Antarctic ecosystems are undergoing change at unprecedented levels. In this lesson, students will use real data to evaluate the effect of climate change on Antarctic fish. Denise Hardoy created this lesson plan after joining Dr. Anne Todgham’s team studying Antarctic Fish Development Under Future Ocean Conditions in October/November of 2019.
This lesson introduces students to the impacts of increasing ocean temperatures on marine life. Through this kinesthetic activity, students will learn more about marine ectotherms and what researchers in Antarctica have learned so far about how increasing temperature in Antarctic waters will affect their growth. Through the elaborate section of the activity students will connect what they learned about
Students will collect soil samples and analyze them with some of the same procedures used by researchers in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Soil microfauna (e.g. nematodes) will be extracted from the samples using a Baermann funnel. Students will compare their own data to published data from researchers working in Antarctica.
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
In a “March Madness” game of survival of the fittest, will your microbe and its genes survive the test of changing conditions on Planet Earth and beyond? Students choose genes from a “toolbox” and pit their microbe against their classmates’, using critical thinking and argument writing to determine the microbe with the best chance of success. Based on PolarTREC
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
Antarctica is the coldest, driest place on Earth with a fairly limited number of native species which have adapted to these extreme conditions over millions of years. As a result, it's not very likely that a non-native species would survive there . . . right? Actually ever since exploration and exploitation of the Antarctic region began in the 1800's
In this lesson students will learn how to use photography to support scientific research by documenting collected measurement information through observational photography. This lesson was written for a Photography course, to be taught in a lab with access to either a darkroom or computers/printers. Alternatively this lesson could be modified to work in a non-photography class, by removing the photography
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.