Teachers Get to do Cool Science in the Arctic | Science News for Students

Bethany Brookshire, a staff writer for Science News for Students, just spent a week at Toolik Field Station in Arctic Alaska, during its brief and busy summer research season. Among the scientists at Toolik each year are people from the MBL Ecosystems Center, including Gus Shaver, who directs NSF's Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research site at Toolik. Brookshire's stay was supported by a fellowship from the MBL's Logan Science Journalism Program.

Here is the first of several stories Brookshire is reporting out about Arctic research and educational initiatives:

TOOLIK FIELD STATION, Alaska — Two teachers are sitting in a laboratory. Their dirty hands are buried in tussocks of grass. Each is having the time of her life.

Mary Richmond is a sixth grade science teacher at Cache LaPoudre Middle School in Laporte, Colo. Jolene McDowell teaches high school biology at Great Mills High School in Maryland. Each had scooped up the tussocks a day earlier, in a tundra research plot. These women have spent the past week engaged in science as part of the Research Experience for Teachers Program. Their site: the Toolik Field Station, only 188 kilometers (117 miles) south of the Arctic Ocean. Armed with research experience, these teachers are excited to head back to their classrooms in a few weeks. There each will share stories with her students about science in the Arctic. Read more of the article here...

Source: Teachers get to do cool science in the Arctic | Science News for Students