BARROW, ALASKA — Well, it is midnight and even though I promised myself to go to bed earlier, I am not able to withstand the draw of the midnight sun. One more walk down to the pack ice to look for another group of Common Eiders, one more discussion about changing ocean salinity, one more look at bright blue skies and sunshine. How can I not?
I have really enjoyed the science talks at this workshop, from tracking bowhead whale populations, to using marine radars to follow ice moving offshore, to ocean ecosystems and their biological processes. In each Arctic Ocean research project talk, I see connections to investigations my students could do in the science lab. The data and the findings are inspirational for teaching young people about the Arctic Ocean.
We broke into small teams to take one concept from the research talks and create an investigation for students. In the picture below, George and I are working with Kindergarten teacher, Cristina Casillo, from Tikigaq School in Point Hope, Alaska. Point Hope is a native Inupiaq village with a population of over 900 people and located 158 miles southwest of Barrow. We are working to create an activity about Black Guillemot biology for our classrooms.