Inspiring the next generation of polar scientists: Classroom extensions from teachers with research experiences

Abstract

PolarTREC-Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating (PolarTREC) has provided the opportunity for over 160 K-12 teachers and informal science educators from the USA to work directly with scientists in the Arctic and the Antarctic. As a Teacher Research Experience (TRE), PolarTREC has engaged teachers with a unique professional development opportunity to increase their teacher content knowledge and learn about the polar regions by partnering with academic polar scientists who are conducting scientific research in the field. Stimulated by the IPY 2007–2008, PolarTREC has sent teachers on field expeditions for over a decade, and during that time has witnessed teachers not only experiencing the polar regions and bringing that experience back into their classrooms but also seeing their students learn more about the polar regions and become more interested in polar science. It is this secondary effect that is truly inspiring. This article profiles the journey to the polar regions of four PolarTREC teachers through their own perspectives and how they translated that experience into educational outreach opportunities.

Celebrating IPY Education, Outreach and Engagement – 10 years on

“…The Special Issue also includes two papers that indicate the significant value and attention that IPY EOC invested in teachers, as critical conduits to the next generation(s). Pound et al (2019, this issue) and Warburton, Hademenos, Eilers-Guttensohn, Garay, and Worssam (2019, this issue) present two of IPY’s flagship teacher immersion programmes, ANDRILL and PolarTrec, respectively. While ANDRILL was connected to a specific IPY science project focused on geological drilling, and PolarTrec matched teachers with a range of researchers across the Arctic and Antarctic, both of these programmes placed value on training teachers as researchers, and two-way transfer of expertise between scientists and teachers.…”