This lesson plan transports students to two field sites outside of Fairbanks, Alaska to investigate the interconnected relationships between climate change and permafrost. Students will use authentic field data from site photographs, soil temperature, and thaw depth measurements to draw inferences. An ESRI StoryMap, faux field journal, and 360 site images are used to engage students in the inquiry
Summit Station, Greenland Website. The station is located atop 3200 m of ice and is nearly 400 km from the nearest point of land. Summit supports a diversity of scientific research, including year-round measurements of air-snow interactions that provide crucial knowledge for interpreting data from deep ice cores drilled both at Summit and elsewhere.
An important science skill that needs to be developed is asking significant questions that advance knowledge. This activity helps students to understand the difference between significant and trivial questions.
Objective
Students should be able to distinguish between significant questions that advance knowledge and trivial questions.
Procedure
1. Have the students define significant question and trivial questions in a
WHOI is the world's largest private, nonprofit ocean research, engineering and education organization. This site has information on oceans from climate to ocean life to ships and technology.