Learn more about the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere through these multidisciplinary hands-on activities focusing on art, observation, outdoor engineering, movement, and adventure. Resources can be used in formal and informal learning environments.
Objectives
* Learners will understand the astronomical phenomenon of solstice.
* Learners identify the differences in how solstice impacts their local, sub-arctic
The Yale Climate Forum released this YouTube video on Permafrost in 2013. The causes and effects of melting permafrost are explained and linked to larger phenomena. Visit the Yale Climate Forum Website to learn more.
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, located about midway between Norway and the North Pole. This site explains the physical geography and geology of Svalbard in depth.
The attached Ice Sheets flyer, produced by the International Polar Year (IPY) Programme Office, includes a summary of information about ice sheets in both the Arctic and Antarctica, followed by an activity which allows students to make their own realistic model of an ice sheet with commonly available materials.
The attached Changing Earth flyer, produced by the International Polar Year (IPY) Programme Office, includes a summary of the history of planet Earth and an activity involving the use of a rope as a timeline to represents the Earth’s history from the present to 65 million years ago.
This detailed animation shows how the Earth is lit by the Sun throughout the year. The lighting of the Arctic and the Antarctic is detailed for every month of the year to help explain, among other things, the resulting polar night.
The animation is available in the following languages:
In this video adapted from KUAC-TV and the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, learn how one-celled organisms in permafrost may be contributing to greenhouse gas levels and global warming. Investigate how soil microbes, once thought to be dormant in cold temperatures, may actually be actively decomposing organic matter throughout the Alaskan winter and contributing significant amounts of
NPR and National Geographic teamed up to create an animated video series that begins with the basics of Carbon as an element and with 5 episodes draws the links between carbon and our warming planet. This is a part of the Climate Connections Series
At the CREEL permafrost tunnel outside Fairbanks, AK. Our guide, Art, explains a potential issue with the carbon balance in soils as the permafrost thaws as we traveled underground to see it the changes.
A web site with many interactive simulations suitable for teaching. The glacier simulation specifically allows users to see, among other things, how environmental conditions such as temperature and precipitation impact glacier size and flow.