Arctic Traverse in March: Call for Online Student and Classroom Participation

Call for Online Student and Classroom Participation SnowSTAR-2007: Alaska-Canada Barrenlands Traverse For further information, please go to: http://www.barrenlands.org Students across the circumpolar North and lower latitudes are invited to participate online in SnowSTAR-2007: Alaska-Canada Barrenlands Traverse. Five American and three Canadian scientists will travel by snowmobile across Alaska and Canada in March-April 2007. The 3,500-kilometer trip will follow the Arctic Circle for much of the route and will take the scientists to dozens of historic arctic locations, two remote diamond mines, and eleven villages. The goal of the trip is to "find" the Arctic by exploring the changing natural and human systems in the region, talking to the people who live in towns and villages along the route, and discovering what makes up the modern Arctic today. The scientists will also collect the first-ever comprehensive set of physical and chemical data on the snow cover of the Barrenlands, the vast expanse of tundra and taiga across the North American Arctic. In order to share the experience with school children across the region and beyond, the team will carry with them posters, photos, and greetings from one classroom to another. Hundreds of students from a wide range of grade levels throughout the U.S. and Canada have already signed up to follow the expedition. The team invites teachers and students to participate by tracking their progress on the website and classroom map displays, exchanging posters with other schools, incorporating northern topics into classroom activities, and scheduling classroom visits by the scientists themselves. For further information, including teacher instructions, options for classroom participation, and details on how to sign up for the expedition, please go to: http://www.barrenlands.org