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
Learn more about the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere through these multidisciplinary hands-on activities focusing on art, observation, outdoor engineering, movement, and adventure. Resources can be used in formal and informal learning environments.
Objectives
* Learners will understand the astronomical phenomenon of solstice.
* Learners identify the differences in how solstice impacts their local, sub-arctic
Kahoot! based quizzes that are focused on climate change. The suite of quizzes includes a quiz about climate change in the Arctic and Antarctica. These quizzes are created by Columbia University and the National Oceangraphic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform that is free for teachers. Teachers will need to create a login to use the
This lesson incorporates techniques and experimental designs used by researchers during the Southern Ocean Diatoms PolarTREC expedition and during post-expedition laboratory analysis. This guided inquiry lesson provides students the opportunity to explore photosynthesis and primary productivity using techniques to measure chlorophyll levels.
Objectives
SWBAT:
1. Use models to predict chlorophyll levels in the global oceans
2. Identify
Understanding Physical and Chemical Parameters of Ocean Water Using CTD Profiles
Overview
A focus of the PolarTREC Southern Ocean Diatoms expedition was to collect water samples and physical profile data using oceanographic technology. Oceanographers rely on the real-time data transferred from the water column to the ship-based computers using a CTD sensor. The CTD measures conductivity (salinity), temperature and depth
By rolling a die, students will simulate a molecule of carbon’s movement with in the carbon cycle. This is a fun, active way to introduce students to the carbon cycle and/or to review the cycle and identify carbon sinks and sources.
Students experience the carbon cycle as CO2 molecules or as stored carbon and travel the path of
This activity works best for students who don't have a lot of lab experience and learn best through hands on activities. It allows them to not only investigate an aspect of global warming (rising sea levels), they will also get practice with making predictions and writing a hypothesis as well as understanding basic scientific concepts such as water
The CIMSS/UW-Madison Global and Regional Climate Change course for G6-12 science teachers has been translated to Spanish and is now available online. The translation was done by Juan Botella, a native Spanish speaker who teaches high school science in Madison, WI and a former PolarTREC teacher. Read more about Juan here: http://www.polartrec.com/member/juan-botella
Kevin Tavares and his fourth graders at Old Hammondtown School in Massachusetts built a website to share what they were learning with the rest of the world. Mr. Tavares installed a location tracking device on the page that assigns a red dot to the country of each visitor. The students wanted to get website hits from all seven continents so
This polar-themed unit plan provides a resource for teachers looking for ways to integrate a variety of challenging lessons and activities into their curriculum. The lessons touch on a variety of subject areas including language arts, math, and science. The unit is designed for a 3rd grade class but can be adapted for other grade levels. A helpful media list