This lesson plan is designed to teach students about the importance of the benthic community in the shallow portions of the Arctic and how climate change may affect their respiration. One of the dominant benthic animals in the Arctic, the bivalve Macoma sp., is an important food source for higher trophic level organisms such as walrus and Spectacled Eiders
This lesson plan is designed to teach students about benthic biodiversity in the Arctic by analyzing data from the Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO). Although you can’t see them from the surface, the organisms found on the ocean floor are important indicators of ecosystem health and provide information about productivity. Students will explore sites throughout the Bering and Chukchi Seas
PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is a professional development program that pairs K-12 teachers in the United States with polar researchers. Teachers engage in field research and develop long-term relationships with scientists in order to better understand the scientific process and implement the skills and knowledge they have gained into the classroom. The goal
Article from a local Dover, New Hampshire news outlet about Piper Bartlett-Browne's expedition aboard the USCGC Healy for the Northern Chukchi Integrated Study expedition.
In this activity, students will use IB-style data-based questions centered around graphs made from data collected about arctic ground squirrels by researchers at Toolik Field Station in northern Alaska. Activity levels of ground squirrels are analyzed in relation to solar radiation and ambient temperature. Students work individually or in pairs to answer the questions.
In this activity, students will use data collected about two male arctic ground squirrels by researchers at Toolik Field Station in northern Alaska. Each squirrel had a lightlogger to record light intensity (lux) and an implanted data logger to record internal body temperature (°C). Students work individually or in pairs to analyze the data sets and interpret the results
This lesson was created by 2017 PolarTREC teacher Steve Kirsche who took part in the Dynamic Observations of the Microstructural Evolution of Firn expedition. The lesson is intended to introduce students to the concepts of isostasy and postglacial rebound through a demonstration and related instruction. Students will then see how postglacial rebound is an important factor when assessing the
This article from a Jacksonville periodical, Jax4Kids, discusses a presentation made at the Florida Association of Science Teacher's statewide convention which was made by PolarTREC teachers Steve Kirsche and Adeena Teres.
PolarTREC teachers Steve Kirsche and Adeena Teres presented to a group of teachers from around the state of Florida. This is the presentation that they gave at the 2017 Florida Association of Science Teachers (FAST) Statewide Conference on 20 October.
This lesson is intended to introduce students to the concept of using ice core samples to learn about the past. Students will be “collecting” a sample from a model of ice. They will then evaluate the sample to see how the layers change as the depth changes.
Objectives
At the completion of this lesson, students will gain a greater