Arctic Ecology in West Michigan Classrooms

• Main Author: Liebig, Jennifer
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: ScholarWorks@GVSU 2012
• Subjects: Life Science; Social Science; Arctic; Tundra; Alaska
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/ssd/2012/posters/26

The Arctic Ecology Program (AEP) at GVSU is led by Professor Bob Hollister and includes both graduate and undergraduate students. Though the main emphasis of the AEP is on tundra research in northern Alaska, the program also participates in outreach activities in Michigan. Outreach activities are intended to educate students about science in general and the Arctic in particular. To evaluate the success of these efforts, a short test consisting of questions about students' knowledge of the Arctic and ideas about science is administered twice: both before and after the outreach event. An event taking place on February 20th 2012 at Great Lakes Elementary school in Holland, Michigan will use these assessment tools. Groups of third-grade students will be presented with a short photo-based lecture and participate in hands-on activities. We will use the pre-test and post-test to track changes in the students' knowledge about the Arctic and attitudes toward science.