Beacon Valley is recognized by scientists as one of the most Mars-like environments on Earth. This lesson plan was created so that students could have the opportunity to examine the same landforms that scientists use to study the processes that operate in both of these extreme environments. There are two parts to this lesson. Teachers may choose to
An important science skill that needs to be developed is asking significant questions that advance knowledge. This activity helps students to understand the difference between significant and trivial questions.
Objective
Students should be able to distinguish between significant questions that advance knowledge and trivial questions.
Procedure
1. Have the students define significant question and trivial questions in a
Each group of 2-4 students will research an arctic topic from a list, build a small web page devoted to that topic, link the group’s page to other groups’ relevant pages, and advocate for change around an issue that is important to the topic.
Objective
Students will understand the complexity and vulnerability of Arctic ecosystems
2
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
Lake El'gygytgyn (also called, Lake E) permafrost drilling started in mid-November of 2008. The ICDP (International Continental Drilling Program) is posting news reports and images to this blog several times each week. Check out early reports from Lake E.
The Antarctic Research Group at Boston University is lead by Dr. David Marchant. Graduate students include Adam Lewis, Doug Kowalewski, and Kate Swanger.
Marchant's ongoing NSF funded research projects focus on:
1. Age, origin, and climatic significance of buried ice in the Dry Valleys region, southern Victoria Land
2. Response of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet to middle Miocene global
EarthSky Communications Inc. is a digital media company and a clear voice for science heard around the world. EarthSky creates over 12 million impressions for science daily through a variety of popular brands including the Earth & Sky daily science podcast series, the EarthSky Clear Voices for Science extended interviews with scientists. Be sure to visit Cielo y Tierra website
The Kuril Biocomplexity Project is a National Science Foundation-funded research project led by the University of Washington and being conducted by a team of American, Japanese and Russian scholars and students who are examining a 5000-year history of human-environmental interactions along the Kuril Island chain in the northwest Pacific Ocean. This is the link to the project website.
This website features webcam images of the North Pole and is hosted by NOAA. The Arctic Theme page also hosts a variety of educational resources about the Arctic.