The Arctic Ocean Curriculum Unit was created by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States with funding from the North Pacific Research Board. This project aimed to update and revise existing Arctic Ocean-related lesson plans originally created by PolarTREC program teacher alumni. The format used lends itself to the changes in education - providing student-facing slide decks that allow
Anne Schoeffler (PolarTREC 2016) was interviewed for a speaking engagement at the Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society. The session title was Implications of Climate Change in the Arctic. Schoeffler speaks about outdoor education, research, and teaching students to appreciate and protect the natural world.
Seton Catholic School's middle school Garden Club applied for and received certification as a Schoolyard Habitat. The school qualified by having a water source (reclaimed pond), forage for animals, and a pollinator garden. Students use these spaces for curricular activities and have received grant funds to extend the gardens and build a nestbox trail for cavity-nesting birds.
Permafrost puts extensive limitations on plant growth and building construction. Most students in the world are not exposed to this phenomenon and don’t have a clear concept of what it is or how it is at risk. This inquiry activity is designed to let them explore the impact of melting permafrost on a human structure.
In this webquest, students use maps to relate global temperature change to changes in the range of insects and birds and projected changes in tree range. The activity could be used to teach a lesson via class discussion and/or written response; it could be completed by students in cooperative groups on paper or with shared computers; on the other
Hudson Life magazine describes Schoeffler and Urbanowicz's PolarTREC expedition to Greenland. It describes the research, the process of pollination, and the challenges of Arctic research.
Working with a PolarTREC research team headed by Christine Urbanowicz, Dr. Schoeffler will study plants and pollinating insects in Greenland. The expedition will focus on consequences of climate change in the Arctic. The public can follow Schoeffler's journey and research via www.polartrec.com/expeditions.
This one hour webinar is hosted by Dominique Richardson and the team studying the Antarctic Ice Stream Dynamics was a special event to celebrate Earth Day 2015.