The National Science Teachers Association in partnership with the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) are showcasing the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears magazine in the next free web seminar in the NSDL series:

Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears Series

NSTA Web Seminars are fun and interactive online professional development programs at your desktop that are free and open to educators across the country.

On May 27th, join Jessica Fries-Gaither, a resource specialist with the Ohio State University and Carol Landis, education coordinator for the Byrd Polar Research Center, as they highlight resources and strategies to integrate science and literacy instruction with a focus on polar geography. This seminar is for educators of grades K-5 and is the first of a series to be continued into the 2008-2009 school year.

To register, go to the NSTA Learning Center: http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/SeminarRegistration.aspx

Interested in integrating science and literacy? Need to find quality children’s literature and expository text to use in your classroom? Check out Issue 3 of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears - Polar Patterns: Day, Night, and Seasons!

In this issue:

Learn about cause and effect relationships and strategies to help your students master this difficult concept.

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 3 of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears today!

As the school year draws to a close, many teachers and parents wonder how to promote continued learning over the three month holiday. Summer reading lists are a staple of many schools, and local libraries often offer summer reading programs with fun incentives. ReadWriteThink, a a partnership between the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and the Verizon Foundation, also provides resources to ensure that reading, writing, and learning continues into the summer months.

Why summer learning?

Research shows that without continued practice in reading and writing, students face a big loss in literacy skills when they return to school in the fall. Summer vacation provides a wonderful opportunity for families and caregivers to help children improve their literacy skills in a relaxed, informal setting. Summer learning also demonstrates that reading and writing are lifelong skills and not just something that happens in the classroom.

What can families do to promote summer learning?

Many teachers are familiar with ReadWriteThink and their high-quality lesson plans and resources. Learning Beyond the Classroom offers the same quality of materials, but designed for parents, caregivers, and informal educators instead. The site is divided into four grade bands: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. At each level, there are literacy activities, booklists, podcasts and videos, and tool tip sheets that provide assistance with ReadWriteThink’s online tools. Each level also includes an age-appropriate reading record, so kids can track what they’ve read over the break.

And don’t, worry - activities do not mean formal instruction, tests, or an education degree! Adults can promote literacy in a number of fun ways - acting out nursery rhymes, playing bingo, creating cartoons or a magnetic poetry set, or even utilizing web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, and YouTube!

In addition to using the online resources, the site suggests that adults get caught reading and writing, read or write to their children or teens, and share their love of reading and writing.

So check out Learning Beyond the Classroom to ensure an engaging summer break and a confident return to school in the fall!

Nancy Etchemendy

On May 26, 2008, published author Nancy Etchemendy will embark on the journey of a lifetime: the first of two research expeditions to Antarctica. On her blog, Etchmendy describes how an “unlikely series of events” resulted in an invitation to join the marine biology expeditions. The trip in May is a month-long voyage aboard the National Science Foundation’s icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer.

Icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer

Image courtesy of Chris Demarest, National Science Foundation

The NSF-funded expedition will explore the icebergs of the Weddell Sea. As the icebergs melt and release dissolved nutrients, they become “hotspots” for ocean life, with thriving communities of seabirds above and a web of phytoplankton, krill, and fish (and possibly marine mammals, though none have been observed yet).  The researchers will use various means — including remotely operated underwater vehicles, sonar, radar, aerial videography, and sampling devices — to learn as much as they can about the icebergs themselves, nearby air and water, and surrounding “halos” of life, which may be affecting greenhouse gas levels.

During her time aboard the research vessel, Etchmendy will post regularly to two blogs. “Unarctica,” a sequel to Etchemendy’s novel, The Power of Un, combines science fact and adventure fiction for students ages 8-12. “Rime of the Modern Mariner” uses Etchemendy’s gothic sensibilities to draw in teens and adults. Etchemendy will include photographs of the expedition and will take advantage of the “comments” feature of the blog, which allows readers to ask questions.

More information about the expedition and Etchemendy’s work is available on her blog, “The Weird Worlds of Nancy Etchemendy.”

Climate Change Protest

image created by Grant Neufeld and subject to a Creative Commons license

U.S. Department of the Interior secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced Wednesday that the polar bear will be considered a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The decision came just before a deadline imposed by a federal court, and three years after the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace, and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a lawsuit to force the listing of the polar bear.

Dramatic decline in Arctic sea ice as a result of climate change poses a serious threat to the bears, who depend on the ice as their primary habitat. Scientists believe that sea ice loss will likely result in two-thirds of the polar bears disappearing by mid-century, a figure cited by Kempthorne in his press conference. The continued decline of the ice makes the bears likely to become endangered, resulting in the listing as a threatened species.

However, Kempthorne also added that “the loss of sea ice, not oil and gas development or subsistence activities, are the reason the polar bear is threatened” and that the decision “should not open the door to use the ESA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, power plants, and other sources.” Solutions to the problem of global warming or the decline of sea ice will have to come from the world’s major economies, he said. These disclaimers contradict hopes of environmentalists that the listing could be used to curb greenhouse gas emissions and limit oil and gas development. Development activities will continue as long as companies abide by existing restrictions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

One new protection for the bears has been added as the listing eliminated a loophole that allowed American hunters to fly to Canada, shoot a polar bear, and return home with its head and hide.

You can read the full text of Kempthorne’s press conference in a post from the New York Times’ Dot Earth blog.

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 a throwback to our Pleistocene heritage and once shared the landscape with mammoths, wild horses, and sabered cats,” said the study’s leader Joel Berger, a Wildlife Conservation Society scientist and professor at the University of Montana. “They may also help scientists understand how arctic species can or cannot adapt to climate change.”

