Lesson Plans & Activities

2024 Arctic sea ice summer minimum. The image depicts a satellite view of the Arctic where the sea ice is at a minimum during the summer as compared to the median extent that has been averaged from 1981 to 2010.

Arctic Sea Ice and Glaciers - Effects of Albedo

This Data Lens is a stand-alone lesson that is part of a larger collection of Data Lens lessons.
In this short activity, students will strengthen their critical thinking skills by carefully observing the data, forming ideas, and backing them up with evidence.

Lesson

Middle School

High School

Land Surface Temperature of the Americas in Fahrenheit

Land Surface Temperature - Arctic Blast

Lesson

Middle School

High School

Long-term Spatial Transformation of the Glacier Basin System text with tundra and glacier landscape in the background

PolarPASS Module 2: Long-term Spatial Transformations of the Glacier Basin System

Module 2 is designed to follow after Module 1. Instructors may choose to use Module 2 independently, but may want to consider some additional introductory materials if they are not beginning with Module 1.
Module 2 consists of four Units. The Units begin by exploring past ice margin retreat and processes of ice margin retreat and elevation change. The material then explores natural climate variability and anthropogenic forcings, and then examines potential future ice margin response to climate change.

Unit

Virtual field trip

University/College

A glacier with a rocky moraine in the foreground, showing ice covered partly by debris. At the bottom right, a small body of water is visible. Overlaid text reads: "Exploring the Glacier Basin System."

PolarPASS Module 1: Exploring the Glacier Basin System

This Module consists of five Units, walking students through an overview of the glacier basin system, exploring glacier mass balance, albedo, and surface melt, and looking inside and underneath the glacier.
This Module consists of five Units, walking students through an overview of the glacier basin system, exploring glacier mass balance, albedo, and surface melt, and looking inside and underneath the glacier. The Units also cover the transition from the glacier margin to land and system responses to climate change.

Unit

Virtual field trip

University/College

A QGIS interface showing a detailed map of Greenland. The map uses a color gradient to display ice sheet surface elevation, with darker blues in the lower coastal regions and lighter colors toward the higher central ice cap. The Processing Toolbox is open on the right side with the "Surface volume report" tool highlighted, and the Layers panel on the left lists various geospatial data sources. Toolbars with icons for navigation, editing, and analysis functions appear along the top of the screen

From Greenland to our Coasts: Exploring Sea Level Change with QGreenland

This unit consists of 3 lessons, each tied to NGSS life science standards
In this unit, students will explore how the Greenland Ice Sheet is changing and why that affects coastal communities worldwide. Students will view authentic Greenland geospatial data and learn how to create flood maps to assess local risk in QGIS.

Unit

Geospatial resource

High School

Out-of-school/Non-formal

Landscape shot of Greenland ice sheets in the background and rocks in the foreground. Two polar explorers stand on top of the rocks gazing out into the polar sheets.

Querying with QGreenland

These short, one-page tutorials are appropriate for beginner QGIS users. Users should have downloaded and opened both QGIS and the QGreenland project.
These quick, one-page tutorials teach you how to analyze QGreenland datasets with beginner-level geoprocessing tools.

Lesson

Geospatial resource

High School

University/College

Out-of-school/Non-formal

PolarPASS 360 IE Navigation Cover with man in orange shirt sitting on gray rocks with dark and rocky mountain in the background and blue sky

PolarPASS Interactive Environments

Using real data, diverse material types, and a range of activities, PolarPASS modules are designed to bring polar science and exploration to the classroom. PolarPASS modules link to Climate Literacy Principles and Polar Literacy Principles and are being tested in teaching models that include semester, quarter, and block teaching models.
Polar Space and Places, or PolarPASS, is connecting polar-focused material with innovative teaching methods to advance STEM undergraduate education and increase polar knowledge.

Unit

Virtual field trip

Geospatial resource

High School

University/College

Demonstrates an arctic food web with animals including ocean algae, zooplankton, polar cod, a seal colored gray, a bowhead whale colored black and white, a polar bear, and sea ice algae colored green. In the background is a yellow sun, light blue sky, and there is also White Sea ice which the polar bear is on and the sea ice algae is underneath.

Data Puzzle: Tracing Carbon Through the Arctic Food Web

This data puzzle is a stand-alone lesson that is part of a larger collection of data puzzles.

