The Arctic Ocean Curriculum Unit was created by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States with funding from the North Pacific Research Board. This project aimed to update and revise existing Arctic Ocean-related lesson plans originally created by PolarTREC program teacher alumni. The format used lends itself to the changes in education - providing student-facing slide decks that allow
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
There are a lot of articles about global climate change, some of them are based on science and data while others are based of opinions. This lesson will promote critical thinking about global climate change. Students will research articles that are about climate change, summarize the article, and decide if the article provides evidence (facts) or is composed
The lesson will be in two parts:
* Part one will involve the students making layers of sediment with clay also including particles (such as beads to represent pollen, etc.) and then they will make core samples using a drinking straw as a coring tool.
* Part two will involve the class taking a mud core sample from
By rolling a die, students will simulate a molecule of carbon’s movement with in the carbon cycle. This is a fun, active way to introduce students to the carbon cycle and/or to review the cycle and identify carbon sinks and sources.
Students experience the carbon cycle as CO2 molecules or as stored carbon and travel the path of
This lesson is for students to be able to read an informative piece of writing and identify factual statements and statements of opinions. In this lesson, we will be focusing on local and national articles relating to climate change.
This lesson was inspired by my time in Denali looking at evidence consistent with climate change and being exposed
“A sense of place is the sixth sense, an internal compass and map made by memory and special perception together.” – Rebecca Solnit
This lesson allows students to record observations from a specific “sit spot” that they will visit on weekly nature hikes. Students will note seasonal changes of the area including its wildlife, flora and fauna, using
The students will bury ice (frozen in various shapes such as flat slabs, wedges, & lumps) at varying depths and under the various substrates and vegetation covers.
The students will record the ambient temperature and how long it takes the various ice shapes with the various coverings to melt. Students will observe and record results.
The students will
This presentation is designed to supplement an eighth grade science unit on polar ice but could easily be used for other audiences. The presentation covers the differences between ice in the Arctic and Antarctica, how ice affects salinity, temperature and currents, an exploration of various ice types and a summary of current research efforts to study polar ice.
Jeanine Gelhaus