This lesson incorporates techniques and experimental designs used by researchers during the Southern Ocean Diatoms PolarTREC expedition and during post-expedition laboratory analysis. This guided inquiry lesson provides students the opportunity to explore photosynthesis and primary productivity using techniques to measure chlorophyll levels.
Objectives
SWBAT:
1. Use models to predict chlorophyll levels in the global oceans
2. Identify
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
Understanding Physical and Chemical Parameters of Ocean Water Using CTD Profiles
Overview
A focus of the PolarTREC Southern Ocean Diatoms expedition was to collect water samples and physical profile data using oceanographic technology. Oceanographers rely on the real-time data transferred from the water column to the ship-based computers using a CTD sensor. The CTD measures conductivity (salinity), temperature and depth
Analogs are used in science investigations to better understand systems we can’t access ourselves. In this lesson, students explore the Dry Valleys of Antarctica to better understand microbial communities on early Earth and what might have been possible on ancient Mars. Students will examine photographs, written descriptions, and artistic renderings of early Earth, the Dry Valley lakes, and
This lesson was written for the 2012 Arctic Ocean Ecosystem Workshop and was inspired by the research work conducted off the coast of Barrow, Alaska by researchers Steve Okonnen and Patricia Yager with PolarTREC teachers Lollie Garay and Chantelle Rose. Students will engage in a series of exercises to investigate seasonal change in the Arctic ecosystem based on authentic
Students will use the TAMMNET project and accompanying PolarTREC resources to learn about seismology in the Antarctic, culminating in the creation of an annotated map using google maps.
Objective:
Students will understand the different ways mountain ranges are formed, and appreciate the questions unanswered about the Transantarctic Mountains. Students will also appreciate the ingenuity required for doing research in
This versatile activity was inspired by my own Antarctic voyage (Lollie Garay, Oden Expedition 07) and The Amazing Race. As my students followed the journey through the Antarctic Seas on a USGS map, I realized what a great opportunity this was for them to "see" where I was in a part of the world so foreign to us