PolarTREC teacher Jillian Worssam was one of a handful of teachers singled out by the Rodel Foundation of Arizona as an exemplary teacher. This article gives a sneak peak into Ms. Worssam's very hands-on, field-based classroom and how she connects with her middle school students.
Students complete a physical puzzle based on a scientific poster about Bowhead Whales. Students then research the content of the poster and present their findings.
Objective
To familiarize students with:
* the scientific method
* real polar scientific posters
* real polar scientific research
* real polar scientific terminology
* real polar scientific technology
* real polar
In this article, PolarTREC teacher Elizabeth Eubanks recounts her experience bringing her students - three eighth-graders and two seventh-graders to a week-long research conference in Alaska. "Having my students present at an international professional science conference is above and beyond any experience that I can offer them as a science teacher".
Elizabeth Eubanks M.Ed (working with Angela Gilmour, Anne Jensen, Danielle Dickson, Leslie Pierce, and Rachel Potter) connected with PolarTREC and NOAA TAS. This lesson is inspired by the need to share the importance of the Bowhead Whale in relation to the culture of arctic people. It is a portion of an entire collaborative unit to be utilized between
This article and associated video describe the findings of researchers who undertook core drilling at Lake El’gygytgyn, a lake that sits today inside a basin formed by a meteorite that struck the earth 3.6 million years ago. An associated video allows us to hear the enthusiasm and details as researcher Julie Brigham-Grette describes the findings of this remarkable discovery.
This lesson introduces students to krill, their importance in ocean ecosystems, and the physical structures that make up the krill body. The students will then use the principles of a "floater" species and design their own krill, hopefully having a class competition to see who can build a better krill.
Objectives
Students will understand the importance of krill in
Rings of life is a comparative lesson allowing students to investigate growth rings in walleye Pollock from the Bering Sea and Ponderosa Pine trees.
Objectives
Students will be able to compare and contrast growth rings on fish and trees, showing just one of the tools scientists use to monitor the health of different ecosystems. Students will also be able
The sediment in Lake El'gygytgyn, (pronounced EL-ge-GIT-gin) located in NE Siberia, holds one of the longest records of climate change anywhere in the continental Arctic. How does sediment (clay and mud) tell us something about past climate? Proxy data! By studying the microfossils of diatoms and pollen in the sediment, we can re-construct the lake environment millions of
The following PowerPoint presentation is part of an anticipatory set used to excite and introduce students to the many wonders of the Bering Sea. The PowerPoint is to be presented at the beginning of a unit about the Bering Sea.
Objectives
At the start of a unit on the Bering Sea this PowerPoint video presentation will engage
Students will develop an understanding of what it takes to interview scientists, and take the corresponding data and reformat it into an electronic medium.
Objective
Students will be able to write questions to scientists in the field, interview, take the data collected, and convert to an electronic format including MP3 clips and post to the Internet.