The objectives of this lesson are:
* Students will know that climate change is happening most quickly in Arctic regions.
* Students will know that a warming climate is causing permafrost to thaw.
* Students will know that thawing permafrost is impacting infrastructure in Alaska, including roads and buildings.
* Students will design an engineering solution to create stable
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
At Summit Station, Greenland, science technicians measure the snow conditions of the runway to determine if the LC-130 aircraft which brings supplies and people in and out of Summit can land and takeoff safely.
Students can use data taken by technicians at Summit Station, Greenland and develop a model to determine if snowpack conditions on the runway are sufficient
The report is written by teacher participants upon return from their field expedition portion of the PolarTREC program. It summarizes the benefit of the expedition to the teacher, a description of activities, and a summary of how teachers plan to link this experience in classrooms and communities. This is a public document that will be posted in teacher portfolios and
This one hour webinar is a great look at the PolarTREC 2014 Arctic expeditions. Each teacher presents a little about the research projects, implementation in the classroom, and outreach into communities.
Article in regional newspaper describes Regina Brinker's PolarConnect event and invites readers to participate at home or as the event is projected at the main public library branch.
This one hour webinar is hosted by PolarTREC teacher Regina Brinker who studied interactions of sunlight and microbes at Toolik Field Station in northern Alaska.
PolarTREC alumni Alex Eilers created this mini-exhibit about Antarctica for the Pink Palace Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. The exhibit highlights a variety of topics as well as Ms. Eilers personal experiences in Antarctica. Topics explored include: dressing for the cold Antarctic climate, research on the Weddell seal, the history of human exploration in Antarctica, and extreme facts about the coldest
A poster by PolarTREC alum Dan Frost describing the integration of Arctic research into secondary education through a field season in Svalbard. It details possibilities for curriculum building and outreach through Arctic field work experience.
This one hour webinar gives educators the opportunity to learn from PolarTREC educator Alex Eilers. Her projects for education and outreach on the weddell seal project with Dr. Burns provides great examples of bringing polar science to students and communities.