Two Barrow teachers, Gary Boen and Imelda Cabana, were sent to the NSTA conference in St. Louis.

Science teachers in Barrow, Alaska, know that climate change is something their students can experience simply by stepping out into their own back yards. But that doesn’t mean teachers don’t need resources and materials to help them engage their students in climate studies. Last month, ACRF Education and Outreach sponsored two teachers from ACRF’s host community of Barrow to attend the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) 2007 National Conference in Saint Louis, Missouri. Imelda Cabana, from Eben Hopson Middle School, and Gary Boen, from Kiita Alternative School, were selected by the North Slope Borough School District to attend the conference.

ACRF Education and Outreach chose to support the teachers to attend the NSTA conference as part of its International Polar Year (IPY) outreach efforts. This year, the NSTA conference featured several symposiums and workshops on climate studies at the poles. Field experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and National Science Foundation (NSF) presented information about polar climate, how it is changing, and the potential impacts of those changes.

“The two seminars that I got the most out of were Polar Climates and The Fragile Ice. They were very relevant to what’s happening in my own back yard,” Boen said. “I learned a lot about what is causing sea ice to melt and also the major impacts of melting land ice. Barrow is at sea level, so even one meter in sea level rise will impact us.”

NSTA is an organization committed to promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning. It currently has a membership of more than 55,000 science teachers, science supervisors and scientists. NSTA conferences are recognized as high-quality professional development opportunities and excellent venues for collecting information and materials for use in the classroom.

As part of the Fragile Ice Symposiam, Gary Boen and Imelda Cabana attended a hands-on workshop on ice cores.

“I spent a whole afternoon just going through the exhibit hall,” Cabana said. “I picked up lots of free resources from the many booths that were promoting their educational resources, from books to CDs. I have a lot of things to share with other teachers in Barrow.”

One of the goals of the ARM Education and Outreach program is to promote awareness and understanding of climate studies in each of our host communities. This goal becomes especially important during the IPY as the Arctic region becomes one of the focal points of international scientific research. After attending the NSTA conference, Boen and Cabana said they plan to teach about IPY next school year.

“The NSTA conference was awesome. I am energized about IPY and have joined the discussion ranks,” Boen said. “I have two big bags of stuff that I got through the seminars and the exhibit hall that I’m still sifting through.”

Classroom tours of the ARM site in Barrow will be scheduled as follow up activities.