Video created by PolarTREC teacher Kate Miller on her experience working with researcher Dr. Jim Madsen and other teachers with the Upward Bound Program in July 2017 in Rivers Falls, Wisconsin.
Students will learn about the difference between the methods of neutrino detection – optical versus radio. This will then allow them to understand why the relative size of the detectors is so different. Students will also engage in a hands-on activity to understand scale through creating models of the two detectors.
PolarTREC, the teacher-research program run through ARCUS (Arctic Research Consortium of the United States) and the National Science Foundation is a transformative, inspirational, and highly valuable experience for science teachers. Being provided with the opportunity to engage in authentic scientific practices allows teachers to enrich their own classroom activities and inspires the next generation of young scientists to
Lesley Anderson was connected with local California radio station KSON before and during her trip to South Pole, Antarctica as part of the PolarTREC program.
1. KSON Radio Station hosts a live interview with Lesley Anderson at the food fund in Bonita, CA.:
http://www.kson.com/media/audio-channel/john-and-tammys-food-fund-friday-bonita
2. Article in John & Tammy Blog (see downloadable article).
3. Facebook post during her stay
The Star News, a Chula Vista newspaper interviews Lesley Anderson about her experience studying neutrinos at the South Pole and her plans to bring the research back into her classroom.
Kate Miller & Katey Shirey co-presented at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Regional Conference in Milwaukee, WI. Our presentation was entitled "Living & Working at the South Pole" and was part of the "Physics Day" set of IceCube-related presentations. About 100 people attended with several questions at the end.
Kate Miller co-presents with Jennifer Burgin, a kindergarten teacher who recently went to the Galapagos through the National Geographic Lindblad Expedition Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship, at Festival of Minds. Festival of Minds is a professional learning conference run by Arlington Public Schools that provides a diversity of sessions for all PK-12 instructional staff to hone their instructional practice (https://www.apsva.us/fom/). Kate and
Casey O'Hara, Katey Shirey, Liz Ratliff and Kate Miller put together a poster sharing the PolarTREC program, their experiences working with IceCube through PolarTREC, and details on how other teachers can apply. The poster is presented at the Knowles Teacher Initiative (former KSTF) Summer Meeting 2017 to over 300 high school math and science teachers from across the United States.
This Washington Post article features PolarTREC teacher Jamie Esler from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho discussing the subject of climate change with his students in his Outdoor Studies Program.