Students will be able to:
* Analyze graphical data to draw conclusions
* Compare and contrast the chemical structures of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide
* Explain how differences in the structure of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide lead to differences in their reactivity and functions as a greenhouse gas
* Argue how changing shrubbery impacts climate change
Students will be able to:
* Graph, analyze, and predict data
* Develop claim, evidence, and reasoning
* Explain how permafrost is made, current conditions, and its impacts on climate and humans
Preparation
* This lesson plan can be taught either in the classroom or virtually online. Instructions on how to teach both ways are given in the Procedure
It’s sometimes a common and depressing comment to hear from your students, “I’ll never use this in my life! Teach me something practical like how to pay my taxes!” As teachers, we strive to make learning relevant to student’s lives, but for a multitude of reasons sometimes your lessons just don’t have that
Students in cooperative teams will use a spreadsheet and graphing program such as Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel to graph and evaluate a large data set. The data sets provided come from authentic arctic ground squirrel research completed at Toolik Research station in arctic Alaska. The data sets were downloaded from body temperature loggers implanted into individual animals
Students in cooperative teams will use a spreadsheet and graphing program such as Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel to graph and evaluate a large data set. The data sets provided come from authentic arctic ground squirrel research completed at Toolik Research station in arctic Alaska. The data sets were downloaded from body temperature loggers implanted into individual animals
The report is written by teacher participants upon return from their field expedition portion of the PolarTREC program. It summarizes the benefit of the expedition to the teacher, a description of activities, and a summary of how teachers plan to link this experience in classrooms and communities. This is a public document that will be posted in teacher portfolios and
Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles profiles one of its alumni, teacher Cristina Solis who also happens to be a PolarTREC alumnus. Read about her journey to become an educator and her participation in a PolarTREC study of microbial activity in thawing arctic permafrost near Barrow, Alaska.
Students will conduct a soil study by investigating pH and water absorption.
Objectives
Students will learn:
* How to describe the composition of soil and explain how it forms.
* That soil is made up of tiny particles of rock, plant, and animal matter.
* How to determine whether a solution is acidic, basic, or neutral.
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Students will investigate what a carbon footprint is and calculate their own personal carbon footprint. Finally, students will develop ways to reduce their carbon footprint.
Objectives
Students will know that the principles of chemistry underlie the functioning of biological systems.
Students will know that carbon, because of its ability to combine in many ways with
PolarTREC teacher Cristina Solis and her team presented their work on microbial activity in the tundra to junior docents at Cabrillio Marine Aquarium. This is a one hour presentation with Cristina and her research team.