The following articles from the new “Learning From the Past” issue of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears Magazine were of particular interest to teachers in attendance at the National Science Teachers Association meeting in Boston last month. Editor Jessica Fries-Gaither was there to find out more about what types of polar information, materials and activities would be particularly useful in classrooms, and to talk with teachers about upcoming BPPB themes. Read Fries-Gaither’s blog post about IPY science and polar discovery from NSTA conference presentations here.

Expository articles for students: BPPB features versions for K-1, 2-3, and 4-5. This month author Steve Whitt looks back to a time when “Some dinosaurs lived in the cold and the darkness near the North and South Poles.” At each grade level, each issue’s article is available in three formats: text-only, a printable, foldable book, and an electronic book with audio files so that students can listen to the article as they read. Find these (and related activities) here.

Virtual Bookshelf: Kate Hastings, a children’s librarian, has selected children’s literature about polar dinosaurs and fossils for this issue with ideas for classroom use and recommended grade levels. Find this article here.

Misconceptions and Formative Assessment Probe: In addition to listing common student misconceptions about how the fossil and archaeological record of the polar regions through geologic time, this article includes a formative assessment probe (pdf file) that can be used to assess student ideas following the model used by Paige Keeley and others in the three volumes of Uncovering Student Ideas in Science (NSTA Press). An “interactive fossil sort” created by Content Clips can be used as part of the formative assessment process. Find these materials here.

Science and Literacy Lessons: In this article Jessica Fries-Gaither highlights lesson plans for teaching about fossils, fossil formation, and making inferences from fossil remains. For each lesson there are suggestions for modification to fit K-2 classrooms, ideas and lessons for integrating literacy, and creating rubrics (using RubiStar) to help teachers assess their students’ work here.