This elementary aged lesson can provide a basis for future extensions and research regarding climate change and enhanced green house gases. The purpose is to brainstorm and discuss what students currently know about climate. (It could be based on the model- “What we know, What we want to know, What we learned”.)
This video of the seafloor in Barrow Canyon, off the coast of Alaska is to accompany the presentation, 'The Arctic Ocean Ecosystem: Status and Trends in the Pacific Arctic' by Jacqueline Grebmeier, given during the 2012 Arctic Ocean Ecosystem Workshop.
This lesson answers the question: How does ice floating on the ocean act as it melts?
Objective
* Students will learn about temperature, salinity and their effect on density.
* Students will learn that ocean currents are caused by differences in densities as a result of temperature and salinity. These differences allow ocean currents to circulate water
Students will take some time and look at the PolarTREC website journals, pictures, and forums to learn about a certain teacher, researcher, or polar science expedition that has already taken place or is currently taking place. Students will use the attached worksheet to think more deeply about a polar researcher's job and work.