Polar Sciences Collection

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Arctic Atlas

Arctic Atlas

In this interactive atlas adapted from UNEP/GRID-Arendal, explore different environmental features of the Arctic. Select from a list of themes to customize your map, then zoom in to take a closer look at one of six featured regions. OER Level

6-12

Interactive

Arctic Climate Perspectives

Arctic Climate Perspectives

This video, adapted from material provided by the ECHO partners, describes how global climate change is affecting Barrow, Alaska. OER Level

6-9

Video

Arctic Climate System

Arctic Climate System

Learn how the Arctic is a part of a global climate system in this video segment adapted from the National Film Board of Canada. OER Level

6-12

Video

Arctic Haze

Arctic Haze

In this video segment adapted from KUAC, find out why the horizon in Alaska is sometimes shrouded in pollution and what it means for climate change in the Arctic. OER Level

6-12

Video

Changing Arctic Landscape

Changing Arctic Landscape

In this video adapted from the Arctic Athabaskan Council, learn how warmer temperatures in the Arctic are transforming the landscape, triggering a host of effects such as permafrost thawing and insect infestations. OER Level

6-12

Video

Climate Change

Climate Change

This video segment adapted from NOVA explains the difference between weather and climate and features groundbreaking analysis revealing that Earth's climate has changed much faster than previously believed.

6-12

Video

Contaminants in the Arctic Food Chain

Contaminants in the Arctic Food Chain

The levels of contaminants found in particular animals vary widely depending on where they fit into the Arctic food chain, as described in this video segment adapted from LOKE Films and the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme. OER Level

5-12

Video

Contaminants in the Arctic Human Population

Contaminants in the Arctic Human Population

In this video segment adapted from LOKE Films and the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, learn how human populations in the Arctic are affected by industrial contaminants in the food chain. OER Level

5-12

Video

Earth as a System

Earth as a System

This visualization adapted from NASA maps progressive global changes onto a rotating globe. Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere are shown to be dynamic and interconnected. OER Level

6-12

Video

Earth’s Albedo and Global Warming

Earth’s Albedo and Global Warming

In this interactive activity adapted from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, learn about Earth's albedo (the ratio of reflected vs. incident solar radiation), how pollution alters albedo, and how ice-albedo feedback may accelerate global warming. OER Level

6-12

Interactive

Earth's Cryosphere: Antarctica

Earth's Cryosphere: Antarctica

Learn about the different features of snow and ice in Antarctica using satellite imagery in this video segment adapted from NASA. OER Level

6-12

Video

Earth's Cryosphere: The Arctic

Earth's Cryosphere: The Arctic

In this video segment adapted from NASA, take a tour of the cryosphere in North America and the Arctic using satellite imagery. OER Level

6-12

Video

Earth System: Satellites

Earth System: Satellites

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center shows how integral satellites are to everyday life and describes the different types, including orbital and geostationary. OER Level

6-12

Video

Gallery of Auroras

Gallery of Auroras

View this stunning collection of auroral displays from NOVA Online to find out why auroras appear in different colors and shapes and whether they occur on other planets.

3-12

Interactive

Giving Rise to the Jet Stream

Giving Rise to the Jet Stream

This interactive activity from NOVA Online uses animation and graphics to offer a detailed explanation of the jet stream. A thorough account is given of the role played by the Sun's heat and Earth's shape and rotation, among other factors.

6-12

Interactive

Global Warming and The Greenhouse Effect

Global Warming and The Greenhouse Effect

This video excerpt from Race to Save the Planet discusses the greenhouse effect and global warming.

6-12

Video

Global Warming: Carbon Dioxide and the Greenhouse Effect

Global Warming: Carbon Dioxide and the Greenhouse Effect

This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE demonstrates the physical property of carbon dioxide that causes the greenhouse effect. OER Level

6-12

Video

Global Warming: Graphs Tell the Story

Global Warming: Graphs Tell the Story

Examine these graphs from the NOVA/ FRONTLINE Web site to see dramatic increases in the temperature of Earth's surface and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

6-12

Document

Global Warming: The Physics of the Greenhouse Effect

Global Warming: The Physics of the Greenhouse Effect

This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE examines the greenhouse effect, its role in keeping Earth habitable, and the industrial changes that have led to an increase in the planet's average temperature. OER Level

6-12

Video

Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2: A Record of Climate Change

Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2: A Record of Climate Change

Using images and graphs, this interactive resource illustrates scientists' efforts to study Earth's climatic history for the last 250,000 years by drilling into the Greenland Ice Sheet and examining ice cores. Adapted from the Wright Center for Science Education, Tufts University. OER Level

9-12

Interactive

A Hole in the Sky

A Hole in the Sky

This video segment adapted from Interactive NOVA profiles two scientists who were surprised in 1984 to discover a hole in our atmosphere's ozone layer as big as the United States.

6-12

Video

Inuit Observations of Climate Change

Inuit Observations of Climate Change

In this video adapted from the International Institute for Sustainable Development, an Inuit community collaborates with Western scientists studying climate change. Inuit observations are recorded and included in the data collection process, expanding the scientists' understanding of changes in the area. OER Level

6-12

Video

Melting Ice

Melting Ice

In this media-rich lesson, students explore the role that ice plays on Earth, the factors causing it to melt, and the local and global consequences of melting ice.

6-12

Lesson Plan

Observations of Climate Change

Observations of Climate Change

In this media-rich self-paced lesson, students learn how data gathered through surveys with local residents and data collected by remote satellites are complementary tools that help deepen our understanding of the effects of climate change in the Arctic and elsewhere.

6-12

Self-paced Lesson

Ozone Hole

Ozone Hole

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center gives a detailed explanation of the catalytic chemical process that has led to the creation of the ozone hole. OER Level

6-12

Video

Penguin Response to Climate Change

Penguin Response to Climate Change

Find out how climate change is affecting Antarctic Adélie penguins and their ecosystem in this video segment adapted from Lloyd Fales and Sweetspot Pictures, Inc. OER Level

6-12

Video

Polar Bears and Climate Change

Polar Bears and Climate Change

In this video from the World Wildlife Fund, learn how rising temperatures in the southern Arctic could lead to polar bear extinction.

6-12

Video

Satellites Orbiting Earth

Satellites Orbiting Earth

This animation adapted from NASA shows the orbital paths of spacecraft in NASA's Earth Observing Fleet that are a source of wide-scale, primary research about Earth. OER Level

3-12

Video

Solar Wind's Effect on Earth

Solar Wind's Effect on Earth

This video segment adapted from NASA describes solar storms and their effects on Earth. Animations of coronal mass ejections and solar cycles help explain what we know, and what we can predict, about solar activity. OER Level

3-12

Video

Stories in the Ice

Stories in the Ice

Take a journey back through time, using ice cores to learn about the Earth's climatic history. From the FRONTLINE/NOVA: "What's Up with the Weather?" Web site

9-12

Document

Taking the Earth's Temperature

Taking the Earth's Temperature

This video segment from FRONTLINE/NOVA: "What's Up with the Weather?" depicts research efforts to record Earth's past and present temperatures shifts. OER Level

9-12

Video

Water Vapor Circulation on Earth

Water Vapor Circulation on Earth

This simulation from the National Center for Atmospheric Research portrays annual patterns in water vapor and precipitation across the globe, illustrating general circulation patterns as well as seasonal and regional variation. OER Level

6-12

Video

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