The Arctic is home to a huge variety of living things (humans included) that have adapted to harsh conditions. However, these conditions are changing as Arctic temperatures rise and sea ice declines. In this Data Puzzle, students trace the flow of carbon through the Arctic food web to construct explanatory models for the following question, "How might the decline in sea ice affect Arctic organisms large and small?"

Lesson

Data Puzzle Resource

Middle School

High School

Seen from the air the Polarstern floats alongside the MOSAiC ice floe

Introduction to the MOSAiC Expedition

Introduction to the MOSAiC Expedition is one of four activities in the The Drifting North Polar Planetarium Experience that invites students to explore what it was like to participate in the MOSAiC expedition to the North Pole.
In this activity, students will learn about the conditions in the Arctic and the scientists who study them through slides, audio podcast, and a worksheet. Learning will be guided with the driving questions: What is the Arctic? Who studies the Arctic? and Why should we care about the Arctic?

Lesson

Middle School

Student engaging with Polargram station at Fiske Planetarium wearing an orange snowsuit standing in front of a green screen

Drifting North Polar Planetarium

In this MS/HS lesson, students will be transported to the Arctic with the MOSAiC expedition, The Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Arctic Climate, in an immersive classroom and field trip experience.

Lesson

Unit

STEAM Activity

Middle School

High School

An open journal with writing and text across that says "Explore, Read the letters and get to know their authors"

Letters to the Arctic

Letters to the Arctic is one of four activities in the The Drifting North Polar Planetarium Experience that invites students to explore what it was like to participate in the MOSAiC expedition to the North Pole.
In this activity, students put themselves in the shoes of a scientist who works in a fragile and changing environment. Learning will be guided with the driving question: How do scientists feel about the places they study?

Lesson

Middle School

High School

Seasons and Light in the Arctic

Seasons and Light in the Arctic is one of four activities in the The Drifting North Polar Planetarium Experience that invites students to explore what it was like to participate in the MOSAiC expedition to the North Pole.
In this activity, student's will explore why we have seasons and changing daylight throughout the year by graphing different daylight hours around the world. Learning will be guided with the driving question: How do we understand the Arctic light and seasons?

Lesson

Middle School

High School

Sea Ice, The Character

Sea Ice, The Character is one of four activities in the The Drifting North Polar Planetarium Experience that invites students to explore what it was like to participate in the MOSAiC expedition to the North Pole.
In this activity, student's will compare and contrast the different structures of freshwater ice and seawater ice with a hands-on lab. Learning about what makes sea ice so unique in the Arctic will be guided by the driving questions: How does saltwater sea ice differ from freshwater ice? What is sea ice like in the Arctic? and Why is sea ice important in the Arctic?

Lesson

STEAM Activity

Middle School

High School

The Greenland Ice Sheet covers 79% of the surface of Greenland. Greenland is located north of Canada and the United States. Map credit: QGreenland

Data Puzzle: Balancing Act

This data puzzle is a stand-alone lesson that is part of a larger collection of data puzzles.
Since the early 2000s, the Greenland Ice Sheet’s mass balance has been consistently negative, meaning more mass is being lost than gained. But this change in mass balance hasn’t always happened at the same rate. What could account for observed changes to the amount of ice in the Greenland Ice Sheet in recent decades?

Lesson

Data Puzzle Resource

Geospatial resource

Middle School

High School

A Changing Arctic Ecosystem

This storyline unit consists of 8 lessons, each tied to NGSS life science standards
The Arctic is warming more rapidly than anywhere else on Earth. One consequence of a warming Arctic is a dramatic decline in sea ice, an important habitat for many Arctic plants and animals. In this unit students will engage with 360° virtual reality tours, hands-on labs, and authentic Arctic datasets as they gather evidence to construct explanatory models for the unit driving question, "How might the decline in sea ice affect Arctic organisms large and small?"

Unit

Middle School

High School

Flattened image of globe with colors ranging from white to yellow to orange to red showing changes in Celsius from 1950-2019. Darker the color is equal to a higher change in temperature.

Data Puzzle: On a Budget

This data puzzle is a stand-alone lesson that is part of a larger collection of data puzzles.
The Arctic is currently warming at a rate faster than the global average, a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification. In this Data Puzzle, students analyze authentic Arctic datasets to construct explanatory models for the following question, "Why might the Arctic be warming faster than other places on Earth?"

