As evidenced by blockbuster movies and even soft drink commercials, the polar regions and their animals have found a prominent place in popular culture. Yet misconceptions about these regions and their importance abound.

Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears is an online professional development magazine for elementary teachers which focuses on preparing teachers to teach polar science concepts in an already congested curriculum by integrating inquiry-based science with literacy teaching. Such an integrated approach can increase students' science knowledge, academic language, reading comprehension, and written and oral discourse abilities.

Science instruction in the elementary years has historically been limited or even omitted entirely. However, new NCLB-mandated testing in science will increase pressure on schools and teachers to devote time to quality science instruction. The intersection of mandated science testing, the International Polar Year, and a growing awareness of worldwide climate change makes Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears a timely and relevant undertaking.

Twenty thematic issues of the online magazine are planned, each of which will include standards-based science and content-rich literacy learning across five departments (In the Field: Scientists at Work, Professional Learning, Science and Literacy, Across the Curriculum, and Polar News and Notes). Engaging science activities, compelling images, rich text, and multimedia resources such as podcasts and videos will capture the interest of both students and teachers. Strategies for integrating technology, addressing misconceptions, and ensuring equity in the classroom are topics of emphasis.

In a time of observable and measurable climate change, it is vitally important to understand the science of the polar regions. Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears helps teachers go beyond a superficial understanding and foster deep, meaningful scientific understanding at a critical time - both in their students' development and the planet's well being.

Project Partners

An interdisciplinary team from Ohio State University (OSU), College of Education and Human Ecology; the Ohio Resource Center (ORC) for Mathematics, Science, and Reading; the Byrd Polar Research Center; COSI (Center for Science and Industry) Columbus; the Upper Arlington Public Library (UAPL); and the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) Core Integration team at Cornell University and University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) will work together to accomplish the goals of this project.

Nonpersonal Information Collected by the Project Web System

Our web servers automatically record general information on all users who browse the content of our site. These data collection systems gather:

• Your IP address
• The Internet domain for your Internet service, such as company.com or school.edu
• The type of connection you use to connect to the site (such as a modem or a local area network)
• The type and version of the browser you are using to access beyondpenguins.nsdl.org (such as Netscape 5.0 or Internet Explorer 6.0)
• The type and version of the operating system you use (such as Macintosh or Windows)
• The screen resolution and color depth of your monitor, as well as the size of your browser window
• What version of JavaScript is associated with your browser, whether Java is enabled, and whether cookies are supported
• Whether or not a page you are visiting is set as the home page on your browser
• The address of the previous site you were visiting, if you linked to beyondpenguins.nsdl.org from another site
• The pages you visit on the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears website and the files you download
• The date, time, and length of time of your visit

The logs are periodically summarized and analyzed to study site usage over time to help us improve the site's organization, performance, and usefulness. This information is only examined in the aggregate, not at the individual level.

Accessibility

We are committed to providing access to all individuals. To provide this information, this web site has been built to comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. The criteria for web-based technology and information are based on access guidelines developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium. Many of these provisions ensure access for people with vision impairments who rely on various assistive products to access computer-based information, such as screen readers, which translate what's on a computer screen into automated audible output, and refreshable Braille displays. NSDL strives to provide such access, comparable to that provided to individuals without disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on us.

Disclaimer

Material in these pages is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0733024. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears is not responsible for the content of any referenced web pages created by external parties. This project does not necessarily endorse the companies or organizations featured on these pages. Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears provides links to other web sites when, in our judgment, information residing on these sites would be helpful to elementary school teachers. We cannot assure that the content will remain the same. It is the responsibility of Internet users to make their own decisions about the accuracy, currency, and reliability of information found.

Address any questions about these or other policies to:

Kimberly Lightle, PhD
Principal Investigator
Director of Digital Libraries
College of Education and Human Ecology
Ohio State University
1929 Kenny Road
Columbus, OH 43210
(614) 688-3485
lightle.16@osu.edu