This American Public Media Educate podcast features PolarTREC alumni, Melissa Lau. She talks about how her experiences in PolarTREC has influenced how she approaches teaching climate change in the classroom. Here's the link to the Education podcast:
Melissa Lau spent a month in the tundra ecosystem gathering data using a device called a Greenseeker. This device measures exactly how green a plant is by calculating its NDVI or Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. In this lesson, students will explore light waves, how they interact with plants, and find out how green is green.
PolarTREC, funded by ARCUS (Arctic Research Consortium of the United States) and the NSF (National Science Foundation), endeavors to connect educators and researchers in real field work experiences. Educators then take that experience back to their learners and community and share their experience in the form of lessons, lectures, and enhanced experiences in the classroom. As
PolarConnect event with teacher Melissa Lau and researchers Jeremy May and Matthew Simon discussing their research on Phenology and Vegetation Change in the Warming Arctic. This presentation was broadcast live from Toolik Field Station, Alaska on 20 June 2018.
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.
This activity is 4 of 4 in a series that exposes students to the concepts of and work done by the HERMYs Project (Historical Ecology and Risk Management: Youth Sustainability):
1. A Narrative Pantomime
2. Environmental Risk Assessment
3. Risk Hazard Identification
4. Local and Traditional Knowledge & Risk
*“Historical accounts of remote Alaska can only offer documentation
This activity is 3 of 4 in a series that exposes students to the concepts of and work done by the HERMYs Project (Historical Ecology and Risk Management: Youth Sustainability):
1. A Narrative Pantomime
2. Environmental Risk Assessment
3. Risk Hazard Identification
4. Local and Traditional Knowledge & Risk
*“Historical accounts of remote Alaska can only offer documentation