Lesson

Data Puzzle Resource

Middle School

High School

NASA photo showing Arctic sea ice minimum extent for each year from 1979 through 2019 with red line over image on faded graph showing decline in sea ice minimum.

Data Puzzle: To Reflect or Not to Reflect

This data puzzle is a stand-alone lesson that is part of a larger collection of data puzzles.
The color of Earth's surface determines how much of the Sun's energy is reflected or absorbed, where lighter-colored surfaces are more reflective (higher albedo). In this Data Puzzle, students analyze authentic Arctic data to construct explanatory models for the following question, "How might the Arctic’s albedo be affected by the observed decline in sea ice?"

Lesson

Data Puzzle Resource

Middle School

High School

MOSAiC scientist Gina Jozef poses with her drone on snow with giant ship in the background and a small white and red sled with a brown box behind her.

Data Puzzle: It's All Connected

This data puzzle is a stand-alone lesson that is part of a larger collection of data puzzles.
What makes the Arctic climate system so unique is the sea ice, which influences the Arctic climate in many ways. In this Data Puzzle, students analyze authentic Arctic data to construct explanatory models for the following question, "What effect, if any, do leads (cracks in the sea ice) have on the transfer of moisture between the Arctic Ocean and atmosphere?"

Lesson

Data Puzzle Resource

Middle School

High School

Antarctic Iceberg in McMurdo Sound with dark blue water surrounding it

Human Impacts on Climate Change: What will happen and what can we do about it?

This is the fifth lesson of a five-part curriculum about Antarctic physical environments and ecosystems.
In this lesson, students explore how human activities will continue to impact Antarctic ice, discuss human contributions to climate change, and investigate what we can do to stop/reverse these negative effects.

Lesson

High School

Long stretch of blue ice in East Antarctica with brown snow covered mountains in background and bright blue sky

Why does the ice melt on the “Frozen Continent”?

This is the fourth lesson of a five-part curriculum about Antarctic physical environments and ecosystems.
After exploring albedo in the previous lesson, this lesson expands on more factors that lead to surface ice melt in Antarctica.

Lesson

High School

Emperor penguin colony gathers tightly together on dark blue snow

Antarctic Life & Albedo

This is the third lesson of a five-part curriculum about Antarctic physical environments and ecosystems.
In this lesson, students explore the importance of albedo (or reflectivity) to penguins and the surfaces they inhabit and learn how penguin colonies may be mapped using satellites.

Lesson

High School

A group of seven penguins on an ice sheet with the dark ocean in the background

How does the changing climate impact the penguins around Antarctica?

This is the second lesson of a five-part curriculum about Antarctic physical environments and ecosystems.
In this lesson, students investigate the life history characteristics of different Antarctic penguin species and identify the changes that their populations have experienced.

Lesson

High School

What do we already know, or think we know, about climate & Antarctica?

This is the first lesson of a five-part curriculum about Antarctic physical environments and ecosystems.
In this lesson, students will elicit initial ideas about climate, explore images of Antarctica, learn important vocabulary, and synthesize how satellite imagery can help us understand climate change in Antarctica.

Lesson

High School

Antarctica: Connecting Climate Change, Melting Ice Shelves, and Pooping Penguins

This is a five-part curriculum about Antarctic environmental processes and building connections between ice shelves, surface melt, climate change - and penguins!
This is a five-part curriculum about Antarctic environmental processes and building connections between ice shelves, surface melt, climate change - and penguins!

Unit

High School

The Fram(a boat) with explorers and dogs standing in front of it from the National Library of Norway

VR Expedition: Explore the Arctic Aboard the Fram

This is part of a collection of VR experiences.
Take a virtual stroll through the Fram and learn all about Nansen and his crew's adventures in the Arctic with this virtual expedition. This is a stand-alone resource that is part of a MOSAiC VR collection.

