PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is a program in which formal and informal educators spend 3-6 weeks participating in hands-on field research experiences in the polar regions. The goal of PolarTREC is to invigorate polar science education and understanding by bringing educators and polar researchers together.
NASA’s Operation IceBridge uses remote sensing techniques to build a picture of parts of our world not accessible or easily observed by humans. Flying 1500 feet above sea and land ice, the science team uses LiDAR, Radar, Infrared imaging, and high resolution digital imagery to collect information about our polar regions year after year. In this classroom project, inspired and
NASA’s Operation IceBridge, the largest airborne survey of Earth’s polar ice, uses remote sensing techniques like LiDAR (light detection and ranging), snow- and ice-penetrating radar, high resolution digital imaging, and infrared cameras to collect information on our changing ice sheets and sea ice. Several times each year a science team and flight crew head out on month-long campaigns in
Teaching science gives me the satisfaction of sharing my passion for the natural world with others. I try to create opportunities for students to experience science outside of the classroom much like I did in college, through local field trips, or even identifying and mapping out the various large landscape rocks scattered around
Attached is a resource for lessons and simulations that involve studying the Greenhouse Effect and how it affects temperature readings on our planet. The simulations created by PHET are incredible. https://phet.colorado.edu/ Aside from the Greenhouse Effect simulation in this lesson, this site has a large variety of resources for any grade levels to be used as lessons, labs
The PolarTREC program and my experience with NASA’s Operation IceBridge during the 2016 Spring Arctic Campaign in Greenland has reinforced my belief in teacher-researcher collaborations as a powerful tool for engaging students in STEM and giving them the chance to think and explore career possibilities outside of the four walls of their classrooms. One of the most effective
This lesson is a modification of what Dave Hess and I, Stan Skotnicki, use in our Earth Science classes at Cheektowaga Central High School. It is an extension of our lesson on Celestial Motions as we track the apparent path of the sun across the sky at different latitudes. Prior to this Lab activity they would have already
This is an article detailing the alarming rate at which the Arctic is changing. The article goes through the specific examples of Sea ice, Greenland, Wildfires and Permafrost. This is a readable article for advanced middle school and high school students, and an excellent resource for teachers.
In this investigation, students will measure production of CO2 from surface water and consider the role of surface waters in the global carbon cycle and climate change. They will gather data on using Vernier CO2 sensors. This lesson presents a wonderful opportunity for student-designed experiments.