Interested in refining your teaching practice? Using science notebooks? Creating a web site or publishing a resource list for students or parents? Helping English Language Learners develop science and academic vocabulary? Check out the Professional Learning department in Issue 4 of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears - Weather and Climate: From Home to the Poles. In this issue:

Learn about three tools that allow educators to publish to the web for free.

Learn strategies for assisting English Language Learners with science vocabulary development.

Learn about misconceptions in science and the role of formative assessment.

Learn more about weather and climate, climate change, and the climate of the polar regions.

Of course, there’s more to explore. Check out Issue 4 of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears today!

For the past 30 years ago, the use of DDT as a freely used pesticide has diminished worldwide. One of the first successful campaigns against the chemical was based on its effects on birds. So, it came as a surprise to scientists that Adelie penguins in the Antarctic have the same levels of DDT in their bodies today as they did 30 years ago.  

Heidi Geisz, a marine biologist at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the leader of the study of DDT levels in penguins, says that an accumulated store of the pesticide within melting Antarctic glaciers is flowing into the nearby ocean, where it builds up within penguin fat and eggs. Geisz’s discovery of persistent DDT levels in Adélie penguins runs counter to trends seen in studies of Arctic seabirds, whose falling DDT levels reflect the worldwide decline in DDT use. The researchers note they didn’t find DDT or DDT byproducts in Antarctic air, snow, ice, or seawater, only in glacial meltwater.

With warming trends in the Antarctic melting glaciers faster, Geisz worries that chemicals more harmful to animals, like the flame retardant chemicals PCB and PBDE, will be released into the ocean.

By 2009, Greenland’s Institute of Natural Resources and the University of Greenland expect to open the Centre for Climate Research in Nuuk. The centre will document climate changes and study the impact on Arctic society and the environment. Greenland and Denmark scientists will work from the facility as well as scientists from other countries.

An Institute of Arctic Technologies is being proposed by Russian universities, according to newspapers in the polar region. The need for workers to develop Arctic oil, gas, and mineral fields is behind the effort to develop partnerships with teaching institutions from Russia, Norway, France and the United States.

Interested in integrating science and literacy? Need to find quality children’s literature and expository text to use in your classroom? Check out the Science and Literacy department in Issue 4 of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears - Weather and Climate: From Home to the Poles!

In this issue:

Learn about how hands-on science can assist in vocabulary development.

Integrate literacy lessons from high-quality content providers into your science teaching.

Discover a virtual bookshelf of children’s literature, written by a children’s librarian.

Incorporate expository text into your instruction with foldable books and even electronic books with narration!

Of course, there’s much more to discover. Check out Issue 4 of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears today!

While the plight of the polar bear deservedly gets most of the attention in Arctic-warming scenarios, the narwhal is even more at risk, according to a study of marine mammals’ vulnerability. Scientists from three countries identified risk factors for 11 mammals that live in the Arctic year-round.  

The narwhal is a pale-colored porpoise with a long spiral tusk found in Arctic coastal waters. It dives about 6,000 feet to feed on halibut and lives in parts of the Arctic that are 99 percent heavy ice. According to the lead researcher, Kristin Laidre, from the University of Washington, the narwhal’s food needs and habitat make it more vulnerable than even the polar bear. While bears can adapt somewhat to the changing seas, the narwhal cannot.

The study, Quantifying the Sensitivity of Arctic Marine Mammals to Climate-Induced Habitat Change, was published in Ecological Applications, a journal of the Ecological Society of America. The researchers identified three types of sensitivity to climate-changes in habitat, including limited distribution and specialization in feeding, seasonal dependence on ice, and reliance on sea ice for access to prey and avoiding predators. After the narwhal and the polar bear, the most at risk mammals were the hooded seal, bowhead whale and walrus.

The narwhal has been called the unicorn of the sea for its eight-foot long, tusk-like tooth that grows out of the male’s upper lip.

During the last full week of May, science centers all over the world joined with area students to create “ice caps” from available white materials. At a scheduled time, the large white spots will be measured for reflectivity by NASA satellites. The effort, called the Albedo Experiment, is designed to increase public awareness of the importance of the polar ice caps to our planet’s climate. The albedo effect is the phenomenon by which reflection of the sun’s rays from the polar ice caps regulates earth’s climate.

This project was developed through a partnership between IGLO (International Action on Global Warming) and NASA. At a scheduled time, NASA satellites Landsat 7, Terra, and EO-1 will take photographs of each white spot and measure its reflectivity versus that of the sites with no “ice caps.” Science centers will use ImageJ software to take their own albedo measurements and compare them to NASA’s findings.

Participating science centers are found in Australia, France, Israel, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, and other countries and in several locations in the United States. (Find a list of participating science centers at the news page of the International Polar Year web site.) The centers are organizing other activities as part of the experiment. It is expected that images from the experiment and activities will be presented at meetings worldwide.

