Scientists in Siberia are seeing trends of more severe and widespread wildfires. By observing and measuring larch forests, they are trying to understand how the forests are changing. What do these trees need to survive? Are they getting what they need? Students will plant lodgepole pine seeds providing some with all the necessary components for survival and others missing
Scientists in Siberia are seeing trends of more severe and widespread wildfires. Larch seeds are dispersed by wind. Experimentation is currently underway to determine distances larch seeds can disperse from viable, mature larch trees. Students will explore how various types of seeds are dispersed to get what they need to survive.
Timeframe: 90 minutes
Grade: K-2
Students will learn to:
* Observe and record weather patterns
* Process data by creating graphs/charts
* Compare actual weather data from the Siberian Arctic to local weather patterns, draw conclusions and make future predictions concerning weather patterns.
Big Idea
Why do people need to track weather over time?
Lesson Preparation
You will need a thermometer, tracking calendar, and
The Importance of Teacher/Researcher Collaboration
Collaboration such as this offers a window into the science rarely seen by teachers and their students. It allows the public/students to experience, in real-time, relevant data collection of the 21st century. Furthermore, experiences such as these demonstrate the universal factors of the scientific process. It does not matter if we are practicing science in
Alicia Gillean discusses her 2013 Arctic Ground Squirrel Studies expedition at Toolik Field Station, Alaska, and how it impacted her personally and professionally.
PolarTREC alumna Susy Ellison talks about her two expeditions and how they affected her personally and professionally. Researcher Jeff Rasic joins in to talk about what it was like to have a teacher in the field for the Early Human Settlement in Arctic Alaska 2011 expedition.
Researcher Elizabeth Webb discusses her experiences working in the field with a PolarTREC teacher. She worked with John Wood in 2011 and 2012, and Tom Lane in 2013, on the Carbon Balance in Warming and Drying Tundra expedition near Healy, Alaska. (She primarily discusses her time with John Wood since this interview was taken in 2013, before Tom Lane's expedition.)
The Svalbard Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) is offering exciting opportunities for students to participate in polar science research projects in Svalbard, Norway. Funding provided by National Science Foundation (Arctic Natural Sciences) in collaboration with the University Center on Svalbard.
In this lesson students research scientific field expeditions and learn what it is like working in the field. Students are able to ask questions of the research team as part of their project. Students then share what they have learned with their classmates.
Objective
1. Students understand what really goes on in the field during a scientific study.
2
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