Around Our School
Children take a walk around or near the schoolyard and begin to observe, wonder, and ask questions about aquatic life.
Transparency/Turbidity
Students construct a mini Secchi disk to investigate transparency and the effects of increased turbidity from the increased flows as glaciers melt on aquatic and marine ecosystems.
Changing Landscape
Changing Landscape asks students to analyze “repeat photographs” (taken from the same vantage point at different times) of Alaska glaciers to observe the effects of retreating glaciers on the landscape.
Arctic Sea Ice Data
This 5-6 day investigation challenges students to think about how sea ice is changing and the effects of a warming climate on sea level in Alaska.
Density
In this 7-9 day investigation, students are engaged in a variety of hands-on demonstrations and experiments that will help them to understand thermohaline circulation in the ocean. They begin with an introductory activity that helps them to review or arrive at a definition of density, then go on to demonstrate the effects of temperature and salinity on density and design their own experiment to simulate ocean mixing. They experiment further with hot and cold water as they consider the effects of tropical and polar climates on ocean currents, and end by writing conclusions to summarize their learning.