Using ImageJ, a free software, people all over the world can still participate in the Albedo Experiment even if they are not a partner institution. By comparing the brightness of two photos of the same spot, an estimate of the amount of light reflected by an area can be approximated. To learn more about ImageJ, visit rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/index.html.

A new month brings a new issue of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears cyberzine! The online magazine is written for elementary teachers to help develop their content knowledge of the polar regions and use best practices in integrating science and literacy instruction.

Our fourth issue is called “Weather and Climate: From Home to the Poles” and provides content knowledge, lessons, and activities about weather and climate, climate change, and the weather and climate of the Arctic and Antarctica. Read about a scientist from The Ohio State University whose discovery of an ancient plant led to a better understanding of the Earth’s climate over 5,000 years ago. Help your students develop important science vocabulary through hands-on activities. As usual, we feature a virtual bookshelf and expository articles (available in text, foldable book, and electronic book formats). Of course, there’s much more to learn and explore! Visit the cyberzine home page and select Weather and Climate: From Home to the Poles - Issue 4, June/July 2008 to begin exploring.

Each month’s issue will be organized around a theme that reflects common science topics in the elementary curriculum. Coming in August is an issue about water, ice, and snow - using the polar regions to teach the water cycle and states and changes of matter. But don’t worry - you’ll still be able to access all content from the previous issues!

As always, we’d appreciate feedback and comments. Post a comment to the blog, or use the contact information found in the magazine to tell us what you think. Enjoy the fourth issue of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, and share the site with your students and colleagues!

News from the polar regions in May includes continued trouble for Arctic sea ice and the marine mammals that depend on it for survival, research efforts in the Arctic, and analysis from the past Antarctic field season. Missed these stories the first time? Read on!

Data released from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicates that in 2007 alone global levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide increased by 19 billion tons (0.6 percent). Carbon dioxide, the primary driver of global climate change, is released from the burning of fossil fuels and can remain in the atmosphere for thousands of years. In addition, methane levels increased by 27 million tons, the first increase in ten years. Scientists are waiting to determine whether this spike is due to melting permafrost, a permanently frozen layer of ground that stores vast amounts of carbon. As the Arctic continues to warm and thaw, the release of carbon (as methane) from permafrost could contribute to a positive feedback loop and amplify the problem.

Scientists from the University of New Hampshire and the University of Maine are headed to Denali National Park in Alaska to identify suitable sites for collecting ice cores. The fieldwork is part of a larger effort to sample ice cores from the entire Arctic region and better understand the relationship between climate change in the North Atlantic and North Pacific regions. While scientists have long believed that the North Atlantic drives global climate changes, there are now indications that changes in the North Pacific may come first, followed by a North Atlantic response. In the North Pacific, Alaska has certainly led the way in the effects of a warming climate, including coastal erosion and melting permafrost.

In an attempt to understand how North Pacific climate change affects Arctic species, six Alaskan musk ox have been outfitted with GPS collars. A research team will study the overall well-being of the animals as well as the extent to which conditions such as snow and ice events, disease, and predation drive populations.

Satellite data continues to improve our understanding about ice cover in the Arctic and its response to climate change. In northern Greenland and Canada, an international group of scientists has braved harsh environmental conditions to carry out a three-week experiment designed to validate satellite study of the polar ice cover. In addition, new University of Colorado at Boulder calculations from satellite data and temperature records give a three-in-five chance that the record low minimum extent of sea ice (set in September 2007) will be broken again in 2008. Researchers point to continued warming temperatures and the increasing extent of younger, thinner ice that is more susceptible to melting. Another study suggests that summer sunshine in the Arctic produces more pronounced melting than in the past, mainly because there is less ice to reflect solar radiation back into space. National Center for Atmospheric Research scientist Jennifer Kay explains that “a single unusually clear summer can now have a dramatic impact.” An increasingly ice-free Arctic opens up potential for cheaper and faster merchant shipping between North America and Europe.

However, the loss of Arctic sea ice is not a benefit for all. The decline of the ice puts Arctic marine mammals such as polar bears, narwhals, seals, and walruses at risk for several reasons including the availability of prey and the availability of sea ice for resting, reproduction, and avoiding predators. Shifts in the prey base would lead to changes in the body conditions and immune systems of marine mammals and the potential for increased exposure to infectious diseases. Finally, the increased human activity in an ice-free Arctic (shipping, energy exploration and development, and fishing, hunting, and tourism) may lead to new threats such as shipping accidents, contaminants, and competition for prey. Researchers also conclude that while conservation measures may reduce these secondary effects, only reducing greenhouse gas emissions will protect Arctic marine mammals and their ecosystems.

Unfortunately, those reductions don’t seem to be coming in the near future. While a recent decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior listed the polar bear as a threatened species, the announcement by Secretary Dirk Kempthorne made it clear that this listing would not be used to dictate policy about energy exploration, development, use and emissions. These disclaimers severely limit the usefulness of the listing in its ability to truly protect the species and the ecosystem on which it depends.

