Group items tagged

"The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA) is the first-ever true-color high-resolution satellite view of the Antarctic continent enabling everyone to see Antarctica as it appears in real life. The primary purpose of this site is to provide materials that will allow for both students and educators to explore the continent through the "Antarctic Mysteries" section. This web site is designed as part of the International Polar Year to familiarize people with Antarctica, to explore the richness of its features, to learn about why Antarctica matters to us all, and to explain and demonstrate how scientists use satellite imagery to study the continent. This site is a two-year project. We plan to periodically add content. Your feedback is sought to help us in improving the site. Please offer your suggestions. Thank you."

From the above site, select "outreach" and read the blog of this group of multi disciplinary undergrads, grad students, K-12 teachers, and university faculty's Dec 07/Jan 08 trip to Antarctica. The blog could make a good mini-text or primer about Antarctica research. Since the conclusion of the expedition, the site has expanded to include photos, bios, and much more (through the Navigation links)

This is an older site by the same group that has Polar-Palooza. Although it's no longer updated, it is a good starting point for learning about Antarctica. There are many still-active links that lead to more good things.

Older sites, still useful

An Antarctica expedition by the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The blogs are informative and the photos are great. The captions make them fun and very usable in the classroom

Older sites, still useful

"A bay in northern Antarctica, nearest to New Zealand, the Ross Sea is home to a quarter of the world's emperor penguins, a third of all adelie penguins, all manner of seals, whales, fish and sea birds. It is, scientists like Ainley and Wilson say, the last remaining almost untouched paradise. "

https://www.facebook.com/notes/landsat/most-accurate-map-of-antarcticas-landmass-made-from-landsat-data/213252075413939 "Antarctica may not be the world's largest landmass -- it's the fifth-largest continent -- but resting on top of that land is the world's largest ice sheet. That ice holds more than 60 percent of Earth's fresh water and carries the potential to significantly raise sea level. The continent is losing ice to the sea, and scientists want to know how much."

Pan around the inside and outside of this historic site.

The Antarctic Connection™ is an internet based e-tailer and information source for All Things Antarctic!™. Our goal is to become the largest and best source for premium Antarctic related products as well as provide a vast center for news, weather and information from and about the frozen continent." A commercial site with some good info to get students engaged.

Polar Science

A mapping of Anarctica. This comes recommended by teachers who have used them in secondary and above classes.

modeling and data

"NASA scientist Thorsten Markus shares his expertise on polar ice in a lecture at the Library of Congress. In his lecture, Markus summarizes recent observations and findings-together with pictures from Arctic and Antarctic research campaigns-and puts those results into the bigger climate-system picture. He focuses on recent changes in the Arctic and in Antarctica. Markus explains why the two hemispheres react differently to climate change, and concludes his lecture by discussing current and future efforts to address the uncertainties and contradictions of the ice conditions."

videos and related media

This site, no longer active, documents polar expeditions via two specific projects. 'The Case of the Elusive Element' studies phytoplankton populations. 'POP Goes Antarctica' studies pollutants in the food chain. Both would be good to use with middle school students. 'What is Polar Science?' is an excellent primer for all, and there are many good links to activities and other sites (that still appear to be active). An oldie but goodie.

Older sites, still useful

ICE Ice rises ICE Ice rises is a climate project studying the ice rises on the surface of the Antarctic ice shelves and along the edge of the ice. The goal is to determine if, and in that case how, these "islands" affect how fast the ice is moving toward the ocean, which in turn may influence the melting process and a potential rise in sea level.

If you are looking for some great photos of the polar regions -- scientists working, great scenery, teachers in the field, maps, logos, etc...check out ARCUS' media site. Most of the photos are free to use as long as they are credited and used for non-commercial purposes

Climate scientists have long argued that ancient air trapped in Antarctic ice is the smoking gun that links carbon dioxide to global warming. Over the past 800,000 years or so the planet has gone through a series of ice ages interspersed with relatively warm periods (during which glaciers retreat back toward the poles) - and inevitably, these warm interludes happen when there's more CO2 in the atmosphere

"Snowpit studies provide a vital link between the modern atmosphere and the climate history reconstructed from ice cores. This video documents one of the types of measurements made in snowpits and explains how snow sampling informs ice core studies".

"Not surprisingly, it's going to be a big year for those interested in the golden era of polar exploration. Captain Robert Falcon Scott finally reached the South Pole 100 years ago this week, on 17 January 1912. "

This is the homepage for the Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory. Many of the sidebar choices, besides the Educational Outreach, are very for many students. This easily addresses the IPY Key area of New Frontiers, and Unique Vantage Points and can slip polar science into those classes that don't deal with the earth/geo/environmental areas.

The planes with skis and the unit that flies them: "The United States Air Force's 109th Airlift Wing (109 AW) is an Air Mobility Command (AMC) gained tactical airlift unit of the New York Air National Guard. The unit is located at Stratton ANGB/Schenectady County Airport, New York and operates both conventional C-130 Hercules aircraft and specially modified LC-130s used for Arctic and Antarctic transport and support missions."

polar odds and ends

Many PBS shows can be streamed from here. A few examples: NOVA'a Ocean 'Tipping Point', NOVA's 'Extreme Ice', NOW on PBS'a 'On Thin Ice' Wide Angle's 'Burning Season', Nature's 'Under Antarctic Ice,' and many more. Many videos are time 'chunked' making them more amenable for classroom use. Once a video is selected, mouse over the screen to show the full screen and other options.

videos and related media

A Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute site for their IPY polar region expeditions. Good background, moderately interactive features (great graphic of the arctic ocean currents) and a variety of other resources.

polar science