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
Students will use the TAMMNET project and accompanying PolarTREC resources to learn about seismology in the Antarctic, culminating in the creation of an annotated map using google maps.
Objective:
Students will understand the different ways mountain ranges are formed, and appreciate the questions unanswered about the Transantarctic Mountains. Students will also appreciate the ingenuity required for doing research in
Elizabeth Eubanks M.Ed (working with Angela Gilmour, Anne Jensen, Danielle Dickson, Leslie Pierce, and Rachel Potter) connected with PolarTREC and NOAA TAS. This lesson is inspired by the need to share the importance of the Bowhead Whale in relation to the culture of arctic people. It is a portion of an entire collaborative unit to be utilized between
Students will discover how a simple action such as turning on a television will lead to toxins in our food supply. Many of these toxins concentrate in the Arctic because of long-range transport of pollutants in the atmosphere. Scientists in the OASIS project (http://www.polartrec.com/ocean-atmosphere-sea-ice-and-snowpack-interactions) study these pollutants in the Arctic. Students will learn about actions that they can take to
The Surface Archaeology Activity will allow you to develop some of the knowledge and skills that archaeologists use to do their work while also getting a chore done at home. The steps are really easy, and then you can decide to maybe tackle another room in the house.
Students are presented with an actual series of tundra photos, which they use to develop a hypothesis for which sort of ground cover will have the most/least permafrost depth. Then they are given a set of actual data and use this to test their hypothesis
Objective
Students will:
* understand what permafrost is and how it develops
This lesson was modeled after some of the routine activities undertaken by the geologists on the Kuril Island Expedition.
Complete the following activities:
* Day 1 To measure a simple topographic profile with a level instrument or hand level and stadium rod.
* Day 2 To use the measurements from Day 1 (and/or actual measurements from the Kuril
This activity is designed to take place near or at the end of a unit on the ocean floor. Students should be familiar with the physical features of the ocean floor including the continental shelf, abyssal plain, seamounts and guyots, seafloor ridges and trenches, and submarine canyons. The students should have also previously learned about sonar methods for mapping the