Marine mammals are not the only species at risk in a changing climate. In West Greenland, fewer caribou calves are being born and more of them are dying. Penn State biologist Eric Post explains that as temperatures rise, the plants consumed by expectant mothers emerge and peak earlier in the season. However, the timing of calving has not shifted, leading to a mismatch between resource availability and demand. The research is the first documentation of a “trophic mismatch” in a terrestrial mammal as a result of climate change.

The summer field season in Antarctica ended in late winter, but data from research efforts are now being published. Marine biologists have discovered a unique colony of brittlestars on the peak of a seamount (an underwater mountain) in the Southern Ocean. Dubbed “Brittlestar City,” the colony is estimated to contain tens of millions of the echinoderms and occurs in an improbable yet advantageous location. As the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is diverted over the peak of the seamount, the brittlestars are able to capture passing food simply by raising their arms. The swiftly moving water also sweeps away fish and other potential predators. Researchers studied this particular peak, and the entire Macquarie Ridge, by towing special sleds to sample organisms and an imaging system to record still images and high-definition video. Scientists believe that some of the species have never before been recorded and that some may be new to science entirely.

Scientists in the United Kingdom and Germany have been piecing together how Earth’s changing climate affected ocean chemistry about 34 million years ago. At that time, Earth experienced a dramatic shift from the warm, greenhouse conditions and higher ocean acidity of the Eocene period to the glaciated, cooler temperatures and lower ocean acidity of the Oligocene period. The researchers concluded that a fall in sea level caused by Antarctic glaciation left coral reefs stranded above tide levels. As these corals eroded, calcium carbonate was added to seawater, reducing its acidity. Scientists hope that understanding what caused this shift will help them understand and predict Earth’s response today as the levels of greenhouse gases increase and oceans become more acidic.

The ANDRILL (Antarctic Geological Drilling) project has added 1,139 meters of “new” sediment cores to a collection housed at Florida State University’s Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility. Scientists will use the cores to examine changes in Antarctica’s ice sheet and marine and terrestrial life during a period of significant cooling that occurred between 20 and 14 million years ago. Correlating this record to existing data and climate models will help scientists understand how local changes in the Southern Ocean relate to regional and global climate events and will provide insight into Antarctica’s potential responses to future global climate change.

The most recent analysis of trace gases trapped in Antarctica’s ice provide a reasonable estimate of greenhouse gas concentrations as much as 800,000 years in the past – about 150,000 years more than previous studies. The research shows that during the entire period of time, there have never been concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane as high as the current levels. In addition, the study continues to provide a strong correlation of methane and carbon dioxide and temperature. Researchers hope to ultimately extend the data as far back as 1.5 million years.

New research by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research has found that computer analyses of global climate change have consistently overstated warming in Antarctica. By comparing climate records from the past 50 to 100 years with computer-run simulations, scientists found that most of Antarctica has not warmed as much as the rest of the globe. The explanation for this difference? The ozone hole, an environmental issue that first made headlines in the 1980s. The lack of ozone over Antarctica chills the middle and upper atmosphere and alters wind patterns in such a way that prevents warmer air from reaching these areas. Ironically, scientists believe that a full recovery of the ozone hole may lead to another environmental problem: the modification of climate change in the Southern Hemisphere and an amplification of Antarctic warming. However, the extent of this potential effect will be largely affected by the rate of greenhouse gas emissions. It is not clear how warming in Antarctica would affect sea-level rise. NCAR researcher Andy Monaghan explains that “over the next century, whether the ice sheet grows from increased snowfall or shrinks due to more melt will depend on how much temperatures increase in Antarctica, and potentially on erosion at the ice sheet edge by the warmer ocean and rising sea level.”

Know of another significant news story from May that you’d like to share? Reactions to another of the stories discussed here? Post a comment – we’d love to hear from you!

Tuesday, May 27 was the first of five scheduled Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears web seminars. The free, online seminars are run through a partnership between the National Science Digital Library and the National Science Teachers’ Association. 47 educators participated, representing a wide variety of geographic locations (across the U.S. and even Sydney, Australia!), teaching assignments, and years of experience.

During the 90-minute seminar, Jessica Fries-Gaither and Carol Landis shared content knowledge about the Arctic and Antarctica and five strategies for introducing the polar regions to elementary students. Participants learned how the two regions differ in terms of geography, climate, living systems, and their response to climate change. Teaching strategies and resources were selected from Issue One of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears cyberzine.

If you missed the seminar, you can watch and listen to the archived version, available from NSTA’s Learning Center. You can also find related resources from the presentation in this resource list. Finally, you can download a pdf version of the presentation for your reference or to share with others.

Interested in refining your teaching practice? Using rubrics? Meeting the needs of all students? Check out Issue 3 of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears - Polar Patterns: Day, Night, and Seasons!

In this issue:

Learn about rubrics and checklists and use technology to create your own.

Learn about meeting the needs of gifted students without leaving others behind.

Learn about misconceptions in science and the role of formative assessment.

Learn about discrepant events and how to incorporate them into your science instruction.

Of course, there’s more to explore. Check out Issue 3 of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears today!