PolarConnect Event with teacher Stan Skotnicki and researcher Mike Loranty with the Vegetation Changes in Permafrost project. This event was live from Northeast Scientific Station in Russia.
PolarConnect Event with teacher DJ Kast and researchers Drs. Byron Crump and George Kling with the Microbial Changes in Arctic Freshwater 2016 project. This event was live from Toolik Field Station in Alaska.
Teacher Anne Schoeffler talks about field work and study sites as part of the PolarTREC expedition “Climate Change and Pollinators in the Arctic” based out of Kangerlussuaq, Greenland.
This is an article detailing the alarming rate at which the Arctic is changing. The article goes through the specific examples of Sea ice, Greenland, Wildfires and Permafrost. This is a readable article for advanced middle school and high school students, and an excellent resource for teachers.
In this investigation, students will measure production of CO2 from surface water and consider the role of surface waters in the global carbon cycle and climate change. They will gather data on using Vernier CO2 sensors. This lesson presents a wonderful opportunity for student-designed experiments.
This is a good lesson to get students thinking about the complexity of the systems involved in providing our society with energy, the consequences of energy use and efficiency. Students are encouraged to explore the data sets on their own, ask their own questions about energy use and present their findings to each other.
Students will explore the concept of albedo and how it relates to melting ice and climate change. This is a hands-on activity where students measure the reflectivity of various surfaces as a model for how light interacts with different parts of the Earth’s surface. This is adapted from lessons created by Jamie Esler and SERC earthlabs.
Learning about feedback mechanisms is an important part of understanding how climate change will play out in the near and long term. Students are also exposed to the idea that scientists create simple models of complex climate systems and that feedback mechanisms play a crucial role in climate modeling.
This activity is 4 of 4 in a series that exposes students to the concepts of and work done by the HERMYs Project (Historical Ecology and Risk Management: Youth Sustainability):
1. A Narrative Pantomime
2. Environmental Risk Assessment
3. Risk Hazard Identification
4. Local and Traditional Knowledge & Risk
*“Historical accounts of remote Alaska can only offer documentation
This activity is 3 of 4 in a series that exposes students to the concepts of and work done by the HERMYs Project (Historical Ecology and Risk Management: Youth Sustainability):
1. A Narrative Pantomime
2. Environmental Risk Assessment
3. Risk Hazard Identification
4. Local and Traditional Knowledge & Risk
*“Historical accounts of remote Alaska can only offer documentation