Permafrost puts extensive limitations on plant growth and building construction. Most students in the world are not exposed to this phenomenon and don’t have a clear concept of what it is or how it is at risk. This inquiry activity is designed to let them explore the impact of melting permafrost on a human structure.
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
"Looking down from up on the moon, it’s a tiny blue marble. How’d have thought the ground we live on, could be so fragile?"
*Love Song to the Earth, Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Fergie, Colbie Caillat, Natasha Bedingfield, Sean Paul, Leona Lewis, Johnny Rzeznik, Krewella, Angelique Kidjo, Nicole Scherzinger, Kelsea Ballerini, Christina Grimmmie, Victoria Justice
In this investigation, students will measure production of CO2 from surface water and consider the role of surface waters in the global carbon cycle and climate change. They will gather data on using Vernier CO2 sensors. This lesson presents a wonderful opportunity for student-designed experiments.
This is a good lesson to get students thinking about the complexity of the systems involved in providing our society with energy, the consequences of energy use and efficiency. Students are encouraged to explore the data sets on their own, ask their own questions about energy use and present their findings to each other.
Students will explore the concept of albedo and how it relates to melting ice and climate change. This is a hands-on activity where students measure the reflectivity of various surfaces as a model for how light interacts with different parts of the Earth’s surface. This is adapted from lessons created by Jamie Esler and SERC earthlabs.
Students will use a model to explore the relationships between sunlight and release of carbon dioxide (CO2) from thawing Arctic watersheds.
After studying the carbon cycle, students are asked to reflect on how natural phenomena – thawing of permafrost, interactions of soil microbes on dissolved carbon, and amount of sunlight – interconnect and influence the release of CO2
“A sense of place is the sixth sense, an internal compass and map made by memory and special perception together.” – Rebecca Solnit
This lesson allows students to record observations from a specific “sit spot” that they will visit on weekly nature hikes. Students will note seasonal changes of the area including its wildlife, flora and fauna, using
Biodiversity is a central concept in understanding ecosystem functioning. Students explore how biodiversity is measured, impacted and can shift due to environmental changes to develop their understanding. Based off of the Microbial biogeography studies that Dr. Byron Crump is doing in the Arctic and around the world.
Objectives
* Understand the role and importance of biodiversity in
Oceanography is the study of the ocean. It covers a wide range of topics from marine life to the geology of the sea floor to the physical properties of the ocean. Physical oceanographers study the physical components of the ocean including light, waves, tides, currents and the composition of sea water. The physical properties of the ocean can