NASA’s Operation IceBridge (OIB) flies airborne missions each year over both Polar Regions, collecting ice thickness and extent data on glaciers, ice caps, ice shelves and sea ice. This data is useful to many disciplines studying climate, weather, ocean circulation, sea level and many related fields. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) houses and organizes the data
Analogs are used in science investigations to better understand systems we can’t access ourselves. In this lesson, students explore the Dry Valleys of Antarctica to better understand microbial communities on early Earth and what might have been possible on ancient Mars. Students will examine photographs, written descriptions, and artistic renderings of early Earth, the Dry Valley lakes, and
The long-term objective of PolarTREC teacher Lesley Urasky's expedition research in Antarctica (Glacial History in Antarctica) is to determine the rate at which glaciers have receded since the Last Glacial Maximum. This lesson is designed to give students an understanding of the Last Glacial Maximum, the climatic conditions that lead to glacial periods, and how the rate of glacial
This data plotting lesson is about temperature changes throughout the atmosphere. The data was collected together with the ozone data in January 2008.
The temperature vs. altitude profile allows students to make conclusions about annual and seasonal temperature changes in the atmosphere up to about 35 kilometers in the stratosphere. The best part of this lesson is using
Using photos from a variety of websites, including the PolarTREC and SCINI websites, students will identify organisms to phylum and/or class level (e.g. polychaetes, starfish, brittle stars, sponges) and then research the primary foods that these organisms eat. They will then develop a simple food web for these organisms.
We go places, but what do we do with the billions of snippets of information we absorb? How do we process the information so that it means something to us when we can no longer be there? As a geographer, my objective was to be able to observe, participate and categorize the billions of pieces of visual information
Case studies provide a brief overview or examination of events that impact or alter the way people function and live day to day within the human and physical environment. They help by providing students with “real world” examples that relate to the theoretical content they are studying.
Objective
Students will prepare a case study illustrating the impact
Learners from 6th – 12th grade will investigate different science projects in Antarctica through the PolarTREC and the USAP websites. They will then make a short PowerPoint (or similar) presentation to the rest of the class. Learners can work independently or in small groups.
Objective
Students will become familiar with the wide variety of science that occurs