Sand Creek Middle School teachers Hope Bigwarfe and Stacey Sebert attended and presented at the Polar ICE Summit at Moss Landing Marine Lab in Monterey, California, in March.
Polar ICE is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to address the seven Polar Literacy Principles (PLP) and how they fit into the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The Polar Literacy Initiative connects scientists with educators so that their research and data can be brought directly into the classroom for students to analyze.
The Polar ICE team consists of Rutgers University, California State University, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), Indiana University and Open Minds Media. Scientists and educators assisted from Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Byrd Center for Polar and Climate Research, The Ohio State University, Arctic Research Consortium of the US (ARCUS), and the Long-term Ecological Research Programs (LTER) – Palmer Station and McMurdo Dry Valleys.
The South Colonie teachers were two of only 22 educators from across the country invited to present at the Summit. Bigwarfe’s presentation was on the implementation of Polar ICE Data Stories using a Claims, Evidence, Reasoning format. Sebert’s presentation was on how Video Conferencing with Scientists Engages Students in Learning. Both teachers were able to show student work samples from the lessons created based off of the Polar ICE website, https://polar-ice.org/. For more information, please check out the web page.
Both teachers will continue to use Polar ICE lessons in their classroom and foster the connections made with the scientists with their upcoming projects.