This lesson plan transports students to two field sites outside of Fairbanks, Alaska to investigate the interconnected relationships between climate change and permafrost. Students will use authentic field data from site photographs, soil temperature, and thaw depth measurements to draw inferences. An ESRI StoryMap, faux field journal, and 360 site images are used to engage students in the inquiry
On 25 August, teacher Svea Anderson gave a presentation on the highlights from her PolarTREC expedition at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum at their annual Teacher Appreciation Night.
Kahoot! based quizzes that are focused on climate change. The suite of quizzes includes a quiz about climate change in the Arctic and Antarctica. These quizzes are created by Columbia University and the National Oceangraphic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform that is free for teachers. Teachers will need to create a login to use the
What does it take to run a research station on the least habitable continent, thousands of miles from civilization? For those interested in Antarctica (and McMurdo Station) these are really nice interactive 360 degree and 3-D (for VR) web pages. To get the really cool 3-D experience, you will want to use VR goggles. As a note of interest Elaine
Article about Dr. Lauren Neitzke Adamo, co-director of the Rutgers University Geology Museum, and her upcoming expedition through PolarTREC, in the Swiss Alps to study the impact on glacier melting.
Ice is a medium that nearly everyone is familiar with. We put it in drinks, skate on it for hockey and scrape it off our windshields in winter. Ice can be turned into sculptures and can even make for some fantastic winter scenery. Ice can also turn into a kaleidoscope of color and patterns under the right circumstances. Science
In this activity, students will use data collected about two male arctic ground squirrels by researchers at Toolik Field Station in northern Alaska. Each squirrel had a lightlogger to record light intensity (lux) and an implanted data logger to record internal body temperature (°C). Students work individually or in pairs to analyze the data sets and interpret the results
This lesson is intended to help students make connections to polar science while discovering how and why sea ice drives deep ocean currents. Students will also learn key terminology related to sea ice and using actual salinity content charts, will graph a typical sea ice core’s salinity as it relates to depth.
This lesson was created by 2017 PolarTREC teacher Steve Kirsche who took part in the Dynamic Observations of the Microstructural Evolution of Firn expedition. The lesson is intended to introduce students to the concepts of isostasy and postglacial rebound through a demonstration and related instruction. Students will then see how postglacial rebound is an important factor when assessing the
Lesley Anderson was connected with local California radio station KSON before and during her trip to South Pole, Antarctica as part of the PolarTREC program.
1. KSON Radio Station hosts a live interview with Lesley Anderson at the food fund in Bonita, CA.:
http://www.kson.com/media/audio-channel/john-and-tammys-food-fund-friday-bonita
2. Article in John & Tammy Blog (see downloadable article).
3. Facebook post during her stay