Integrate Polar Science and Literacy Into Your Teaching!

I'm involved with the MSP2 project here at Ohio State, but am also the Project Director for another NSF funded project called Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears. We produce issues of a free online magazine (cyberzine) at http://beyondpenguins.nsdl.org/ and a polar blog at http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/polar/.

Through this project, we hope to increase teachers' understanding of the polar regions and link this field of study to topics from the science curriculum. Although our primary audience is elementary (K-5) teachers, we've heard reports that middle and even high school teachers are using our materials in their classrooms and for their own professional growth.

Here are some of the ways that you can use Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears in the middle grades:

Develop your own science content knowledge with our monthly articles. Or consider common student misconceptions and discover tools for formative assessment in our monthly Misconceptions column.

Learn ways to put a fresh, real-world spin on your curriculum by using the polar regions as a context. For example, borrowing an Antarctic rock box from the Byrd Polar Research Center would certainly spice up a geology unit! Or use the (shrinking) polar ice caps to teach about albedo and reflection of solar energy. And of course, polar day and night and the extreme variation in sunlight are a perfect tie in for a unit on seasons. While our lessons and activities are selected for the elementary grades, many could be modified for students in the middle grades as well.

Need help dealing with the varied reading levels of your students? Integrating some instruction and practice with reading strategies may help. Our monthly literacy content knowledge articles provide the information you need to know about strategy instruction. We also offer science-themed informational text for students in each issue. You can choose from a variety of topics, grade levels, and formats - including electronic books with audio narration! Many of the grades 4-5 versions will be appropriate for middle school students as well as upper elementary students.

Want to expose your students to current scientific research? Each month, we profile a polar researcher and his or her work. While these articles are intended for teacher use, you can share information with your students or even have advanced readers use them independently.

Want to learn about polar science on the go? Download our podcast series and hear teaching suggestions, interviews with polar researchers, and much more!

We hope you'll check out Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears!