Polar Science Education

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

modeling and data

Educational Global Climate Modeling. This was developed from an older 'real' modeling program, so the difference between this and current programs is the grainy-ness of the data. (It will run on today's laptops - yesterday's supercomputers - current programs need the power of modern supercomputers.) Good for high school student direct use, middle schoolers would probably be more comfortable with demos. Learning curve isn't too bad!

modeling and data

The US Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory's site. Under the Educational Outreach menu item, you will find student opportunities (high school and above). The Kid's Corner is not directly polar related, but there are some good activities (especially under the Navigation Lessons) to tie in with a polar topic unit.

snow and ice

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

A 2008 Webby Award Honoree for best Science Ice Stories presents and archives 'dispatches from polar scientists.' Nice link to the South Pole Telescope and other materials, too.

polar science

Not an obvious resource page for most teachers, but there is a wealth of information here, not just for IPY! Educators should look for the "Classroom Resources" item on the right sidebar and that page will let them refine their search. The news items are also great for informing students on latest and breaking research in many areas.

general science education

This is the Internation home for the 4th IPY. All kinds of good information, resources, and links here. Educators' link is in the left sidebar (First link under Partners).

IPY agencies

This site is no longer active, and unfortunately some sections were never completed. However, it has some good graphics and language that are especially usable with upper elementary students. There are some data sets that could be the basis for classroom analysis.

Older sites, still useful

older sites, still useful

Direct to NASA's IPY resources; Although this section of NASA's site appears to no longer be updated, there are many valuable links are resources here.

IPY agencies

There are a lot of teacher resources at NOAA. The quickest way to IPY specific materials is to enter "IPY" in the search space.

IPY agencies

This is a place for educators of polar science to share and discuss ideas, resources, strategies, concerns & successes that will engage students and advance scientific literacy about the polar regions of our planet. In the comment section is the list to which I have assigned the site.

With literacy maps and benchmarks tied to the materials via a quick scroll and mouse click, NSDL is becoming indispensable for the science educator. This link is to the whole house!

General science education

Free online digital library of media resources (video, interactive, audio, images) for classroom and teacher professional development. Many are OER (open educational resources). If you haven't been there lately, be sure to check out the upgrades to this PBS site resources are tied to specific state standards in most cases, and most materials are fair use and/or copyright free. Th

General science education

This is an older site that is still very useful. Not exclusively a polar science site, there are some great resources and activities for their expeditions to the poles. (Woods Hole can usually be relied on for high quality materials.)

Older sites, still useful

This is the archive for the lesson plans and related materials for the TEA project (there are some excellent resources here) It is no longer active, although the parent ARMADA project is still underway. It is easier to link to it from this archive than it is to get to the TEA resources from ARMADA!.

Older sites, still useful

This commercial site has some great free resources, too. Good FAQs and downloadable lessons make it worth a look. Students are intrigued by the aurora and this provides a good slide from cosmology to other polar studies.

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

This is an older, commercial advocacy site from Australia that has some merit in the links and the videos. Unfortunately, the videos sometimes load, and sometimes don't ; too bad, because they are very good (Recent trials have been more successful on a Mac than a PC). The target for this might be a stewardship or ethics discussion with upper middle or high school students. It's worth a look, even though it is an older site. If you can get your hands on "Sleeping Giants", it is a great basis for a deep discussion with high school and older groups.

Older sites, still useful

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

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