Webcast: Polar Bear Education. Nov. 15 and 16, 2010
Posted on November 12th, 2010 by ASEE
Polar Bear International’s Tundra Connections invites students and teachers to join free live Webcasts on Nov. 15 and 16, 2010, to talk with leading polar bear scientists, zoologists, and educators as they conduct live broadcasts that are informative and educational, focusing on the topics of polar bears and climate change. Visit the PBI Website to learn more about their extensive educator resources.
Filed under: For Teachers, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, K-12 Outreach Programs, Web Resources | Comments Off on Webcast: Polar Bear Education. Nov. 15 and 16, 2010
Tags: Environmental science, Live Web Chat, Polar Regions, Web Resources
Tech Challenge 2011, sponsored by 
60 freshman at Maryland’s North Harford High School will be the first to join a new Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences program, spending time outside the classroom in barns, pastures, and fields to learn about farming and the environment.
British Petroleum is using a series of dispersants to combat the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico — chemicals intended to break up the surface tension of an oil slick and make oil more water-soluble. But the contents of some of these chemicals may be toxic to humans and wildlife, according to information newly released by the Environmental Protection Agency.
In this lesson from the California Academy of Sciences, students study the effects of pollution upon human health and consider how we can protect ourselves from the effects of carginogens. They build a lung model to learn how their lungs and diaphragm work to make them breathe. The lesson features a demonstration on how incomplete combustion of fossil fuels releases particles into the air that can harm humans.
Student teams use the engineering design process to create a useful product of their choice out of recyclable items and “trash.” The class is given a “landfill” of reusable items and allowed a limited amount of bonding materials. The activity addresses the importance of reuse and encourages students to look at ways they can reuse items they would normally throw away. Students are further prompted to consider the problems with growing landfills, and efforts by engineers and others to reduce pollution, emissions, and trash production.
The Aquatic Systems: Emerging Problems and Creative Solutions Institute, University of Florida, July 12-16, 2010, highlights significant research on Florida coastal and inland aquatic systems. Activities include field work and laboratory activities suitable for all classes. The course emphasizes contaminants that affect human and environmental health. Eligibility: Secondary School Science Teachers. Cost: $450. Application Deadline: Not stated, but early registration encouraged. Update to be announced Spring 2011.
In this lesson, students in grades 3-12 work in teams to analyze an “oil spill” in the classroom, then design, build, and test a system to first contain, and then remove the oil from the water. Students select from everyday items to build their oil containment and clean-up systems, evaluate the effectiveness of their solution and those of other teams, and present their findings to the class.
Student at Dallas’s independent Lakehill Preparatory School are enjoying their new $2.2 million Family Environmental Center, the Dallas Morning News reports. The idea for the center came from headmaster Roger Perry after he took noticed a swath of vacant land next to the school’s ball fields. The result is an impressive LEED standards complex that houses three science labs, a large meeting hall, and a retention pond. 
