Polar News and Notes Polar News & Notes

Working with National Science Foundation-funded researchers, two high school graduates have built an underwater, camera-equipped “rover” to observe fish in Antarctic environments.
Ryan Garner and Amanda Wilson, both female graduates of Cabrillo High School in Lompoc, California, began working with marine biologist Gretchen Hofmann of the University of California, Santa Barbara, when they were high-school seniors. […]

At its meeting in London, March 31-April 3, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) heard a call from environmental groups to tighten restrictions on shipping around Antarctica. The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) said many of the ships carrying the growing number of tourists are not ice-strengthened. Vessels that are not reinforced to withstand ice […]

Three of the Web Seminars scheduled by the National Science Teachers Association in May will offer teachers at all grade levels an opportunity to enrich their teaching about the polar regions. Each seminar is presented at 6:30 p.m. on its scheduled date and lasts for 90 minutes. Participation is free.
Presenters for the two-part seminars on […]

First the lights went out in Christchurch, New Zealand, at 8 p.m., on March 31, and then one by one city and small town lights around the globe followed suit. The lights-out was known as Earth Hour, an event organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-Australia) last year and taken global this year. It aims […]

Friday at NSTA’s national conference in Boston, MA included two informative literacy sessions.
Scaffolding Inquiry: Research on Writing in Science
Dr. Rick Vanosdall, Director of the Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences at Tennessee State UniverVsity presented an overview of research results from his work with Dr. Mike Klentschy, the Superintendant of Schools of the En Centro School […]

Highlights from Thursday, March 27 at the National Science Teachers’ Association national conference in Boston, MA included a presentation on IPY science projects and the Polar Discovery expedition series.
IPY Science
Louise Huffman, Coordinator of Education and Outreach for the ANDRILL project, presented an informative session, IPY Cool Science: Hot Topics. An overview of the three […]

A 160 square-mile chunk of ice broke off from the Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctica on Tuesday. The ice, approximately seven times the size of Manhattan, had started to break up in late February. Scientists noticed the movement in satellite images and were able to capture footage and images of the event.
Unlike sea ice, which […]

The National Science Teachers’ Association’s annual national conference, scheduled this week in Boston, MA, will draw thousands of science educators from across the country. Several Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears project staff members are attending the conference. We’ll post any polar-related news or sessions of interest. Check back often if you are unable to attend […]

News from the polar regions in March 2008 included many “firsts:” flights of unmanned vehicles, research during Antarctica’s “polar night,” and new insight into the polar regions from boulders, sediment cores, and other reports. Missed these stories the first time? Read on!
Last month, we reported on a fully robot astronomical observatory called PLATO. This month […]

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is offering a summer institute, July 14-18, for middle school and high school teachers to promote teaching of science concepts and processes related to the polar regions. The institute, titled International Polar Year: Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics Polar Connections, is sponsored by the STEM Education Institute and the Climate System […]