An Interactive Expedition to Antarctica for San Diego Area K-12 Students

This November, local scientists from San Diego’s J. Craig Venter Institute will collaborate with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in a month-long research expedition to the Ross Sea in Antarctica.  The scientists will bore through the sea ice to study plankton, the microscopic plants which form the base of the Antarctic food web.  Despite their microscopic nature, polar marine plankton have an outsized effect on the global climate, absorbing and sequestering vast amounts of atmospheric CO2 before settling to the bottom of the ocean.  For San Diego area students in the biological and earth sciences, this expedition is an opportunity to experience the excitement of field research and interact with scientists as they conduct their work.  During times when the scientists aren’t busy with sampling and collections, educators and students can submit comments and questions on topics ranging from marine biology and genomics to climate change and life on the frozen continent. 

Classrooms and students can follow the expedition in a number of ways.  The scientists will post blogs of their field work and experiences in Antarctica, and classrooms can visit the blog sites at their own pace, or subscribe to updates using links supplied at the bottom of the blog page.  The expeditions will run from the first of November to the Thanksgiving holiday.  Comments and questions on particular entries can also be posted directly to the blog website.

To provide more immediacy, classrooms can also register with Twitter to receive shorter ‘micro-blogs’.  These short updates will be used as pointers to freshly posted images and text on the web, and will include links to educational materials on polar biology, climate change, and life in Antarctica.  Classrooms registered with Twitter will be able to post questions and comments directly to the researchers in the field.  To follow the micro-blogs on Twitter, CLICK HERE to register your classroom as a follower.

Lastly, direct questions can also be submitted to the expedition e-mail account: polarplankton@gmail.com

We look forward to hearing from you!