Anne Schoeffler (PolarTREC 2016) was interviewed for a speaking engagement at the Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society. The session title was Implications of Climate Change in the Arctic. Schoeffler speaks about outdoor education, research, and teaching students to appreciate and protect the natural world.
Seton Catholic School's middle school Garden Club applied for and received certification as a Schoolyard Habitat. The school qualified by having a water source (reclaimed pond), forage for animals, and a pollinator garden. Students use these spaces for curricular activities and have received grant funds to extend the gardens and build a nestbox trail for cavity-nesting birds.
This lesson allows students to consider navigation around Antarctica, where longitudinal lines converge at South Pole. Through this study, students should learn about polar stereographic projection, satellites, navigation using various instruments, Antarctic geography, and NASA’s Operation IceBridge airborne mission. In the first part of this 55-80 minute lesson, students will be faced with a dilemma. Their task will be
NASA’s Operation IceBridge (OIB) flies airborne missions each year over both Polar Regions, collecting ice thickness and extent data on glaciers, ice caps, ice shelves and sea ice. This data is useful to many disciplines studying climate, weather, ocean circulation, sea level and many related fields. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) houses and organizes the data
The Revitalizing Power of Teacher-Researcher Collaboration
The nature of science is continually moving us forward; from a fresh set of findings we rush ahead excitedly to the next batch of questions. From this continual pursuit, new ideas, methods and instruments are designed by scientists and technicians at a rapid pace, in turn yielding new data. As science teachers, we need
The Importance of Teacher/Researcher Collaboration
It can be a humbling experience to admit that something isn’t easy, or that you don’t understand a topic or concept. It is harder still when you are surrounded by knowledgeable individuals and expected to explain their research in an accurate manner. While humbling, it is educational. Through learning about concepts such as trace metal
This lesson incorporates techniques and experimental designs used by researchers during the Southern Ocean Diatoms PolarTREC expedition and during post-expedition laboratory analysis. This guided inquiry lesson provides students the opportunity to explore photosynthesis and primary productivity using techniques to measure chlorophyll levels.
Objectives
SWBAT:
1. Use models to predict chlorophyll levels in the global oceans
2. Identify
I was privileged to participate in a PolarTREC expedition to Greenland in June of 2016. PolarTREC, and other teacher research experiences, put educators into active roles with respect to science and are thus extraordinary opportunities to serve as role models for our students. PolarTREC afforded me the chance to model for my students the adventurous spirit that for centuries has
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