Embedded Files
Slideshow Introduction
Slideshow Introduction
When we get the chance, we like to go to schools ourselves and teach students about how we research permafrost in Alaska and why it's important to do so. We start off the lesson with this slide show which introduces Dr. Evans along with her work. This slideshow is a great source of information and figures if you're looking for additional information that can be brought into your own presentation. The topics included range from defining what a hydrologist does, where water is stored on our planet, and most importantly how permafrost thaw is emitting more and more greenhouse gasses. Feel free to copy and modify as needed!
The slideshow is linked below:
Permafrost Thaw/ Soil Humidity
Permafrost Thaw/ Soil Humidity
In this full-lesson investigation, students learn about impacts of permafrost thaw using real case studies. They then carry out some mini activities looking at soil moisture (gardener soil probes work fine for this) and factors that impact permafrost thaw. Using the soil moisture probes is a great way to get the students outside and excited about science research methods.
Permafrost Case Studies
Permafrost Case Studies
Use these case studies to encourage students to dig deeper into the topic of permafrost thaw impact on the environment and on human populations. The case studies are set up as slides, with a photo followed by a description- they can be printed double-sided, and laminating is recommended. Cases range in thaw-related disasters from infrastructure damage to the revival of long-frozen microorganisms. Each card has 1-2 questions that the students can answer after reading the case study.
Permafrost Visualizations
Permafrost Visualizations
For high school classrooms we try to include more technical visualizations of permafrost and how it is changing. These few figures show data representing the gradual warming that has occurred over a few decades. We can use these graphs to predict the warming that may occur in the future. There are also figures showing the different types of permafrost, where it is located, and how the depth of permafrost affects its variance in temperature. This is a good way of introducing how researchers interpret data into easy-to-read graphs.
Hand out one or more of these figures to the students and have them try to interpret the graphs themselves. Once they have an idea of what each graph means, fill them in on the true meaning of the graph (given in the figure key)
Links to the figures and the key can be found below:
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