The inspiration for this lesson was to encourage students to experience and appreciate nature with their senses while addressing a Common Core State Standard. This activity allows students to infer what an object is by using all senses but sight. Phonemic awareness is a skill difficult to isolate outside of the context of reading; the audio portion of
This interactive lesson introduces students to a number of animals and individuals that will be affected by climate change in Alaska. It allows students to grapple with the complexities that face both humans and animals who face an uncertain future due to an uncertain climate. Students will connect how changing climates affect animal habitats; and in turn, how
The students will bury ice (frozen in various shapes such as flat slabs, wedges, & lumps) at varying depths and under the various substrates and vegetation covers.
The students will record the ambient temperature and how long it takes the various ice shapes with the various coverings to melt. Students will observe and record results.
The students will
Emily Dodson-Snowden, a sixth-grade science teacher at Morton Middle School, didn’t have a typical summer break. She spent three weeks in Greenland studying how climate change influences plant/pollinator interactions and plant reproduction as part of PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating).
Using Large Marine Ecosystems and Cultural Responsiveness as the Context for Professional Development of Teachers and Scientists in Ocean Sciences
Published in 2014 in the Journal of Geoscience Education, this paper describes the success of three professional development workshops developed by the PolarTREC staff and partners. The purpose was to bring together educators and scientists in three large marine ecosystems
This presentation is designed to supplement an eighth grade science unit on polar ice but could easily be used for other audiences. The presentation covers the differences between ice in the Arctic and Antarctica, how ice affects salinity, temperature and currents, an exploration of various ice types and a summary of current research efforts to study polar ice.
Jeanine Gelhaus
Students create a life size model of a bowhead whale based on information they have collected.
Objective
Students will be able to organize specific technical information from a variety of resources to develop a "blue print" or pattern to create a life size model of a bowhead whale.
Procedure
Introduction to project, student research on whale
This lesson includes a variety of research activities and a lab that all help demonstrate the science behind convection currents.
Objectives
Through the following activities and lab students will discover:
* that temperature and salinity affect the density of fluids (liquids and gases)
* how fluids with different densities interact with each other
This one hour PolarConnect event is with Jamie Esler and the research team in central Iceland. The focus of this event is on drumlin formations and their importance.