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Hands-On Teacher Expedition to Antartica

Posted by Homeroom with Donna Posted on: 10/02/07

Hands-On Teacher Expedition to Antartica

What is an ecological footprint, and what is its impact? Will Gore-Tex really keep you warm, or should you bundle up in your goose down jacket? What is a cryoconite hole, and where can they be found? How can lichens be used as bio-indicators for atmospheric changes? These are just a few of the questions that educators Ruth, Amy, Ian, and Phil will be grappling with in a real-world context.

In the name of science, geography, and education, these four dynamic science educators from the UK have teamed together to conduct a six-week expedition to Antartica. During their travels, they will send back text and images regularly to their blogs and to the Fuchs Foundation website, who is sponsoring their trip. The Fuchs Foundation aims to inspire future generations by recreating in youth a quest for knowledge, excitement, and adventure by providing teachers with hands-on science and geography expedition experiences that are directly transferable to classroom teaching and learning.

While there, each teacher will be responsible for coordinating one project. Project topics include ecological footprints, distribution and characteristics of cryoconite hole on Union Glacier, understanding how humans survive extremely low temperatures, lichen collection and investigation, and microfauna of the Ellsworth Mountains.

Want to know more? Follow this link to their website.

To successfully complete the expedition, each teacher needs to raise 10,000 pounds (approximately $20,000). To find out more about how you can help these teachers achieve their mission, please click here.

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