Students will use marshmallows to simulate toxins in the environment. Concentrations of these toxins will be modeled and calculated as they bioaccumulate up the food chain. Methylmercury and POPs are substances that bioaccumulate in the Arctic food chain. OASIS scientists studied these in Barrow, Alaska. (See Ocean Atmosphere Sea Ice and Snow (OASIS) Project at www.polartrec.com)
Students will discover how a simple action such as turning on a television will lead to toxins in our food supply. Many of these toxins concentrate in the Arctic because of long-range transport of pollutants in the atmosphere. Scientists in the OASIS project (http://www.polartrec.com/ocean-atmosphere-sea-ice-and-snowpack-interactions) study these pollutants in the Arctic. Students will learn about actions that they can take to
We go places, but what do we do with the billions of snippets of information we absorb? How do we process the information so that it means something to us when we can no longer be there? As a geographer, my objective was to be able to observe, participate and categorize the billions of pieces of visual information
Case studies provide a brief overview or examination of events that impact or alter the way people function and live day to day within the human and physical environment. They help by providing students with “real world” examples that relate to the theoretical content they are studying.
Objective
Students will prepare a case study illustrating the impact
The international multidisciplinary Ocean - Atmosphere - Sea Ice - Snowpack (OASIS) program studies chemical and physical exchange processes between the title reservoirs. It focuses on their impact on tropospheric chemistry and climate, as well as on the surface/biosphere and their feedbacks in the Arctic. OASIS was created in 2004, is currently an IPY activity, and is planned to continue
In the Polar Discoveries Section of the Online NewsHour, professional photographer, Spencer Brown, uploaded a photjournal of scientists working as part of the OASIS campaign in Barrow, Alaska in the Spring of 2009.
Excerpt:
Almost every student at Wilson has probably heard of Mrs. Wilkening, a seventh grade teacher with a mad passion for science. She keeps her science classes alive with her eccentric and fun lessons. Mrs. Wilkening also has had two kids go through Wilson herself. Patrick, her son, was actually part of this school's first kindergarten class, and Jeannie, her