Preparing for the trip is an ongoing task and takes more time than I expected. I’ve been working closely with Robbie Score of Polar Field Services. She is helping me to organize all of the logistical parts of the trip. For example, she helped me organize my flights and she has also booked my
I had my first interview the other day. I have never been interviewed for TV before. I was excited and nervous the entire time. The news crew came to my school and filmed me and my second period class. The kids were wonderful and they helped to keep me calm. My students were amazing. They were much
During orientation the PolarTREC teachers had a field trip to the Museum of the North, which was on the University of Alaska, Fairbanks campus where we had our training. It was here that I first met Jeanette Moore, a researcher for Team Squirrel. It was great to meet someone from the research team I
This lesson is a modification of what Dave Hess and I, Stan Skotnicki, use in our Earth Science classes at Cheektowaga Central High School. It is an extension of our lesson on Celestial Motions as we track the apparent path of the sun across the sky at different latitudes. Prior to this Lab activity they would have already
My trip is quickly approaching and I am getting more excited every day. My students are thrilled and have been joking with me about the cold weather I am about to face. A few days ago the air conditioning in my classroom broke. I don't know if broken is the right word. I think I should say it is
In a “March Madness” game of survival of the fittest, will your microbe and its genes survive the test of changing conditions on Planet Earth and beyond? Students choose genes from a “toolbox” and pit their microbe against their classmates’, using critical thinking and argument writing to determine the microbe with the best chance of success. Based on PolarTREC
Eric Thuma stands on the McMurdo Ice Sheet, preparing to extract a seismometer. (Photo provided by Dr. Doug MacAyeal)