National Standards
National Science Standards
Science
Science as Inquiry (12ASI)
Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
12ASI1.3 Use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications. A variety of technologies, such as hand tools, measuring instruments, and calculators, should be an integral component of scientific investigations. The use of computers for the collection, analysis, and display of data is also a part of this standard. Mathematics plays an essential role in all aspects of an inquiry. For example, measurement is used for posing questions, formulas are used for developing explanations, and charts and graphs are used for communicating results.
Understandings about scientific inquiry
12ASI2.3 Scientists rely on technology to enhance the gathering and manipulation of data. New techniques and tools provide new evidence to guide inquiry and new methods to gather data, thereby contributing to the advance of science. The accuracy and precision of the data, and therefore the quality of the exploration,
depends on the technology used.
Physical Science (12BPS)
Conservation of energy and the increase in disorder
12BPS5.4 Everything tends to become less organized and less orderly over time.
Thus, in all energy transfers, the overall effect is that the energy is spread out
uniformly.
Examples are the transfer of energy from hotter to cooler objects by conduction,
radiation, or convection and the warming of our surroundings when we burn fuels.
Science and Technology (12EST)
Understandings about science and technology
12EST2.2 Science often advances with the introduction of new technologies. Solving
technological problems often results in new scientific knowledge. New technologies
often extend the current levels of scientific understanding and introduce new areas
of research.
Science in Personal and Social Perspectives (12FSPSP)
Natural and human-induced hazards
12FSPSP5.3 Some hazards, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and severe weather, are rapid and spectacular. But there are slow and progressive changes that also result in problems for individuals and societies. For example, change in stream channel position, erosion of bridge foundations, sedimentation in lakes and harbors, coastal erosion, and continuing erosion and wasting of soil and landscapes can all negatively affect society.
Geography
The geographically informed person knows and understands...
Essential Element III. PHYSICAL SYSTEMS
Standard 7. The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface.
Technology
1. Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students:
d. identify trends and forecast possibilities.
3. Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students:
b. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.
d. process data and report results.
6. Technology Operations and Concepts Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students:
b. select and use applications effectively and productively.
Math
Data Analysis and Probability
Formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect, organize and display relevant data to answer them.
Develop and evaluate inferences and predictions that are based on data.
Alaska Standards
Science
A Science as Inquiry and Process
A student should understand and be able to apply the processes and applications of scientific inquiry.
A student who meets the content standard should:
3) develop an understanding that culture, local knowledge, history, and interaction with the environment contribute to the development of scientific knowledge, and local applications provide opportunity for understanding scientific concepts and global issues.
B Concepts of Physical Science
A student should understand and be able to apply the concepts, models, theories, universal principles, and facts that explain the physical world.
A student who meets the content standard should:
3) develop an understanding of the interactions between matter and energy, including physical, chemical, and nuclear changes, and the effects of these interactions on physical systems.
E Science and Technology
A student should understand the relationships among science, technology, and society.
A student who meets the content standard should:
1) develop an understanding of how scientific knowledge and technology are used in making decisions about issues, innovations, and responses to problems and everyday events;
Geography
B A student should be able to utilize, analyze, and explain information about the human and physical features of places and regions.
A student who meets the content standard should:
8) compare, contrast, and predict how places and regions change with time.
C A student should understand the dynamic and interactive natural forces that shape the Earth’s environments.
A student who meets the content standard should:
1) analyze the operation of the Earth’s physical systems, including ecosystems, climate systems, erosion systems, the water cycle, and tectonics; and
2) distinguish the functions, forces, and dynamics of the physical processes that cause variations in natural regions.
F A student should be able to use geography to understand the world by interpreting the past, knowing the present, and preparing for the future.
A student who meets the content standard should:
2) compare, contrast, and predict how places and regions change with time;
Technology
A A student should be able to operate technology-based tools.
A student who meets the content standard should:
2) use technological tools for learning, communications, and productivity;
C A student should be able to use technology to explore ideas, solve problems, and derive meaning.
A student who meets the content standard should:
1) use technology to observe, analyze, interpret, and draw conclusions;
Math
A A student should understand mathematical facts, concepts, principles, and theories.
A student who meets the content standard should:
4) represent, analyze, and use mathematical patterns, relations, and functions using methods such as tables, equations, and graphs; and
6) collect, organize, analyze, interpret, represent, and formulate questions about data and make reasonable and useful predictions about the certainty, uncertainty, or impossibility of an event.
B A student should be able to apply mathematical concepts and processes to situations within and outside of school.
A student who meets the content standard should:
1) explore problems and describe results using graphical, numerical, physical, algebraic, and verbal mathematical models or representations; and
3) use mathematics in other curriculum areas.
C A student should understand and be able to form and use appropriate methods to define and explain mathematical relationships.
A student who meets the content standard should:
1) express and represent mathematical ideas using oral and written
presentations, physical materials, pictures, graphs, charts, and algebraic expressions;
Lesson References
Yoshikawa, K., W. R. Bolton, V. E. Romanovsky, M. Fukuda, and
L. D. Hinzman (2002), Impacts of wildfire on the permafrost in the boreal
forests of Interior Alaska, J. Geophys. Res., 107, 8148,
doi:10.1029/2001JD000438, [printed 108(D1), 2003]. [ View PDF ]
Photo and Image Credits
"The Big Picture"
Image courtesy Merritt Turetsky
"NASA Albedo Map"
Image source: http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=3411
Useful Links
The International Arctic Research Center (IARC) has a page that explores the effects of a 2004 wildfire that burned north of Fairbanks, Alaska. http://www.iarc.uaf.edu/research/highlights/2009/effects_forest_fire_permafrost
Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research Site is one of 26 LTER Sites that represent diverse ecosystems and research emphases and is located near Fairbanks, Alaska. This page describes the major disturbance events that occur in Alaskan boreal forests including wildfires and thermokarsts. http://www.lter.uaf.edu/bnz_disturbance.cfm
Lesson 4: Graphing Albedo and Temperature Data