Polar News and Notes Life Science

The USA-National Phenology Network (USA-NPN), a consortium of government, academic and citizen scientists, has launched a new program built on volunteer observations of seasonal changes in plant and animal behavior. The observations will be monitored by scientists and resource managers to track the influence of climate changes on the seasonal cycles of plants, animals, and […]

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 […]

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 […]

The January issue of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears cyberzine is now available!
Polar Mammals was co-produced with the American Museum of Natural History, and includes a wide range of engaging and informative content!
Do you want to know more about polar mammals and the adaptations that help them survive in these cold environments? This […]

Did you know that polar bears are at high risk of population decline and future extinction in our warming world? Dr. Steven Amstrup, a Research Wildlife Biologist with the United States Geological Survey, discussed the status of the iconic marine mammal in the lecture, “Polar Bear: Climate Change Sentinel.” The lecture was part of the […]

Would you like to add some real-time data to your penguin unit this year? Thanks to education outreach resources from an Antarctic research team, you can!
Dr. David Ainley studies Adelie penguin populations in Antarctica. His long term research of 30 years has recently shown indication of the penguin populations reacting to climate change. His web […]

Six musk ox are roaming along the shores of the Chukchi and northern Bering Seas wearing their new GPS collars.
The Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups outfitted the animals to study how climate change may affect them. Next year in the four-year project, the research team will collar an additional 30-40 more animals.
“Musk ox are […]

Meet Pierre 
A recent news article profiled Pierre, a 25 year-old African penguin at the Academy of Sciences. Biologists became concerned when Pierre, who was going bald, refused to swim in the penguin tank and shivered on the sidelines instead. Unlike polar bears, seals, and other marine mammals, penguins do not have an insulating layer of […]

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 […]

A photograph by Spiritwood Images; subject to a Creative Commons license
Did you know that polar bears live only in the Arctic? Many people wonder why polar bears don’t eat penguins, another animal popularly associated with the poles. In fact, these two animals live at the opposite ends of the earth! The giant marine mammals […]