There is so much media hype and public misunderstanding regarding the issue of climate change that advanced students need to be equipped to sort through the information available, find data from appropriately moderated scientific data bases, and learn to support their views with good scientific evidence rather than emotion. This lesson provides the outline for giving students some preliminary
How can the ocean be colder than 0 degrees C, the temperature at which water freezes? As it turns out, the concentration of the particles (in this case, the ions from the salt) in ocean water lowers the temperature at which the saltwater will freeze. Students will learn how ocean water freezes at a lower temperature than freshwater by
As part of a migratory bird study conducted with my bilingual second graders in Washington, DC, the students in my elementary science class spent four weeks getting to know all about birds! We initially focused on birds that migrate from our Mid-Atlantic forests to the tropical forests of Central America (an area where many of them are from)
This lesson came out of a desire to connect the plankton research that I did during the 0902 Healy cruise with my young "researchers" back in Washington, DC. I wanted them to understand that plankton not only feed the Arctic but that much of the world relies on these little critters that come to life for us when we look
This series of three labs challenges students to think about the role of plankton in different ecosystems and waterways in the world. By modeling the research methods of scientists on the Healy icebreaker, students can conduct a small-scale change study to examine reproductive behavior of an isolated type of local plankton.
Students will become familiar with the anatomy/physiology, habitat and lifestyle of puffins. On the 2009 Healy Icebreaker expedition the wildlife survey team was primarily interested in bird diversity and population in the Bering Sea. Puffins were spotted during the cruise, especially feeding in and around Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
Objective
* Students will learn about the unique nature of puffin
The website, Ice Stories, features short interviews and other interesting content live from the polar regions. This weblink has a short video interview of PolarTREC teacher, Craig Beals, while taking part in a PolarTREC expedition with Barry Lefer at Summit, Greenland.
PolarTREC Teacher, Craig Beals, talks about his experiences at Summit, Greenland in this online version of an article published by the Billings Gazette on July 21, 2008.