Scientists are studying the effect of climate change on vegetation in the Alaskan tundra. In this activity, students will analyze data collected from control plots and plots with Open Top Chambers (OTC's) over them. An open-top chamber is like a tiny greenhouse that increases the temperature in a vegetation plot an average of 2-3 degrees, simulating the effects of
After spending 5 weeks in the Arctic learning about tundra vegetation and phenology, Alejandra Martinez wanted to have her students observe the growth of plants in their school. In this lesson, students will grow plants in multiple locations and track their growth to compare their phenology.
Objectives
Students will learn what phenology is and make observations about plant growth
South Texas is pretty far removed from the Arctic. When I mention climate change in my classroom, my students think of emaciated polar bears roaming the Arctic Ocean for a few minutes and then carry on with their day. I needed to find a way to connect what was happening in the Arctic to
Florida International University (FIU) Preeminent Program research team hunts for the drivers of global climate change in the Arctic. Video produced by Florida International University, May 2019.
The following presentation was given by Dr. Patricia Yager at the 2012 Arctic Ocean Ecosystem Workshop in Barrow, Alaska. The presentation outlines Dr. Yager's work in biological and chemical oceanography, and focuses on the feedbacks between climate change and marine ecosystems at different locations around the world.
This data plotting lesson compares different stratospheric ozone data collected at the South Pole in September 1969, September 1998, September 2008, January 1999, and January 2008. This ozone comparison activity allows students to make conclusions about the annual and seasonal ozone hole as well as overall ozone concentration changes over Antarctica. Students use authentic data collected at the
This data plotting lesson is about temperature changes throughout the atmosphere. The data was collected together with the ozone data in January 2008.
The temperature vs. altitude profile allows students to make conclusions about annual and seasonal temperature changes in the atmosphere up to about 35 kilometers in the stratosphere. The best part of this lesson is using
This is presentation provides an overview about sea ice in Antarctica as presented by Dr. Patricia Yager. She has slides about the daylight and seasons and related sea ice concentrations. She also has several slides about sea ice as a habitat and about the types of organisms associated with the sea ice. The main part of this presentation focuses on
Interview with Yuki Takahashi conducted by PolarTREC teacher Elke Bergholz. This interview was conducted during the 2007 South Pole Ozone Changes expedition.
Interview with Teresa Winter conducted by PolarTREC teacher Elke Bergholz. This interview was conducted during the 2007 South Pole Ozone Changes expedition.