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
The inspiration for this lesson was to encourage students to experience and appreciate nature with their senses while addressing a Common Core State Standard. This activity allows students to infer what an object is by using all senses but sight. Phonemic awareness is a skill difficult to isolate outside of the context of reading; the audio portion of
Students create a life size model of a bowhead whale based on information they have collected.
Objective
Students will be able to organize specific technical information from a variety of resources to develop a "blue print" or pattern to create a life size model of a bowhead whale.
Procedure
Introduction to project, student research on whale
Researcher Egbert Schwartz and PolarTREC teacher Justin Kendhammer will travel to the Dry Valleys of Antarctica in search of life in the seemingly barren soil. One of the questions they will attempt to answer is whether microbes in the soil are native to Antarctic soil or whether they have been blown onto the continent from elsewhere in the world.
This lesson gives students of a variety of ages a cross-curricular look at the scientific wonders of Antarctica with a specific focus on Weddell Seals.
This PowerPoint presentation about diving adaptations in marine mammals was submitted as a capstone project by Tammy Orilio, a participant in the Cyber-based Interdisciplinary Science Education (C-ISE) Learning Course. This stand-alone presentation can be used to complement a Life Science lesson.
This PowerPoint presentation, "When environmental conditions promote evolution: An introduction to morpho-physiological and behavioral differences between two phocids", was submitted as a capstone project
as part of the PolarTREC Online Course Series by participant Patricia Azinhaga. This stand-alone presentation can be used to complement a Life Science lesson.
Coring trees is a way of learning about trees without cutting them down. When a tree is cored, the rings are examined to learn about the history and growth of a tree. In this lesson students will participate in a hands-on activity to help them investigate what information can be gained by studying and comparing tree core samples collected
Dr. Jacqueline Grebmeier presents her research on recent changes in the biology of the Pacific arctic ecosystem at the 2012 Arctic Ocean Ecosystem Workshop.