Polar Literacy

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The Polar Literacy Project

Formerly Polar Interdisciplinary Coordinated Education (Polar-ICE)

A program designed to connect scientists, educators, and students using data and research from the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

For many people, the Polar Regions remain distant locations, unconnected to their lives, and far from their daily concern.

This website aims to promote greater polar science literacy by providing an educational framework of concepts and resources to help:

  • Researchers improve the societal impact of their research and
  • Educators to promote teaching and learning about the Polar Regions.

Polar Literacy Initiative

An effort to define the big ideas the general public should know about the Polar Regions.

Polar Explorer Adventures

A collection of online activities, featuring Polar scientists and their research.

Polar Data Stories

Get your feet wet with polar data, via stories and some cool visualizations.

Bring the Ocean back to school in Fall 2023!

Welcome back educators and students!  Just a few quick reminders for resources you might be interested in as you plan the school year: 1. Order your "Explorers of the Deep" kits today! This STEM focused kit was developed by a team…

I.D. Antarctica 2023 – Week #2 Answer

We’re sorry for the delay in getting you an answer for the mystery fish. The last couple weeks at Palmer Station have been especially hectic!  The fish is a larval white-blooded icefish called Chionodraco rastrospinosus (or…

ReCharge Academy 2023 Professional Development

2023 RECHARGE ACADEMY July 31 – August 3 Stockton University - Atlantic City, NJ LEARN MORE & APPLY TODAY! The 2023 Academy returns our focus to offshore wind energy and wind technology as we return to the East Coast. It will be…

I.D. Antarctica 2023 – Week #2 Mystery Creature

Hello from Palmer Station, Antarctica!  We arrived to Palmer Station just in time to ring in the new year! One of the scientists found a giant rubber buoy floating in the ocean the day before New Years Eve, which is a…

I.D. Antarctica 2023 – Week #1 Answers

Hi everyone! We hope you enjoyed identifying this first round of mystery seabirds and zooplankton.  Mystery Seabird #1 The first sea bird is called a Cape petrel, or Daption capense. This might have been a tough ID because you…

I.D. Antarctica 2023 – Week #1 Mystery Creatures

Hello and welcome to Investigate and Discover (I.D.) Antarctica 2023! We are excited to share our Antarctic experiences and research this year with you all. After some exhausting travel by air and by sea, we arrived in Antarctica on 29…

2023 Palmer LTER Video Teleconferences with Scientists

Click to download the program flyer and VTC schedule. Educators: Sign-up now to join Polar Scientists on a research expedition to Antarctica We are currently recruiting 12-18 educators and their students (grades 5-9) to join the…

4-H STEM Challenge at the New York Aquarium

Join us for a professional development program at New York Aquarium on October 15, 2022.   We are very excited to invite 20 educators to participate in this exciting program.  All educators are invited to apply including classroom…

Join us for the 4-H STEM Challenge – professional development on August 10th

We're proud to launch the 2022 STEM Challenge in partnership with National 4-H. Explorers of the Deep includes three activities that can help young people develop observational and critical thinking skills while exploring…