As the homepage of the website describes, "The beauty of the Arctic, its precious and fragile nature, its critical role in maintaining a stable climate for the planet, and the rapid rate of change that is occurring there must all be conveyed to the general public. Here, through digital story telling, we put a human face on science, life, societies
Students will review charts of day length to determine when the sun will set at Toolik Lake.
Objective
Students will learn the following:
* The sun is the major source of energy for phenomena on the earth's surface, such as growth of plants, winds, ocean currents, and the water cycle.
* Seasons result from variations in the
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 the Polar Discoveries Section of the Online NewsHour, professional photographer, Spencer Brown, uploaded a photjournal of scientists working as part of the OASIS campaign in Barrow, Alaska in the Spring of 2009.
This website has tables and graphs to show length of day for locations throughout the world, including Antarctica and the Arctic. Additional weather information is also included.
(permission to link and use the site was granted by Matt Tukianen, the site creator, on July 9, 2008)
IPY marks the beginning of a sustained effort to understand large-scale environmental change in Earth's polar regions, which have major societal and economic impacts, and to advance new scientific frontiers, from the molecular to the planetary scale. NASA brings a unique perspective to IPY, which will focus on five themes: 1) NASA explores scientific frontiers in Earth's polar regions.; 2)
WHOI is the world's largest private, nonprofit ocean research, engineering and education organization. This site has information on oceans from climate to ocean life to ships and technology.