Current Projects
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Seasons: The Global Plant Waves 
The GLOBE Program is an international hands-on environmental science and education program that connects K-12 students, teachers and scientists around the world for research collaboration and cross-cultural enrichment. It is exciting to know that some Alaska teachers and students are participating in the GLOBE Program which involves more than 20,000 schools in more than 110 countries. Soon many more Alaska students will be contributing to a "global" picture of the health of the earth as they monitor their local environment.
* LTER researchers work with the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District to teach students about photosynthesis and phenology
The 'Seasons: The Global Plant Waves' project teaches school children about photosynthesis, budburst, green-up, and plant phenology. They are supplied with information and to use as reference and in the collection of their own data.
'Seasons and Biomes:'
A biome is a large geographic area of distinctive plant and animal groups that are adapted specifically for a particular environment. Biome type is determined by the climate and geography of a region. Through the GLOBE Seasons and Biomes project, students and teachers will have the opportunity to use GLOBE resources and support to conduct scientific inquiries in their local environments and biomes.
This project will contribute critically needed science measurements to validate satellite data used in research on regional climate change, prevention and management of diseases, and understanding of the water and carbon cycles. By monitoring the seasons in your biome, you will learn how interactions within the Earth system affect your local environment and how it in turn affects regional and global environments.
High School Science Research
Internship Partnership Program (HSSRIP)
- This project is a collaborative one with Alaska EPSCOR, IARC and SNRAS. High school students from rural Alaska come for six weeks in the summer to work on either an ongoing research project or work on a research project of their own, mentored by a scientist. At the end of the internship, students present on the projects they have been working on. The students are housed with the students in the Rural Alaska Honors Institute (RAHI) (http://www.uaf.edu/rahi/). The HSSRIP students area given certificates of accomplishment during the graduation ceremony of the RAHI students, by their science mentors.
Deadman's Slough Monitoring
* Ruth Kramer's 4th grade class at University Park Elementary School reports for Fall 2003.
We visited Deadman Slough behind our school every Friday last fall from August through October (2003). We collected student samples each visit which we then categorized into animal, plant, water quality, and soil as sampling techniques. We created journals and also did individual animal/fish reports. Lots of parents were involved helping us sample from the slough. We also put out animal traps in the slough which yielded 8 Alaskan Blackfish, 2 Burbot, triops crustaceans, dragonfly larvae, plus assorted insect nymphs. We had an aquarium from Fish and Wildlife set up in the commons of our school which we put all our fish and critters into as it was a cool circulating aquarium. We were also able to put logs, leaf litter, and plants into this aquarium and keep it running all winter.
Visit the following web site for more information about the study (including pictures).
Deadman's Slough Study 1999-2000
Exclosure Green-up and Green-down Monitoring
* Betty Connor's class at West Valley High School has been doing an exclosure project, mirroring Dr. Kieland's research; green-up and green-down monitoring for global changes over the last 6 years (since 1998?).
Intercoastal Invertabrate Monitoring
* Betty Connor's Marine biology class at West Valley High School has been participating in intercostal monitoring of invertebrates.
Joy School Temperatures
* Melanie Hinzman's 2nd Grade Class at Joy Elementary School did the following project over winter 2003-2004. It was submitted as a group project to the Science Fair at the school. It will be entered in the District Science Fair (2004).
Hypothesis:
We think that after it snows, the ground temperature will be warmer than the air temperature.
Procedure:
Approximately once a week, two different students measured the snow and ground temperatures with a Fahrenheit thermometer. We also recorded the air temperature. The snow depth was measured in an undisturbed area with a centimeter ruler. We wrote the temperatures in a notebook. Then we put the data on the computer and printed out graphs.
Summary:
Our temperature graph shows that before it snows, the air and ground temperatures are about the same. After it snows, there is a big difference between the air and ground temperatures. This is because the snow insulates the ground and acts like a blanket. We learned that the ground temperature is also warmer than the snow temperature for the same reason. Snow protects small animals from the cold. The temperature graph shows a spike in air temperature on Jan 26th. We think this is because the temperature sensor was in direct sunlight. The snow depth graph shows two drops, on January 9th and February 13th. This is because the snow settles.
Resources:
- Professor Larry Hinzman, UAF Water Resource Center
- Mrs. Melanie Hinzman, 2nd grade teacher
- Mrs. Kathie Mulkey, parent helper
- Bianchi, John & Frank B. Edwards, Snow 1992.
Tree Ring Study
* Schools that are participating in the Schoolyard LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) program are invited to become involved in a tree-ring study at their school or a nearby site. The key contact is Dr. Glenn Juday (gjuday@lter.uaf.edu).
The study will involve a class in the following activities:
1. permanently tagging trees (so we can relate each sample back to its location in the field and follow these trees in the future),
2. drilling trees with a tool called an increment borer,
3. gluing extracted wood cores to mounting sticks,
4. sanding the wood cores smooth
5. viewing the cores under a binocularscope
6. counting and marking the rings.
The cores will be measured at the University of Alaska Tree-Ring Lab, and classes can plot the data once they are available. The outdoor work of drilling the trees can be done as long as temperatures are above freezing or even slightly below. We would like to have about 10 good cores each from white spruce, black spruce, paper birch, and aspen from each locality. The tree-ring study is still worth doing if only 1 or 2 species are available at a site. We are trying to build a network of 10 or more new tree-ring sites across the Fairbanks-North Star Borough. School grounds are very good places to sample, as long as they have a reasonable chance to remain in tree cover. Otherwise, nearby natural resource properties (parks, managed forests, wildlife areas, etc.) are useable sites. Teachers should take the responsibility to get permission (if any is required) for tagging and coring trees. Background information about the minor impact of the coring on trees is available from Dr. Juday.
From this project we hope to learn the age and growth history of trees at local schools and other sites, the years of region-wide increases and decreases in tree growth, and the response of trees on different sites to recent changes in climate.
Past Projects
Tree Green-up Process
* Students from Mrs. Maynor's class at University Park Elementary school measured and watched the green-up process of 2 trees near the school. Both trees have been knocked down (presumably by snow machiners), and due to Mrs. Maynor's retirement, this project is no longer taking place.
Data Sources
Access Data
* Data collected by students can be obtained from the GLOBE web site.
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