The Arctic Ocean Curriculum Unit was created by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States with funding from the North Pacific Research Board. This project aimed to update and revise existing Arctic Ocean-related lesson plans originally created by PolarTREC program teacher alumni. The format used lends itself to the changes in education - providing student-facing slide decks that allow
The lesson will be in two parts:
* Part one will involve the students making layers of sediment with clay also including particles (such as beads to represent pollen, etc.) and then they will make core samples using a drinking straw as a coring tool.
* Part two will involve the class taking a mud core sample from
In part two of this two-part lesson students work in pairs to explore the effects of temperature on ocean stratification using a simple plastic shoebox-sized container in which they create a mini-ocean environment. Students will apply what they learn in the lab setting along with information gained in several online articles to a basic understanding of the Global Conveyor
This inquiry-based activity can be done using the slides of the attached PowerPoint presentation, or using a smart board. The slides describe the phases of the Inquiry Based Learning, step by step. The reference model is the "BSCS 5E model" (Bybee W. et al., 2006).
Objectives
Students will learn about global warming through inquiry-based learning and experimentation
Welcome to Classroom Antarctica - a comprehensive online teaching resource produced by the Australian Antarctic Division. It is particularly aimed at grades 5 to 8. This is a great resource that includes many lesson plans and activities focusing on Antarctica.