Annual Report for Dora Nelson
January 15, 2004 - January 15, 2005

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Field Experience

Were you in the field this season? Yes

Dates in the Field: March 15 - April 6 2004 and June 25 - Aug. 5 2004

Approximate Number of Student E-mails: 132

Approximate Number of Teacher E-mails: 5

Apporximate Number of Other E-mails: 25

Approximate Countries Represented: 1

Additional Comments: March-April 2004 was the follow-up for the first TEA trip (summer 2003). I returned to Barrow, Alaska as part of the HARC (Human Dimensions of Arctic Systems)project with the Aerosonde team (Jim Maslanik, University of Colorado-Boulder). The team was able to get in a lot of flying hours, more than in the previous summer. The science goals for this trip were to fly new sensing payloads on the Aerosonde and collect atmospheric data for NOAA and Univ. Colorado -Boulder:

sea ice mapping (elevation, gravity waves, thickness, temperature) ice surface temperatures concentration of atmospheric ice parcticles at different altitudes VIPS unit (video ice parcticle sensor) atmospheric mercury sensor digital video camera -- live feed infrared video camera -- live feed

I was invited to attend two other HARC-related meetings during this trip. The first was a planning workshop for the new BASC facility. Other teachers from the North Slope School District were there. The science teams are seeking input from teachers as to how to plan an "educationally friendly" research facility. The second meeting involved a gathering of Inupiat elders from across the North Slope and parts of Canada. They conduct an annual meeting to renew the twelve Inupiat values, and also to travel out onto the ice to check conditions for spring whaling, which will start in May. I was honored to be asked to come along as an observer. Each village representative had an interpreter, yet I was surprised at how easily they could communicate once they got out onto the ice.

My second trip, though not directly a TEA trip, was very definitely TEA in origin. BASC (Barrow Arctic Science Consortium) provided logistic support. My primary purpose was to design a water study for one of the freshwater lakes on the Barrow Environmental Observatory. The goal was to organize the project so that students from Hopson Middle School could continue the project during the year. One middle school teacher, Emily Roseberry, worked with me for 2 days in order to learn how to use the LaMotte water testing kits. I did not get to work with local students as none were available. But I do feel that Ms. Roseberry had a good idea of how she wanted to proceed with the project, and she quickly picked up the testing methods. Barrow HIgh School students (under the direction of TEA Tim Buckley) were doing some ice-augering sampling during the winter months. MIddle school students were supposed to test for nutrient levels, pH, temperature, etc. for as long as they could during the fall. The lake freezes solid in winter and spring. One goal of this project is to get a baseline profile of the lake characteristics. I hope that this project will continue as part of the SchoolYard Project, already established in Barrow by Dr. Jerry Brown. If I am able to return in the summer of 2005, I would like to have access to a small boat in order to take samples across the lake and at different depths.

During this trip I was also able to take 3 high school students from July 3-July 18. They paid for their airfare, and logistical support was provided by BASC. The students (3 girls -- 2 rising seniors, 1 2004 graduate) volunteered on various BASC projects, including the BEO Lake project. They assisted Anne Jensen, Science Specialist/Archaeologist for the Ukteagvik Inupiat Corporation, excavate gravesites that were in danger of falling into the Arctic Ocean due to erosion. They assisted graduate students from San Diego State University in gathering thaw-depth measurement data for Dr. Walt Oechel's carbon flux project, and they assisted Mat Seidensticker from the Owl Research Institute in Montana in trapping/counting lemmings as part of the snowy owl study. They also collected moss/lichen samples to take back to North Carolina. There are six arctic tardigrade species, and we were trying to find at least one of them in Barrow. Tardigrades are an important part of the research of the ATBI (All Taxa Biotic Inventory) that is currently going on in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. New species of tardigrades have been identified (new to the park and new to science). The students were investigating whether or not the same or similar species exist in the Barrow area as some areas of the Smokies/Appalachians are similar in habitat to tundra. Tardigrades also biomagnify heavy metals. While we do not have the equipment to measure heavy metal concentrations in tardigrades at our school, we are hoping that we can find someone at East Tennessee State University who can help us. Right now our samples are in storage in the lab. We are going to meet with Dr. Paul Bartels (Warren Wilson College) sometime in the spring and attempt to isolate tardigrades from the tundra mosses. All in all, the students had a great experience. They kept personal journals, but as a group they submitted a journal/email to the school community, parents, friends, and family. BASC is interested in having them come back again as volunteer assistants -- I am trying to work this out! What a great opportunity for them! They have to make a presentation to the school sometime this spring -- date TBA

Did you maintain a daily (or as often as possible) electronic journal while in the field? Yes

Is your journal complete? Yes

Continued Collaboration with Research Team Members

Type of Interaction / Outcomes / Dates / Locations / Parcticipants: HARC Project March/April 2004 Barrow, Alaska Parcticipants

Univ. Colorado-Boulder Jim Maslanik Mark Tschutte James Pinto

Aerosonde Brenda Mulac (formerly of CU) Daniel Fower Dennis Hipperson Brett Solanov

Purpose was continued atmospheric data collecting for NOAA and CU and to continue to build community-wide communication between scientists and Inupiat natives.

HARC June/August 2004 Barrow, Alaska Parcticipants

Jim Maslanik Glenn Sheehan Anne Sheehan

Student parcticipants were Hannah Sims, Cate McLean, Rachel Wood

This trip, again, was not directly related to TEA but the work with the students as volunteers was a direct outcome of the TEA experience. THe purpose/goal was to give students primary knowledge of field work as part of a research team. These parcticular students are going to continue their science studies at the university level.

