PolarTREC teacher Jillian Worssam was one of a handful of teachers singled out by the Rodel Foundation of Arizona as an exemplary teacher. This article gives a sneak peak into Ms. Worssam's very hands-on, field-based classroom and how she connects with her middle school students.
This lesson introduces students to krill, their importance in ocean ecosystems, and the physical structures that make up the krill body. The students will then use the principles of a "floater" species and design their own krill, hopefully having a class competition to see who can build a better krill.
Objectives
Students will understand the importance of krill in
Rings of life is a comparative lesson allowing students to investigate growth rings in walleye Pollock from the Bering Sea and Ponderosa Pine trees.
Objectives
Students will be able to compare and contrast growth rings on fish and trees, showing just one of the tools scientists use to monitor the health of different ecosystems. Students will also be able
The following PowerPoint presentation is part of an anticipatory set used to excite and introduce students to the many wonders of the Bering Sea. The PowerPoint is to be presented at the beginning of a unit about the Bering Sea.
Objectives
At the start of a unit on the Bering Sea this PowerPoint video presentation will engage
Students will develop an understanding of what it takes to interview scientists, and take the corresponding data and reformat it into an electronic medium.
Objective
Students will be able to write questions to scientists in the field, interview, take the data collected, and convert to an electronic format including MP3 clips and post to the Internet.
Students will undertake a long term project to evaluate the effectiveness of different local forecasters, match the forecast with the actual weather and analyze which forecaster is best.
Objective
Students will compare the accuracy of different weather forecasts. Students will compile and analyze their own data gaining a better understanding of the challenges involved in weather forecasting
Finish newspaper, Maaseudun Tulevaisuus, published this article about Micheal Wing and the archaeology team working in Yli-Li. Attached is the translated article (by Reija Shnoro).
This activity is designed to make a connection between a group of scientists and the students.
Objective
Students will learn that scientists are people too.
Preparation
The teacher will need to contact a group of scientists to make sure they would like to participate in the project and to explain to them the goals of the
In this activity, students diagram the hydrologic cycle. Most of the concepts will already be familiar to middle and high school students, but this activity is a good way to prepare for making the far more challenging carbon cycle and energy NON-cycle diagrams.
Objective
* Students understand that the total amount of water on Earth is constant