Students will be able to:
* Analyze graphical data to draw conclusions
* Compare and contrast the chemical structures of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide
* Explain how differences in the structure of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide lead to differences in their reactivity and functions as a greenhouse gas
* Argue how changing shrubbery impacts climate change
Students will be able to:
* Graph, analyze, and predict data
* Develop claim, evidence, and reasoning
* Explain how permafrost is made, current conditions, and its impacts on climate and humans
Preparation
* This lesson plan can be taught either in the classroom or virtually online. Instructions on how to teach both ways are given in the Procedure
It’s sometimes a common and depressing comment to hear from your students, “I’ll never use this in my life! Teach me something practical like how to pay my taxes!” As teachers, we strive to make learning relevant to student’s lives, but for a multitude of reasons sometimes your lessons just don’t have that
PolarTREC educator Kate Steeper and researcher Dr. Syndonia Bret-Harte discuss the 2019 fieldwork and research that is occurring on a project looking at shrubs, snow, and nitrogen in arctic Alaska. This event was broadcast live from Toolik Field Station, Alaska on 15 August 2019.
Have you ever wondered how polar scientists do it? How do they really know if the planet is losing vast quantities of ice anyway? You can use pictures from satellites to monitor the surface from year to year, but the vast majority of ice is hidden from view, buried beneath the surface in some of the most inhospitable and
Libertyville High's Mark Buesing working with NASA in Greenland. Veteran Libertyville High School science teacher Mark Buesing packed some cold-weather gear and headed to glacier-filled Greenland, where he is part of a NASA mission to study ice in both of our planet's polar regions.
Students will conduct a demonstration that will help them gain a better understanding of the water cycle and runoff in a watershed. They will be able to replicate arctic and non-arctic watersheds by varying the size of the watershed. They will be able to visualize the difference in runoff by creating hydrographs of these different locations.
Students will investigate the breadth and depth of science taking place in the Polar Regions by reading and learning about one PolarTREC expedition and sharing it with the class.
Objectives
* To expose students to the wide variety of science happening in the Polar Regions
* To help students understand the process of science by examining one
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.
PolarTREC teacher Tim Spuck presented on his experience with the IceBridge project, monitoring Greenland's glaciers and how they are being affected by climate change.