Has a member of your research team visited your classroom in the last year? No

Transfer

How are you sharing your research experience with your colleagues, district, community, etc? Carolina Day School

presentations/projects with 3rd, 6th, 7th grades presentations/projects with AP Environmental Science class presentation at Alumni Weekend

TEA Collaborative Learning Group

Name: Andy Lammers

Active? No

Contact Hours: 7

Name: Rachel Ide

Active? Yes

Contact Hours: 10

Name: Bill Wolfe

Active? Yes

Contact Hours: 15

Name: Joe Kirstein

Active? Yes

Contact Hours: 10

Have you submitted your TEA Collaborative Learning Group Annual Report? N/A

Associates Network

Presentations and Real Audio Sessions

Presentation Date, Title, Number of Attendees, Etc. 2/10/04 Givens Estates Community Asheville NC 45 attendees Measuring Climate Change in the Arctic

5/15/04 Carolina Day School Alumni Weekend 12 attendees Sharing Polar Research with Students Across the Curriculum

7/29/04 Alaska Science Consortium (North Slope) 12 attendees Teachers and Scientists Working Together for the Benefit of Students (with Kimberly Davis, PISCES Project, San Diego State University)

7/310/4 Saturday SchoolYard, Ukteagvik Inupiat Consortium Science Division/NSF 15 attendees Teachers and Scientists Working Together for the Benefif of Students (with Kimberly Davis, PISCES Project, Sandiego State University)

10/15/04 Mississippi State University Research-Industry-Education Partnership 25 attendees, Miss. State Univ. Starkeville, MS Roundtable discussion about what makes outreach programs successful,using the TEA model as an example (with Amy Stoyles, TEA)

11/3/04 Southern Applachian Mineral Society Asheville, NC 36 attendees Unaami (Inupiat word for "connectedness" with the environment) general science presentation for lay audience

11/5/04 North Carolina Consortium of Independent Schools ("district" level), Providence Day School, Charlotte, NC Remote Sensing, Measuring Climate Change in the Arctic, Involving Students in the Research Experience 7 attendees

11/12/04 North Carolina Science Teachers Association (state level), Greensboro, NC 30 attendees Measuring Climate Change on the North Slope, Involving Students in the Research Experience

Have you presented to your local board of education this year? N/A

Activities Development

Title: Arctic Plant and Animal Adaptations

Description:
3rd Grade "Blubber is Better" -- the insulating properties of blubber; "How can a forest be only 6 inches tall?" -- plant adaptations to tundra conditions -- students examine samples of tundra lichens, moss, dwarf willows -- observe photos of arctic plants -- discuss adaptations to cold, intense sunlight, wind, permafrost; "What happens when the tundra warms?" temperature or nutrients (from decay) as the variable -- an experiment to test the results of warming on the size, density of plant life

Has this activity been submitted to the TEA Web Site? No

Title: Weather on the North Slope -- It's Getting Hot Up Here!

Description:
7th, 8th grade -- weather and climate; global warming -- students use data from the National Climatic Data Center and from the Aerosonde missions to construct graphs -- recent/realtime data is used as well as data from 1901 -- compare graphs of temperature,; graph variations in an air column

Has this activity been submitted to the TEA Web Site? No

Title: Using Remote Sensing to Document Climate Change

Description:
AP Environmental Science -- use Aerosonde ice mapping data to track polar ice retreat/thinning; use BAID IMS (Barrow Area Interactive Database Internet Map Server) to see changes in flora/fauna; use Aerosonde ice images to track changes in ice around Barrow -- compare changes in the ice to changes in bowhead whale migration patterns and timing

Has this activity been submitted to the TEA Web Site? No

Other Classroom Connections: I would love to get into other classrooms, both at my school and other schools. During the spring semester, my students will be working with younger students at Carolina Day to bring the importance of science application to the attention of these students.

Last spring I was asked to be on the selection committee for TREC -- a program similar to TEA and designed, I assume, to continue the TEA tradition when TEA comes to an end. Our (the committee's) assignment was to review TREC applications and the applications from research teams willing to take a teacher. We received the materials via email, had a week to review them, and then parcticipated in 2 teleconferences to discuss candidates and potential matches. I really enjoyed the experience, and working with the group was certainly a valuable experience. I was lucky to be in Barrow with one of the TREC teachers -- it was great because she was such an asset to the team, and I had a small part in recommending her for the assignment. It was gratifying to see things work out, and I hope to run in to her at some future point.

Have you submitted all press-related materials concerning your TEA experience to the TEA Archives? N/A

Have you submitted 20 digital images to the TEA Archive with electronic captions? N/A

Have you submitted 6-8 photos to the TEA Archive? N/A

Release Days

Number of Release Days Covered by School/District for TEA Program/Activities: 11

Dates: March 22 - April 5

Reasons for Release: field travel (one week was spring break -- March 15 - 19)

Approximate Daily Rate of Substitute and Number of Substitute Days: N/A

TEA Meetings Covered by School/District/Corporation

Names of Meetings: NCAIS, NCSTA, MsSTATE I-E Partnership

Dates: 10/15/04; 11/7/04; 11/12/04

Approximate Cost of Travel Expenses Covered: $700

Permanent Materials and Equipment Provided by Institution/Corporation/District for the TEA Program

Other Grants

Other Shared Costs

Travel funds for the HARC project are still available to me until 28 February 2005 -- my hope is to return to Barrow in Feb. OR to take one mentee to Boulder or Aerosonde Flight Facility in Virginia

Return to Barrow or Barrow area summer 2005 (again, not directly part of TEA, but carrying on the tradition!) -- good possibility of taking students

Planning to present at NSTA in 2006