Anne Schoeffler (PolarTREC 2016) was interviewed for a speaking engagement at the Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society. The session title was Implications of Climate Change in the Arctic. Schoeffler speaks about outdoor education, research, and teaching students to appreciate and protect the natural world.
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.
Seton Catholic School's middle school Garden Club applied for and received certification as a Schoolyard Habitat. The school qualified by having a water source (reclaimed pond), forage for animals, and a pollinator garden. Students use these spaces for curricular activities and have received grant funds to extend the gardens and build a nestbox trail for cavity-nesting birds.
This lesson allows students to consider navigation around Antarctica, where longitudinal lines converge at South Pole. Through this study, students should learn about polar stereographic projection, satellites, navigation using various instruments, Antarctic geography, and NASA’s Operation IceBridge airborne mission. In the first part of this 55-80 minute lesson, students will be faced with a dilemma. Their task will be
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
PolarTREC has been an amazing experience, wow! The heart of the PolarTREC program is the field expedition, which allows the teacher to be embedded in a field research team. STEM educators are passionate about what they teach but often lack access to meaningful opportunities to participate in basic research. Programs like PolarTREC provide that missing
The Revitalizing Power of Teacher-Researcher Collaboration
The nature of science is continually moving us forward; from a fresh set of findings we rush ahead excitedly to the next batch of questions. From this continual pursuit, new ideas, methods and instruments are designed by scientists and technicians at a rapid pace, in turn yielding new data. As science teachers, we need
I was privileged to participate in a PolarTREC expedition to Greenland in June of 2016. PolarTREC, and other teacher research experiences, put educators into active roles with respect to science and are thus extraordinary opportunities to serve as role models for our students. PolarTREC afforded me the chance to model for my students the adventurous spirit that for centuries has
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.