Scientists in Siberia are seeing trends of more severe and widespread wildfires. By observing and measuring larch forests, they are trying to understand how the forests are changing. What do these trees need to survive? Are they getting what they need? Students will plant lodgepole pine seeds providing some with all the necessary components for survival and others missing
Scientists in Siberia are seeing trends of more severe and widespread wildfires. Larch seeds are dispersed by wind. Experimentation is currently underway to determine distances larch seeds can disperse from viable, mature larch trees. Students will explore how various types of seeds are dispersed to get what they need to survive.
Timeframe: 90 minutes
Grade: K-2
Biodiversity is a central concept in understanding ecosystem functioning. Students explore how biodiversity is measured, impacted and can shift due to environmental changes to develop their understanding. Based off of the Microbial biogeography studies that Dr. Byron Crump is doing in the Arctic and around the world.
Objectives
* Understand the role and importance of biodiversity in
The report is written by teacher participants upon return from their field expedition portion of the PolarTREC program. It summarizes the benefit of the expedition to the teacher, a description of activities, and a summary of how teachers plan to link this experience in classrooms and communities. This is a public document that will be posted in teacher portfolios and
The Loretto Earth Network News e-pub newletter features a recap of Lauren Watel's expedition to Toolik Field Station. Access the online archive in the LEN News - Summer 2014, page 7.
This article describes PolarTREC teacher Nick LaFave's upcoming expedition to Toolik Lake, Alaska where he will be studying wolf spider populations with Duke University researcher, Amanda Koltz.
The Memphis Flyer features Alex Eilers, manager of education for the Pink Palace Museum, who traveled more than 8,000 miles away from home to take part in a PolarTREC expedition studying Weddell Seals in the Ross Sea. While on her expedition, Ms. Eilers retrieved data from the seals and relayed the information back to students and others via her online
PolarTREC teacher Nell Herrmann writes a compelling article for Town and Gown, the local newspaper in her home town of State College, PA. Nell reports on her adventures with a team of scientists in Antarctica and the profound way in which her journey has influenced her both personally and professionally. Note: The online article starts on p. 50 of the
The attached Polar Oceans flyer, produced by the International Polar Year (IPY) Programme Office, provides summary information about the Polar Oceans and describes how the circulation in polar waters exerts a powerful control on the Earth's climate and carbon cycle. Activities attached to the flyer demonstrate the interconnectedness of marine life in the oceans and how the Polar Regions affect