# Presentation: 867526

##     ARM’s Climate Change Educational Outreach On the North Slope of Alaska

- Fairley J. Barnesa, Carrie E. Talusa, Laura K. Marsha, Marja Springera, Ronald H. Brower Sr.b, and Bernard Zakc
-  aLos Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM    bIñupiat Heritage Center, Barrow, AK    cSandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, NM

**Introduction**
- The Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Education Program is involved in climate change education in the communities hosting the ARM Project’s field sites.  Our goals are to increase awareness of basic science and increase critical thinking skills concerning climate change environmental science for K-12 students.  The program supports capacity building between teachers, students, scientists, and the community.  On the North Slope of Alaska (NSA), we focus on developing culturally responsive materials, since a firm

**Curricula and Science Standards for the North Slope**
- We are working in conjunction with the North Slope Borough School District and the Iñupiat History, Language, and Culture Commission on:

**Teacher Workshops**
- The ARM Education Program plans on conducting in-service trainings as requested by the North Slope Borough School District. In October 2001, we led a Teacher In-service for Barrow High School teachers.  An in-service day typically includes:
- •	Information on the ARM Project, why ARM scientists study global climate 		change, and the goals of the ARM Education Program.
- •	Teaching hands-on lessons to the teachers involving active participation and 		informational material.
- •	Field trip to the ARM Site to show what and how data are gathered and may 		include participation in a weather balloon launch.  Field trips may include the 		NWS and NOAA Sites as well.

**Community Meetings**
- Community meetings are an important way to introduce ARM to the NSA.  The ARM education team met with the Atqasuk community on October 2001 to:
- •	Get community input on what climate change phenomena have been observed 	locally, and which of these phenomena were felt to be the most important.
- •	Recognize other diverse knowledge systems to understand that 					combining western scientific knowledge with indigenous traditional knowledge 	expands social 	participation from the community and introduces new scientific 	perspectives, as well as rich traditional knowledge of the land.

**Elder Interview Classroom Projects**
- ARM is developing a program where local elders in NSA villages are invited into the science classes in order to share their knowledge of climate and weather with the students.  The purpose of this program is as follows:
- •	Traditional Iñupiat ways and knowledge will be brought 	into the 	classroom.
- •	Traditional knowledge gained from the classroom 		projects will be used to create interesting, locally 		oriented lessons on 	climate change for the schools 		and students of the North Slope.
** **

**Job Shadowing for North Slope Students**
- We hope to initiate and develop an annual job shadowing program in order to improve academic achievement and career development in local schools as well as to increase interest in community members and students in pursuing a career with ARM. The job shadowing will:
- •	Establish closer working relationships with local schools 		and educators.
- •	Introduce students to careers in the environmental 			sciences.

**ARM Education Update Newsletter**
- Information on education and outreach activities at all three sites: NSA, TWP, and SGP:
- •	Promotes and supports the ARM Project.
- •	Provides information and activities for teachers and students on climate studies.

**For more information see http://www.arm.gov/docs/education.html.  Or contact: ARM Education Program, Mail Stop J495, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545,  505-667-6782,  Fax 505-665-3866**

- grounding in the indigenous culture is fundamental to the development of culturally healthy students and communities. ARM’s work on the NSA also includes curriculum development, teacher enrichment, teacher workshops, an educational museum kiosk, a job shadowing program between students and the ARM technicians, and integrating climate information from all the ARM sites for classroom projects.

**Acknowledgements**
- We would like to thank the North Slope Borough, and the Iñupiat History, Language, and Culture Commission, Barrow, Alaska (IHLC) for permission to use photos from the Griest and Ahyakak photograph collections. Thank you also to Rhonda J. Robinson of Los Alamos National Laboratory, ESH-20 for her help in making this poster.

**Educational Kiosk on Climate Change in the North Slope**
- In collaboration with the Iñupiat Heritage Center (IHC), we are developing a

- Teachers at 2001 Workshop learning about Arctic Microclimates

- ARM Site Facility Manager Walter Brower giving teachers a tour of the ARM Site.

- Photo from IHLC Ahyakak photo collection.

- Dr. Bernie Zak speaking at the Atqasuk Community Meeting

- Some of the Atqasuk community participants at the 2001 meeting on Local Observations of Climate Change.

- Mr. Johnny Nayukok

- Mrs. Ruth Ivanoff

- Weather balloon launch overseen by ARM Chief Operator James Ivanoff

- Tour of the ARM Site.

**    ****ARM’s Climate Change Educational Outreach On the North Slope of Alaska**

- kiosk to present climate change issues through the the lenses of two cultures; giving both a Western scientific viewpoint and a traditional Iñupiat viewpoint. IHC plays an important role in the community.

- •	Updating the NSA Science Standards to 		integrate the subject of climate change.
- •	Creating lessons on climate change to fill in 		gaps in the 	curricula.

- Photo of seal hunter from the IHLC Giest photo collection, Barrow, AK.

- LA-UR-02-1518