Anne Schoeffler (PolarTREC 2016) was interviewed for a speaking engagement at the Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society. The session title was Implications of Climate Change in the Arctic. Schoeffler speaks about outdoor education, research, and teaching students to appreciate and protect the natural world.
Video created by PolarTREC teacher Kate Miller on her experience working with researcher Dr. Jim Madsen and other teachers with the Upward Bound Program in July 2017 in Rivers Falls, Wisconsin.
Students will find an expedition within the PolarTREC archives and use the research to make a video explaining why studying polar science is important.
Overview
PolarTREC supports teachers on expeditions with real scientists to study in the field. Studying in the Arctic and Antarctic environments can be a harsh and rewarding experience. I participated in Operation IceBridge, an aerial study
Poster presentation about teachers and researchers working together as participants of the PolarTREC program and the benefits to both. The poster outlines my experiences as a PolarTREC teacher working with Operation IceBridge.
Kate Miller & Katey Shirey co-presented at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Regional Conference in Milwaukee, WI. Our presentation was entitled "Living & Working at the South Pole" and was part of the "Physics Day" set of IceCube-related presentations. About 100 people attended with several questions at the end.
Seton Catholic School's middle school Garden Club applied for and received certification as a Schoolyard Habitat. The school qualified by having a water source (reclaimed pond), forage for animals, and a pollinator garden. Students use these spaces for curricular activities and have received grant funds to extend the gardens and build a nestbox trail for cavity-nesting birds.
The Importance of Teachers Experiencing Science Expeditions##
It is a teacher’s job to take a subject and make it come alive for our students. Doing field research broadens a teacher’s horizons where they learn more about science and themselves by facing new challenges and accomplishing tasks such as collecting field data and learning about the world around them. This trip
Kate Miller co-presents with Jennifer Burgin, a kindergarten teacher who recently went to the Galapagos through the National Geographic Lindblad Expedition Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship, at Festival of Minds. Festival of Minds is a professional learning conference run by Arlington Public Schools that provides a diversity of sessions for all PK-12 instructional staff to hone their instructional practice (https://www.apsva.us/fom/). Kate and
Casey O'Hara, Katey Shirey, Liz Ratliff and Kate Miller put together a poster sharing the PolarTREC program, their experiences working with IceCube through PolarTREC, and details on how other teachers can apply. The poster is presented at the Knowles Teacher Initiative (former KSTF) Summer Meeting 2017 to over 300 high school math and science teachers from across the United States.