Polar News and Notes Science

A team of scientists from the United Kingdom has announced that it will explore a lake that has been buried beneath Antarctica’s ice sheet for hundreds of thousands of years.
During the 2012-2013 Antarctic winters, researchers will sample water from subglacial Lake Ellsworth in the search for life forms and extract sediment from the lake […]

Integrating science and literacy content gets a boost every March when the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and the Children’s Book Council release their list of Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12. Each year since 1973, the two organizations have been selecting high quality, engaging, and scientifically accurate books from publishers of books for […]

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 […]

You are invited to share your International Polar Year (IPY) activities and resources with other teachers at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) conference, March 19-22, in New Orleans.
The Arctic Research Consortium (ARCUS) is organizing Teacher Share! A Share-a-Thon for Teachers Involved in IPY on Saturday, March 21, from 9 to 11 a.m. at […]

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 […]

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 Great Backyard Bird Count will take place February 13-16, 2009. The sponsors, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, invite people of all ages throughout North America to contribute to knowledge about bird population trends.
Anyone, from novice bird watchers to experts, can participate by counting for as little as 15 […]

In early January, a coalition of more than 500 universities, K-12 schools, educators, scientific societies, science centers and museums, government agencies, advocacy groups, and others kicked off the Year of Science, or YoS2009. The Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) expects this yearlong recognition, with events scheduled across the country, will engage the […]

In late December near McMurdo Station in Antarctica, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) flight-tested a large, pumpkin-shaped, thin-skinned balloon that will someday carry science experiments to the brink of space.  
According to an NSF press release, this 7 million cubic foot balloon is the largest single-cell, super-pressure […]

The “hope” that developing countries would install technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as they became wealthier is not backed up by evidence so far. A study by researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of Colorado warns that continuing economic and technological disparities will make it more difficult than […]