News from the polar regions in August includes alarming news for Arctic sea ice, polar bears, and Greenland’s massive glaciers and insights into Antarctica’s past climate and current response to global climate change. Missed these stories the first time? Read on!
While news early in the month predicted that the 2008 Arctic sea ice minimum would […]

PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is currently accepting applications. Teachers are invited to submit an application to participate in field research learning experiences during the 2009 (Arctic) or 2009-2010 (Antarctic) field seasons.
Through the PolarTREC program , over 40 K-12 U.S. teachers will spend two to six weeks in the Arctic or Antarctic, working […]

You may have noticed our new widget, a Shelfari bookshelf (if not, see the right sidebar). We’ve created a Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears group on Shelfari - a social networking site for book lovers.
Shelfari is a free site that allows you to create your own virtual bookshelf, add books that you’ve read, are currently […]

Get a more in-depth view of content and literacy strategies from Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears and interact online with our presenters and other educators across the country!
The National Science Digital Library is starting up its professional development series of free web seminars for educators in partnership with the National Science Teachers Association again on […]

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 […]

September 24 will be the officially designated Sixth International Polar Day. Polar days are held every three months during the two-year-long scientific program focused on the poles, the International Polar Year 2007-2008 (IPY). The days are occasions for schools, science centers, and museums to engage their audiences in learning about the importance of the poles […]

Looking ahead to a time when the “freezing land and seas of the Arctic are likely to be getting hotter in terms of geopolitics,” Durham University in the United Kingdom has dawn up a map that plots boundaries, disputed claims, and potential trouble spots.
Martin Pratt of the university’s International Boundaries Research Unit says the map […]

With articles and lesson plans, the September issue of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears gets down to the rocks and minerals that lie below all that ice and snow. The web site OneGeology strips all earth’s coverings—plants, soils, water, and man-made structures—away to launch the first-ever collection of digital geological maps of the world.
 Earth and […]

Well inside the Arctic Circle, scientists have found vents in the submerged Mid-Atlantic Ridge spewing out water as hot as 570 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the farthest north anyone has seen black smoker vents — so called because it appears as if dark smoke is billowing from them. In fact, the “smoke” is actually iron- […]

Last fall, Iceland established a committee on climate change to guide the government’s policy on environmental issues. This summer the first report was delivered—with predictions of significant changes. For example,

 Farmers will be able to grow wheat and pumpkins by the middle of the century.
 Fish species, such as cod, haddock flounder, halibut, and sole, that have […]