If you are attending the NSTA national conference in New Orleans this week, be sure to connect with Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears! You’ll be able to find us at a variety of locations and events:
Exhibit Hall
National Science Digital Library (NSDL) Booth: #1532
Presentations
Energy and the Polar Environment
Saturday, March 21
5-6 pm
Convention Center, Room R04
Download the presentation […]
Author Archive
Connect with Beyond Penguins at the NSTA Conference
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 2:07 pm
Written by: Jessica Fries-Gaither
Issue Twelve: Polar Plants
Sunday, March 1st, 2009 1:00 am
Written by: Jessica Fries-Gaither
Did you know that Antarctica is home to just two species of plants? At the opposite end of the earth, over a thousand plant species grow on the Arctic tundra. And that’s not counting the many species of algae and lichens that are not classified as plants.
Polar Plants, Issue 12 of the Beyond Penguins and […]
Posted in Topics: Antarctica, Arctic, Cyberzine Issues, Life Science
Polar News & Notes: February 2009 News Roundup
Saturday, February 28th, 2009 1:00 am
Written by: Jessica Fries-Gaither
News from the polar regions in February included news of the many effects of climate change in the Arctic, surprising discoveries of fossils and marine species, and how Antarctica’s environment aided NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander project. Missed these stories the first time? Read on!
Climate change continues to affect the Arctic region, leading to melting glaciers, […]
Posted in Topics: Antarctica, Arctic, Monthly News Roundup, Polar News & Notes
Join Schools Across the Country in the Iditarod
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 11:21 am
Written by: Jessica Fries-Gaither
Rick Holt, a 2008 Iditarod finisher, near Finger Lake. Photo courtesy of John Concilus.
It’s that time again – the 37th annual Iditarod Sled Dog Race across Alaska will begin at 10 am, March 7, 2009. This ceremonial start is in downtown Anchorage, with the competitive start (or “restart”) scheduled for Sunday, March 8, 2009 in […]
Posted in Topics: Animals, Arctic, Education, Polar News & Notes, Reading, Science, Technology, Upcoming Opportunities, Writing, social studies
Antarctic Cruise Ship Runs Aground; Passengers Rescued
Thursday, February 19th, 2009 11:04 am
Written by: Jessica Fries-Gaither
The 106 passengers and crew stranded when the adventure cruise ship Ocean Nova ran aground have been safely transferred to another ship. The Clipper Adventure rescued the passengers and crew and is returning to Ushuaia, Argentina’s southernmost city, where the 15-day polar exploration originally began.
The Ocean Nova ran into trouble in high winds near an Argentinian […]
Posted in Topics: Antarctica, Current News, Polar News & Notes
TappedIn Tour: Arctic and Antarctic Birds
Thursday, February 5th, 2009 1:00 am
Written by: Jessica Fries-Gaither
Tonight at 7pm EST we’re having an online chat in the TappedIn online learning community - http://tappedin.org. We’ll be working our way through the February 2009 issue of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears online magazine. If you can’t join us, you can still take “our tour” below. We meet the first Thursday of each month […]
Posted in Topics: Cyberzine Issues, Polar News & Notes, Professional Development, Upcoming Opportunities
Teaching about Snowflakes: A Flurry of Ideas for Science and Math Integration
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 2:21 pm
Written by: Jessica Fries-Gaither
Image by Wilson A. Bentley.
Did you know that while no two snowflakes are exactly the same, they are all six-sided? Snowflakes’ hexagonal shapes are due to the molecular structure of ice. As you might know, each water molecule is made of two hydrogen atoms bonded to one oxygen atom and looks something like this:
As water […]
Posted in Topics: Mathematics, Physical Science, Reading, Science
Beyond Penguins at eTech Ohio Conference
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 1:00 am
Written by: Jessica Fries-Gaither
On Wednesday, Feb. 4, Jessica Fries-Gaither will present “Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears: Integrating K-5 Science and Literacy” at the 2009 Educational Technology Conference in Columbus, OH. The presentation is scheduled for 2 pm in room C226. During the session, participants will be introduced to the Beyond Penguins project and the variety of technological tools […]
Posted in Topics: Polar News & Notes, Presentations, Professional Development, Technology, Upcoming Opportunities
Issue 11: Arctic and Antarctic Birds
Sunday, February 1st, 2009 1:00 am
Written by: Jessica Fries-Gaither
The February issue of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears cyberzine is now available!
Arctic and Antarctic Birds was co-produced with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. This partnership allows us to bring you exciting and engaging ideas for incorporating birds into a life sciences unit.
Do you want to know more about birds and their adaptations? This […]
Posted in Topics: Animals, Antarctica, Arctic, Cyberzine Issues, Life Science, Mathematics, Reading, Science, Technology, Writing
Polar News & Notes: January 2009 News Roundup
Saturday, January 31st, 2009 1:00 am
Written by: Jessica Fries-Gaither
2008 tied with 2001 as the eighth warmest year on record, and climate change dominated polar news during the month of January.
A new comprehensive synthesis of past Arctic climates shows that temperature change is happening at a greater rate there than other places in the Northern Hemisphere. This warming is expected to continue, leading to […]
Posted in Topics: Antarctica, Arctic, Monthly News Roundup, Polar News & Notes
Posted in Topics: International Polar Year, Presentations, Professional Development, Upcoming Opportunities
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