Design a solution to a complex problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.
• HS-ETS1-3: Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.

Video 8: IceCube Laboratory

• HS-ETS1-3 Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
• HS-ESS1-3: Communicate scientific ideas about the way stars, over their life cycle, produce elements

Video 9: SPICE Core - Understanding the South Pole Ice

• MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
• HS-PS4-5: Communicate technical information about how some technological devices use the principles of wave behavior and wave interactions with matter to transmit and capture information and energy.

Video 10: Doing Science at the South Pole

• HS-ETS1-2: Design a solution to a complex problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.

Polar Literacy Principles

Again, these topics can be found throughout the video series and are applicable to the following principles:

** Video 2: U.S. Research Stations in Antarctica**

• Polar Literacy Principle 1A-4: Ice sheets on Antarctica average ~2-4 kilometers thick.
• Polar Literacy Principle 1B: Earth’s tilted axis affects polar seasons.

Video 4: Wildlife

• Polar Literacy Principle 1D-2: In the Antarctic, terrestrial life is not widespread and is generally limited to the continental margin and the ocean. Vegetation is limited to mosses, liverworts, lichens and fungi that can survive extreme environments. There are no native human populations in Antarctica.
• Polar Literacy Principle 4C-1: Antarctica is home to marine mammals (whales and seals) and sea birds, including penguins. Antarctica is not home to terrestrial mammals.

Video 8: IceCube Laboratory

• Polar Literacy Principle 7D: Antarctica’s high elevation and dry atmosphere allow measurements of cosmic microwave background (fossil light from the early universe).

Video 9: SPICE Core - Understanding the South Pole Ice

• Polar Literacy Principle 2A-1: Land ice includes glaciers and ice sheets made from compacted snow (freshwater). Glaciers and ice sheets can extend over the ocean. Ice sheets that extend over the ocean are called ice shelves.

Video 10: Doing Science at the South Pole

• Polar Literacy Principle 7D: Antarctica’s high elevation and dry atmosphere allow measurements of cosmic microwave background (fossil light from the early universe).