Polar News and Notes Upcoming Opportunities

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 […]

PolarTREC (Teachers & Researchers Exploring & Collaborating) has set up its Virtual Base Camp for the 2008 expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. At the Base Camp web site, you and your students can follow the progress of the expeditions, ask questions of the scientists and the participating teacher, view photo alums, and access learning […]

A weeklong marine science course designed for K-12 teachers will be offered June 22-27 at Kasitsna Bay Laboratory near Seldovia, Alaska. The course, titled “Climate Change in Alaskan Estuaries,” includes an introduction to climate change influences on estuarine environments along with field studies and laboratory experiences. This professional development opportunity is offered jointly by the […]

The role of permafrost will be the subject of a one-credit summer course for K-12 teachers June 25-27, 2008, at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Held in association with the Ninth International Conference on Permafrost, The course will familiarize teachers with how the degradation of the permafrost will impact Alaska’s society, ecology, and hydrology.
Students will […]

The International Polar Year will be emphasized in the national conference of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science(SACNAS), to be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, October 9-12.
The conference will focus on global change– particularly climate change and its impact on all fields of science, ecosystems, and populations from […]

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 […]

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 […]