Antarctic ecosystems are undergoing change at unprecedented levels. In this lesson, students will use real data to evaluate the effect of climate change on Antarctic fish. Denise Hardoy created this lesson plan after joining Dr. Anne Todgham’s team studying Antarctic Fish Development Under Future Ocean Conditions in October/November of 2019.
Denise Hardoy created this resource after spending five weeks embedded with Dr. Anne Todgham’s team studying the effects of climate change on Antarctic fishes in 2019. This lesson addresses one of the most difficult aspects of science for students - making sense of data.
Objectives
Success Criteria
* Given a graph, students will write an analysis paragraph of a
This lesson introduces students to the impacts of increasing ocean temperatures on marine life. Through this kinesthetic activity, students will learn more about marine ectotherms and what researchers in Antarctica have learned so far about how increasing temperature in Antarctic waters will affect their growth. Through the elaborate section of the activity students will connect what they learned about
This lesson investigates the effects of different insulators (fur and blubber) on maintaining the body temperature of polar animals. Water balloons filled with warm water simulate the marine mammal. The blubber insulator will be simulated by covering the balloon in vegetable shortening. The fur insulator will be simulated by placing another balloon over the “marine mammal” and adding an
What does it take to run a research station on the least habitable continent, thousands of miles from civilization? For those interested in Antarctica (and McMurdo Station) these are really nice interactive 360 degree and 3-D (for VR) web pages. To get the really cool 3-D experience, you will want to use VR goggles. As a note of interest Elaine
Ice is a medium that nearly everyone is familiar with. We put it in drinks, skate on it for hockey and scrape it off our windshields in winter. Ice can be turned into sculptures and can even make for some fantastic winter scenery. Ice can also turn into a kaleidoscope of color and patterns under the right circumstances. Science
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
In a “March Madness” game of survival of the fittest, will your microbe and its genes survive the test of changing conditions on Planet Earth and beyond? Students choose genes from a “toolbox” and pit their microbe against their classmates’, using critical thinking and argument writing to determine the microbe with the best chance of success. Based on PolarTREC
