My high school has a Science Club whose members visit local elementary schools and run various “stations” that (elementary) students visit for 10-15 minutes before rotating to a different one. This lesson is designed to be one those – a quick hitting, but engaging look into polar science that will stir the kids’ inherent curiosity and get them
One of the most important indicators of our warming climate is the extent and thickness of polar sea ice. Currently satellites measure the extent of polar sea ice but it takes more sophisticated equipment aboard a low-flying plane to actually measure the thickness of sea ice. This lesson will show students how this is done.
This scientific article, focuses on one of the largest pools of global carbon that is, the organic C stored in permafrost (perennially frozen) ground, and on the vulnerability to change under an increasingly warmer climate.
A scientific report describing the results of the CiPEHR Experiment as of 2011. This report attempts to answer these questions:
(1) Does ecosystem warming cause a net release of C from the ecosystem to the atmosphere?,
(2) Does the decomposition of old C that comprises the bulk of the soil C pool influence ecosystem C loss?, and
(3) How do
The Geophysical Institute Permafrost Laboratory (GIPL)
The Permafrost Laboratory deals with scientific questions related to the circumpolar permafrost dynamics and feedbacks between permafrost and global change. At the Permafrost Laboratory, data related to the thermal and structural state of circumpolar permafrost is collected and analyzed. The focus of our research is the development of methods to physically and mathematically model
Students will use marshmallows to simulate toxins in the environment. Concentrations of these toxins will be modeled and calculated as they bioaccumulate up the food chain. Methylmercury and POPs are substances that bioaccumulate in the Arctic food chain. OASIS scientists studied these in Barrow, Alaska. (See Ocean Atmosphere Sea Ice and Snow (OASIS) Project at www.polartrec.com)
Students will discover how a simple action such as turning on a television will lead to toxins in our food supply. Many of these toxins concentrate in the Arctic because of long-range transport of pollutants in the atmosphere. Scientists in the OASIS project (http://www.polartrec.com/ocean-atmosphere-sea-ice-and-snowpack-interactions) study these pollutants in the Arctic. Students will learn about actions that they can take to
In this activity students learn about varves, annual sediment layers found in lakes. Students will analyze authentic varve data from New England in order to correlate data from three different geographic locations .
Objective
Students will analyze authentic varve sediment data and create a graph of varve thickness. Students will use their results to make inferences about
This lesson allows students to use online mapping tools to investigate global snow cover changes. Students develop a problem statement about global snow cover and then use mapping tools to investigate their problem or question.
Objective
Students will become familiar with the data and tools used to analyze snow cover changes in order to answer questions pertaining