PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is a program in which formal and informal educators spend 3-6 weeks participating in hands-on field research experiences in the polar regions. The goal of PolarTREC is to invigorate polar science education and understanding by bringing educators and polar researchers together.
Students will understand how the increasing levels of carbon-dioxide in oceans affect shelled marine animals. They will carry out a student-developed investigation on how increasing ocean acidification affects these animals.
Objectives
The objective of this lesson is for students to assess how increasing levels of atmospheric CO2 affect marine organisms. In addition, they will devise an experiment to test
Technology geared to the instruction and learning of science concepts, skills, and processes is instrumental to a deeper understanding of science phenomena and content.
Overview
This lesson is intended to introduce students to the concept of scientific exploration and investigation. Students will model the technology used in the Jellyfish in the Bering Sea expedition by using underwater cameras and tow
The Importance of Teacher/Researcher Collaboration
No book, movie or professional development I have experienced could have produced the effect of actually being in the field engaging in scientific research as a PolarTREC teacher on the “Jellyfish in the Bering Sea” expedition July 27-August 5, 2017. As the PolarTREC teacher, I was tasked with the role of disseminating the ongoing
Scientists use bathymetry to understand the ocean floor. This lesson is a basic introduction to bathymetry using salad trays to help students understand how bathymetric maps work.
Objectives
1. Students will be able to identify the advantages to using a bathymetric map.
2. Students will be able to transform a bathymetric map into a three-dimensional model.
3. Using just
There is so much media hype and public misunderstanding regarding the issue of climate change that advanced students need to be equipped to sort through the information available, find data from appropriately moderated scientific data bases, and learn to support their views with good scientific evidence rather than emotion. This lesson provides the outline for giving students some preliminary
How can the ocean be colder than 0 degrees C, the temperature at which water freezes? As it turns out, the concentration of the particles (in this case, the ions from the salt) in ocean water lowers the temperature at which the saltwater will freeze. Students will learn how ocean water freezes at a lower temperature than freshwater by
One of the first things to understand about the Antarctic ecosystem is what kinds of animals actually live there. This lesson provides a basic introduction to important Antarctic wildlife and how they interact with each other.
Objectives
Students will be able to create a food web of the Antarctic ecosystem.
This San Francisco Examiner talks with the PolarTREC teacher Amber Lancaster in Antarctica and her marine biology students back in San Francisco and the impact of the experience on their lives.