Before leaving for the South Pole in late 2009, I received many suggestions for things to try down under. Liz Ratliff’s math classes suggested we try making ice cream! So, before I left, I had my students follow her recipe to make ice cream in our classroom in balmy California. After arriving at the pole, I was able
As the homepage of the website describes, "The beauty of the Arctic, its precious and fragile nature, its critical role in maintaining a stable climate for the planet, and the rapid rate of change that is occurring there must all be conveyed to the general public. Here, through digital story telling, we put a human face on science, life, societies
Students will use marshmallows to simulate toxins in the environment. Concentrations of these toxins will be modeled and calculated as they bioaccumulate up the food chain. Methylmercury and POPs are substances that bioaccumulate in the Arctic food chain. OASIS scientists studied these in Barrow, Alaska. (See Ocean Atmosphere Sea Ice and Snow (OASIS) Project at www.polartrec.com)
Students will discover how a simple action such as turning on a television will lead to toxins in our food supply. Many of these toxins concentrate in the Arctic because of long-range transport of pollutants in the atmosphere. Scientists in the OASIS project (http://www.polartrec.com/ocean-atmosphere-sea-ice-and-snowpack-interactions) study these pollutants in the Arctic. Students will learn about actions that they can take to