Once found in Europe and Northern Asia, today musk ox are restricted to Arctic regions in North America and Greenland although they have been introduced into Russia and northern Europe. They were reintroduced in Alaska after being wiped out in the late 19th century when they were hunted for hides and meat. Currently, musk ox are found in two national parks: Alaska’s Bering Land Bridge National Park and Cape Krusenstem National Monument.

Interested in teaching your students about patterns found in seasons and day and night? Check out Issue 3 of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears - Polar Patterns, Day, Night, and Seasons!

In this issue:

Learn more about seasons and discover sites to develop your own content knowledge.

Find integrated science and literacy lessons to use in your classroom.

Learn about common misconceptions and how to assess student understanding.

Discover how to use time lapse videos of the sun’s path in the polar regions as discrepant events that promote reflection and inquiry.

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

In a recent paper published by researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, scientists report that computer models of climate change specific to the Antarctic may not be as accurate as they were originally believed. Computer models based on data of Earth’s climate help scientists make predictions of climate change over time. From these mathematical models, scientists run simulations based on data collected in order to assess potential outcomes such as warming or cooling trends around the Earth. While computer models representing climate in the other continents are accurately depicting the phenomenon of increasing temperatures, the models used in Antarctica inaccurately point to larger increases in temperatures than is actually being observed. (The models show an increase of 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit or 0.2 degrees Celsius in the Antarctic versus the actual increase of 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit or 0.75 degrees Celsius).

Why the discrepancy in the Antarctic? Scientists point to a number of reasons, all of which are excellent examples to show students the ongoing investigative nature of scientific study. For starters, the conditions in Antarctica make it difficult to take weather readings (or any kind of readings for that matter) in the first place. This recent report came as a result of improved measurements in the Antarctic region that will provide more accurate data in the future. Using ice core data samples and the increased ability to take actual climate observations and comparing these to the models gives scientists a better idea of how these data compare. That said, scientists still caution that the models used today still may not be as accurate as they are in other parts of the world. NCAR scientist David Schneider states, “The current generation of climate models has improved over previous generations, but still leaves Antarctic surface temperature projections for the 21st century with a high degree of uncertainty.”

Another factor in the discrepancy between models and actual data deals with the ozone hole over Antarctica. Because of the hole, the upper layers of atmosphere over Antarctica are cooler, creating cooler temperatures in the central part of the continent. This is in contrast to warming trends in other continents, as well as the warming trend in the Antarctic Peninsula. This cooler air reduces the amount of water vapor present, something that the computer models point to as a source of increase temperatures in the region that are in contrast to actual readings.

Scientist Andrew Monaghan, a co-author of this recent report, states, “We can now compare computer simulations with observations of actual climate trends in Antarctica. This is showing us that, over the past century, most of Antarctica has not undergone the fairly dramatic warming that has affected the rest of the globe. The challenges of studying climate in this remote environment make it difficult to say what the future holds for Antarctica’s climate.”

Dr. Monaghan is a guest columnist for the upcoming June issue (Weather and Climate: From Home to the Poles) of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative has opened registration for its free summer workshops. The workshops will be held across the country starting June 18 and will target specific grade levels and content areas. Workshops for summer 2008 include:

• Denver, Colorado (United States Mint) - June 18-19, 2008
• Nashua, New Hampshire (Federal Aviation Administration) - June 25-26, 2008
• Houston, Texas (NASA, Johnson Space Center) - July 1-2, 2008
• New York, New York (National Park Service) - July 9-10, 2008
• Newport News, Virginia (Department of Energy) - July 10-11, 2008
• Forth Worth, Texas (Federal Aviation Administration) - July 15-16, 2008
• New Orleans, Louisiana (Office of Charter Schools) - July 17-18, 2008
• Washington, D.C. (Office of Charter Schools) - July 22-23, 2008
• Lakewood, Washington (Department of Defense Education Activity) - Aug. 4-5, 2008
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (United States Mint) - August 7-8, 2008
• Twentynine Palms, California (Department of Defense Education Activity) - Aug. 11-12, 2008
• Los Angeles, California (Office of Charter Schools) - August 13-14, 2008

In each workshop, prominent teachers, principals, and district officials provide training sessions and share research-based practices they have successfully applied in their classrooms and schools. Reading, math, science and history will be the content focus as well as using data, differentiating instruction, Doing What Works, and technology to support student achievement. All workshops will also provide important resources from the National Math Panel.

Learn more about the Teacher-to-Teacher workshops and register online. The Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative supports teachers’ efforts in the classroom through professional development workshops and digital workshops and by sharing relevant information through email updates.

In an opinion piece published in the May issue of Australasian Science, a climate scientist urges his fellow researchers to stand up to those who deny climate change and do more to explain good science to the public. Barry Brook, director of the Research Institute for Climate Change and Sustainability, at the University of Adelaide, points out that those who disseminate disinformation, doubt and unscientific nonsense are able to “leverage the widespread lack of public appreciation of how science operates.”  

Noting that some attempt to deny science’s findings for political or ideological reasons, and in doing so “besmirch science’s public image,” Brook admits that the deniers have become so good at this they can exert influence on policy. He reminds his readers that “the scientific process of theoretical postulates, hypothesis testing, critical evaluation (and re-evaluation) of ever accumulating empirical evidence, model validation and peer review is inherently complex and often technical.”

“Active and forthright public communication of science is not only an obligation of scientists, but a critical necessity,”Brook wrote, and warned: “This is especially true for climate change and environmental sustainability, where we are perilously close to running out of time.”