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 collect soil samples and analyze them with some of the same procedures used by researchers in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Soil microfauna (e.g. nematodes) will be extracted from the samples using a Baermann funnel. Students will compare their own data to published data from researchers working in Antarctica.
PolarTREC has been an amazing experience, wow! The heart of the PolarTREC program is the field expedition, which allows the teacher to be embedded in a field research team. STEM educators are passionate about what they teach but often lack access to meaningful opportunities to participate in basic research. Programs like PolarTREC provide that missing
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
This mini exhibit explores the science behind climate change and introduces current climate change research to the public. Panels cover the topics of changing climate, ocean acidification and sea level rise, giving examples of how data is collected and current research in these fields. The exhibit also provides websites for further exploring climate change impacts.
Oceanography is the study of the ocean. It covers a wide range of topics from marine life to the geology of the sea floor to the physical properties of the ocean. Physical oceanographers study the physical components of the ocean including light, waves, tides, currents and the composition of sea water. The physical properties of the ocean can
Through this demonstration and review of the attached research documents and the expedition PolarConnect event archive you will better be able to visualize how warming deep ocean currents undermine the ice sheets of Antarctica.
Objectives
To determine, through a demonstration and review of a scientific abstract, how warm water currents speed up ice sheet loss and sub-ice
As a teacher on the NB Palmer Totten Cruise in the winter of 2014, I successfully traversed the Magnetic South Pole. This is a wandering point on the Earth’s surface where geomagnetic field lines are directed vertically upwards. As an Outdoor Educator I utilize compasses regularly to navigate. The traverse of the Magnetic South Pole inspired this lesson