Virtual field trip

Middle School

High School

University/College

Out-of-school/Non-formal

Polarstern and Fedorov frozen in the ice. Photo: Adelyn Arens

VR Expedition: MOSAiC Distributed Network

This is part of a collection of VR experiences.
Take a virtual tour of the MOSAiC Distributed Network, Fedorov, in this virtual experience. This is a stand-alone resource that is part of a MOSAiC VR collection

Virtual field trip

Elementary School

Middle School

High School

University/College

Out-of-school/Non-formal

MOSAiC Team in the Arctic standing in a semicircle surrounded by snow. Photo: Daniel Hamilton

VR Expedition: MOSAiC Ice Camp

This is part of a collection of VR experiences.
Take a virtual tour of the MOSAiC Ice Camp in this virtual experience. This is a stand-alone resource that is part of a MOSAiC VR collection.

Virtual field trip

Elementary School

Middle School

High School

University/College

Out-of-school/Non-formal

A graph of temperature anomalies with flattened map with red, orange, and yellow shades.

Arctic Feedbacks: Not All Warming Is Equal

This storyline unit consists of 10 lessons, each tied to NGSS Earth's systems standards
In this MS/HS unit, students engage with 360° virtual field trips, authentic Arctic datasets, and app-based labs to construct models and explanations for the unit driving question, "Why might the Arctic be warming four times as fast as the rest of the world?"

Unit

Virtual field trip

Middle School

High School

MOSAiC scientists drill through the Arctic ice with the research vessel Polarstern illuminated in the background.

Exploring the New and Old Arctic

This unit consists of 6 lessons, each tied to NGSS nature of science understandings
In this MS/HS unit, students compare and contrast Arctic expeditions of the past (1893-1896 Fram expedition) and the present (2019-2020 MOSAiC expedition) to prepare for the Arctic of the future.

Unit

Virtual field trip

Middle School

High School

A wide alpine landscape with snow-capped mountains in the distance under a cloudy sky. In the foreground, a rocky meadow with sparse patches of grass and a large flat rock is visible

Arctic Climate Connections

The Broader Impacts portion of the NSF proposal studies the analysis of existing data from Arctic terrestrial stations with multi-year measurements of the surface energy budget, clouds, soil temperature profiles, and basic meteorological measurements.
The Broader Impacts portion of the NSF proposal studies the analysis of existing data from Arctic terrestrial stations with multi-year measurements of the surface energy budget, clouds, soil temperature profiles, and basic meteorological measurements.

Unit

High School

A close up image of a grooved glacier in black and white

Exploring Arctic Climate Data

This is the third activity of a three-part curriculum about Arctic climate; the activities may be used independently or in sequence.
In this final activity, students use authentic Arctic climate data to explore albedo and its relationship to seasonal snowmelt as a self-reinforcing feedback mechanism, which is then applied to large scale global climate change.

Lesson

Middle School

High School

University/College

Two scientists in large red parkas kneeling on the ground working on scientific equipment in a snowy landscape while a cold wind whips snow up around them.

Do you really want to visit the Arctic?

This is the second activity of a three-part curriculum about Arctic climate; the activities may be used independently or in sequence.
This jigsaw activity introduces students with Arctic weather data using a role-playing activity that has students read and interpret graphs while considering the optimal time to plan a research mission to the Arctic.

Lesson

Middle School

High School

University/College

Alpine tundra vegetation with large boulder with snowy mountain range in the background

Exploring the Arctic

This is the first activity of a three-part curriculum about Arctic climate; the activities may be used independently or in sequence.
This activity introduces students to the Arctic and Arctic climate. Through a virtual exploration of the geography of the Arctic students become familiar with the region. They are then introduced to meteorological parameters that Arctic research teams use.

Lesson

STEAM Activity

Middle School

High School

University/College

Arial view of northern North America with red lines showing the Northwest Passage

Northwest Passage: Then and Now

Project EXTREMES lessons were written to be stand alone lessons but can be incorporated into a larger unit.
In this lesson, students learn about some of the early explorations of the Northwest Passage, and how the changing sea ice extent has prompted new explorations of this region to transport goods from one region of the Northern Hemisphere to another.

Lesson

Middle School

Gloved hand holding circular ice core with blue sky

Ice Core Demonstration: The Past is the Key to the Future

Project EXTREMES lessons were written to be stand alone lessons but can be incorporated into a larger unit.
This lesson has students explore how the gases trapped in ice cores over the last quarter of a century can be used to understand how Earth's atmosphere has changed in the past.

Lesson

Middle School

Lesson Plans & Activities

Lesson Plans & Activities

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