PolarTREC informal educator Jocelyn Argueta traveled to the South Pole in 2019 with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and Askaryan Radio Array Expedition. She created a YouTube series Tiny Ice: Bits from Antarctica to highlight the travel, science, and life at the South Pole, both in English and Spanish. In this 10-part
La educadora informal de PolarTREC, Jocelyn Argueta, viajó al Polo Sur en 2019 con el Observatorio IceCube Neutrino y la Expedición Askaryan Radio Array. Creó una serie de YouTube Hielo Pequeño: Pedazos de la Antártida para explicar el viaje, la ciencia y la vida en el Polo Sur, tanto en inglés como en español. En esta serie
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 PolarTREC Field Experience is amazing! PolarTREC (Polar Teachers Researchers and Educators Exploring and Collaborating) matches polar researchers with educators to highlight, and increase accessibility to, the science happening in some of the most fascinating places on our planet—the Arctic and Antarctic regions. It is an opportunity for educators to be completely immersed in the culture
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
In a “March Madness” game of survival of the fittest, will your microbe and its genes survive the test of changing conditions on Planet Earth and beyond? Students choose genes from a “toolbox” and pit their microbe against their classmates’, using critical thinking and argument writing to determine the microbe with the best chance of success. Based on PolarTREC
Analogs are used in science investigations to better understand systems we can’t access ourselves. In this lesson, students explore the Dry Valleys of Antarctica to better understand microbial communities on early Earth and what might have been possible on ancient Mars. Students will examine photographs, written descriptions, and artistic renderings of early Earth, the Dry Valley lakes, and