The report is written by teacher participants upon return from their field expedition portion of the PolarTREC program. It summarizes the benefit of the expedition to the teacher, a description of activities, and a summary of how teachers plan to link this experience in classrooms and communities. This is a public document that will be posted in teacher portfolios and
PolarTREC teacher Jillian Worssam was one of a handful of teachers singled out by the Rodel Foundation of Arizona as an exemplary teacher. This article gives a sneak peak into Ms. Worssam's very hands-on, field-based classroom and how she connects with her middle school students.
This lesson introduces students to krill, their importance in ocean ecosystems, and the physical structures that make up the krill body. The students will then use the principles of a "floater" species and design their own krill, hopefully having a class competition to see who can build a better krill.
Objectives
Students will understand the importance of krill in
Rings of life is a comparative lesson allowing students to investigate growth rings in walleye Pollock from the Bering Sea and Ponderosa Pine trees.
Objectives
Students will be able to compare and contrast growth rings on fish and trees, showing just one of the tools scientists use to monitor the health of different ecosystems. Students will also be able
The following PowerPoint presentation is part of an anticipatory set used to excite and introduce students to the many wonders of the Bering Sea. The PowerPoint is to be presented at the beginning of a unit about the Bering Sea.
Objectives
At the start of a unit on the Bering Sea this PowerPoint video presentation will engage
Students will develop an understanding of what it takes to interview scientists, and take the corresponding data and reformat it into an electronic medium.
Objective
Students will be able to write questions to scientists in the field, interview, take the data collected, and convert to an electronic format including MP3 clips and post to the Internet.
When Pat (Roger) Kelly went to high school he loved science. He spent family vacations by oceans, and he had a lot of jobs outside. Pat had an uncle who was his role model. He worked for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Pat thought he had a "cool" job because
This interview was conducted by the students of Project New Start in Flagstaff, Arizona with Bering Ecosystem Study researcher, Dr. Calvin Mordy. In the audio file he describes what is in the water, and how it is impacted by changes surrounding the ocean.
How did you become interested in studying chemical oceanography, and how did you get your current job?
Calvin grew up in Kansas. While in college he saw a flyer for a summer class doing chemical oceanography. That is all it took, and he was hooked! This experience then inspired him to go to graduate school in chemical oceanography.