HR: 0800h
AN: ED11A-0103    [Abstracts]
TI: Exploring Earth's Polar Regions Online at Windows to the Universe
AU: * Gardiner, L
EM: egardine@ucar.edu
AF: University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Office of Education and Outreach P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307, United States
AU: Johnson, R
EM: rmjohnsn@ucar.edu
AF: University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Office of Education and Outreach P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307, United States
AU: Russell, R
EM: rrussell@ucar.edu
AF: University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Office of Education and Outreach P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307, United States
AU: Genyuk, J
EM: jgenyuk@ucar.edu
AF: University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Office of Education and Outreach P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307, United States
AU: Bergman, J
EM: jenjoy@umich.edu
AF: University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Office of Education and Outreach P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307, United States
AU: LaGrave, M
EM: mlagrave@ucar.edu
AF: University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Office of Education and Outreach P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307, United States
AB: Earth's Polar Regions (www.windows.ucar.edu/polar.html), a new section of the Windows to the Universe Web site, made its debut in March 2007, at the start of International Polar Year. With this new online resource we seek to communicate information about the science, the history and cultures of the Arctic and Antarctic to students, teachers, and the general public. The Web section includes brief articles about diverse aspects of the science of polar regions including the cryosphere, climate change, geography, oceans, magnetic poles, the atmosphere, and ecology. Polar science topics link to related areas of the broader Web site as well. Other articles tell the stories of our human connections to the polar regions including the history of polar exploration and human cultures. Online "Postcards from the Field" allow contributing scientists to share their polar research with a broader audience. We continue to build content, games, puzzles, and interactives to complement and expand the existing resources. A new section about the poles of other planets is also in development. A growing collection of classroom activities which allow students to explore aspects of the polar regions is provided for K-12 educators. An image gallery of photographs from the polar regions and links to IPY and related educational programs provide additional resources for educators. We have been disseminating information about the Earth's Polar Regions Web resources to educators via National Science Teacher Association workshops, the Windows to the Universe educator newsletter, various education Listservs, and Climate Discovery courses offered through NCAR Online Education. Windows to the Universe (www.windows.ucar.edu), a long-standing and widely-used Web resource (with over 20 million user sessions in the past 12 months), provides extensive information about the Earth and space sciences at three levels - beginner, intermediate, and advanced - to serve the needs of upper elementary through lower undergraduate students as well as the general public. These resources are available in both English and Spanish. Funding for polar content development is provided by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the National Science Foundation, and NASA IPY.
UR: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/polar.html
DE: 0805 Elementary and secondary education
DE: 0815 Informal education
DE: 9310 Antarctica (4207)
DE: 9315 Arctic region (0718, 4207)
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting