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PolarTREC Field Experience

Never, in my 27 year career as a teacher, have I had so many students so interested and enthusiastic in so many broad and varied topics that they would have immediately dismissed as “boring” had I not participated in PolarTREC. I was happily mystified by the curiosity of the students and the depth of their interest in everything related to my expedition.

PolarTREC Teacher Mike Penn and team leader Lee Welhouse discuss the science and their experiences while working in Antarctica on the Automatic Weather Stations. This event was broadcast live from South Pole Station on 17 December 2018.

Article from local online newspaper about Keith Smith's expedition to Palmer Station, Antarctica with Dr. Charles Amsler.

This is an article in a local quarterly magazine (IN Shaler Winter 2018 ed.) about Mike Penn's PolarTREC deployment to Antarctica with the 2018 Automatic Weather Stations project.

The PolarTREC Experience

PolarTREC is a teacher professional development program funded through the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) and National Science Foundation (NSF).

On 25 August, teacher Svea Anderson gave a presentation on the highlights from her PolarTREC expedition at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum at their annual Teacher Appreciation Night.

What is PolarTREC?

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.

This is a newspaper article from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette that ran on 10/5/18. It is about PolarTREC teacher Michael Penn's expedition to Antarctica in November and December of 2018.

Kahoot! based quizzes that are focused on climate change. The suite of quizzes includes a quiz about climate change in the Arctic and Antarctica. These quizzes are created by Columbia University and the National Oceangraphic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform that is free for teachers. Teachers will need to create a login to use the quizzes.

The Science of the PolarTREC “Sliding Glaciers” Expedition

PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is a program in which educators from the United States, both formal and informal (i.e. educators in museums, science centers, etc.) spend 3-6 weeks participating in hands-on field research experiences in the polar regions.