Oppenhagen Column: Science in the Arctic North

I recently read a book titled “Fatal Passage,” which detailed the Arctic adventures of explorer John Rae in the 1800’s. Rae was an adventurer who mapped much of the Arctic Coast, discovered the
Northwest Passage, and uncovered what happened to the expedition of Sir John Franklin, a famous British explorer who disappeared while looking for the Northwest Passage.

In Rae’s day, communication between outposts took days, if not weeks, and was hampered by the weather. In 2009, even the Arctic Circle is connected to the rest of the world via the Internet. Good
news for me since I am writing today from Churchill, Canada, in the Arctic North.

I imagine your first question is how did I get here and why would I want to be here. I am here because of the generosity of Northrup Grumman. The company provided fellowships for several teachers to
attend an Earthwatch Expedition in the Arctic Circle. Earthwatch is an organization that supports scientific research to promote the creation and maintenance of a sustainable environment throughout the
world. I applied for one of the Northrup Grumman fellowships and became part of a scientific research study. The fellowship pays all costs except for transportation.  It’s the generosity of companies like
Northrup Grumman that enables teachers to pursue these passions that help us become the bridge between our students and “real science.”

I applied for a fellowship because I wanted to get back to the basics of science. I didn’t pick the Arctic investigation; rather, Earthwatch put together a group of teachers from Virginia, Maryland, the
District of Columbia, Illinois, and California who are interested in climate change and they chose this particular project for us. And this trip has been, for a science geek like me, the trip of a lifetime.

We are working with two researchers on their projects looking at the response of trees to climate and the response of permafrost to climate change. (Permafrost is land that has a temperature at or below
freezing for two or more years). Under Dr. Peter Kershaw from the University of Alberta, I’ve learned to use ground-penetrating radar (and what permafrost is). From his PhD candidate Steven Mamet, I’ve
learned how you can tell the health of spruce trees by studying their needles.

Being on this trip has been an once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. Scientific research isn’t the most glamorous work.  I have stood in a burned forest in near zero rainy weather holding an umbrella to
protect equipment; measured the length of thousands of spruce needles, restrapped snowshoes, soldered electronics and operated a drying machine.  Pete and Steve get the fun part of generating graphs
and charts, interpreting the data and then writing articles to publicize their findings.

This experience is what science is all about. It’s what I try to teach my students. Real science is nothing like classroom science — memorizing facts, doing activities, taking quizzes and then moving on
as quickly as possible. Real science is about asking a question, figuring out how to find the answer to that question, getting the information, and analyzing it. It takes more than an hour every other day. It
takes more than having students sit in chairs taking notes or filling out worksheets. It’s active learning: The scientist looks for the answer himself rather than having the answer given to him to speed the
process along.

The accommodations here are also an important part of the experience. We’re staying at the Churchill Northern Studies Center (CNSC) in Churchill, Canada.  The CNSC is a nonprofit organization that
provides a central gathering place for anyone researching the Arctic. At nearly any time of the day, we run into college students who are working on advanced degrees. They are passionate about their
work and will enthusiastically explain in detail what it’s about.

There is a need in our community and our country to produce students — citizens — who can think on their own. Science education provides the outline for teachers to fulfill that need.  Science education
provides students with the tools to look critically at issues and controversies — to dig deep to find the real question, to pull out the buried data, and to come up with their own informed opinion. Science
education provides our community with thinking citizens. Northrup Grumman, Earthwatch and the CNSC together have provided the resources for myself and nine other teachers to provide that kind of
science education. Thanks.

Denise Oppenhagen is a longtime resident of Prince William County and can be reached at .