This lesson is intended to help students make connections to polar science while discovering how and why sea ice drives deep ocean currents. Students will also learn key terminology related to sea ice and using actual salinity content charts, will graph a typical sea ice core’s salinity as it relates to depth.
Jeff Peneston, Liverpool High School science teacher and PolarTREC 2008 alumnus was introduced as the New York State Teacher of the Year at an event in the White House Rose Garden that was televised nationally on cable TV. The article describes the awarding of this honor by President Barack Obama at the White House.
The attached PowerPoint is an introduction to thermal stratification and turnover in lakes, and interpretation of temperature profile data. The stand-alone presentation can be used to complement a lesson in Earth Science.
To learn about the effects of air pollution on Sea Ice. This can be a library/computer lab-based activity.
Procedure
Teacher:
1. Mix up a 3.5% solution of NaCl. Make enough "sea-ice" cubes for each pair of students
2. Make another class set of ice cubes with tap water. Leave the ice in the freezer until after the
This article describes PolarTREC teacher Nick LaFave's upcoming expedition to Toolik Lake, Alaska where he will be studying wolf spider populations with Duke University researcher, Amanda Koltz.
View sequential still images of thermokarst (thawed permafrost) at Horn Lake in northern Alaska during the summer of 2010. The video was made by researchers studying the responses of Arctic landscapes to permafrost degradation.
This article describes the remarkable efforts of a team of scientists to extract cores from deep under a frozen lake in Siberia, Russia. PolarTREC teacher Tim Martin joined the project which will provide an astounding record of past climates preserved in layers of lake bed sediment. The sediment, withdrawn in cores and shipped to labs in Germany, represents a continuous
PolarTREC teacher Nell Herrmann writes a compelling article for Town and Gown, the local newspaper in her home town of State College, PA. Nell reports on her adventures with a team of scientists in Antarctica and the profound way in which her journey has influenced her both personally and professionally. Note: The online article starts on p. 50 of the