My high school has a Science Club whose members visit local elementary schools and run various “stations” that (elementary) students visit for 10-15 minutes before rotating to a different one. This lesson is designed to be one those – a quick hitting, but engaging look into polar science that will stir the kids’ inherent curiosity and get them
One of the most important indicators of our warming climate is the extent and thickness of polar sea ice. Currently satellites measure the extent of polar sea ice but it takes more sophisticated equipment aboard a low-flying plane to actually measure the thickness of sea ice. This lesson will show students how this is done.
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
Researchers aboard NASA's P-3 research aircraft left Virginia, March 10 for Greenland to begin a new season of collecting data on Arctic land and sea ice. The mission, known as Operation IceBridge, is to gather data on changes to polar ice. PolarTREC teacher Russell Hood will join the expedition in Greenland this spring.
An article describing Kevin Anchukaitis' work at the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory. Tree rings embody a record of climate change going back thousands of years, and they grow on every continent except Antarctica. “They let us reconstruct climate around the world, in both space and time."
Before leaving for the South Pole in late 2009, I received many suggestions for things to try down under. Liz Ratliff’s math classes suggested we try making ice cream! So, before I left, I had my students follow her recipe to make ice cream in our classroom in balmy California. After arriving at the pole, I was able
Students will individually weigh a random sample of pennies. The data will be graphed to look for patterns, then explanations will be sought to explain these patterns. Some of the key ideas are using graphical representations of data to help identify patterns. This is a key concept in all sciences, including in the IceCube Neutrino Observatory - data
This article from the San Francisco Chronicle is about Casey O'Hara's upcoming expedition to Antarctica. It also includes some great photos from a pre-expedition icecream making lab. You can visit the article online here.
The students' task is to produce a brochure for both the Arctic and the Antarctic. These brochures will be used by the representatives of "Here We Go Travel" to advertise the virtues of traveling to both polar regions. The students will produce a 45 second radio spot that they will write and record as part of their overall