Polar Science Weekend

 

Pacific Science Center
March 1-4, 2012

Build an igloo, snuggle into hooded cold-weather parkas, peek into tents used in polar research camps, take the salinity taste test and join a spectacular smashing ice demonstration as you meet and talk to polar researchers.

It's all part of Polar Science Weekend, returning to Pacific Science Center for the seventh straight year on March 1-4, 2012. Presented in partnership with the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory, students, families and guests of all ages will enjoy four action- packed days of hands-on activities, demonstrations, exhibits and more - all transporting you into the extreme environments of the Arctic and Antarctic. You will also meet polar scientists who work in some of the most remote and challenging places on earth.

Polar Science Weekend is included with price of general admission - FREE for Pacific Science Center members. Event hours are March 1-2: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. and March 3-4: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Polar Science Weekend is supported by a generous grant from NASA.

Are you a polar scientist? Register here to volunteer for Polar Science Weekend, March 1 - 4. This link is password protected; please have your password ready. If you need a password please contact researchweekends@pacsci.org.

Here's what we have planned:

DEMONSTRATIONS & PRESENTATIONS

Extreme Cold
Where is the Arctic Ocean? Who lives there? What is it like? Dr. Mike Steele will explore this and more with the help of liquid nitrogen.

Keep it Cool for Polar Bears
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium's Cathleen McConnell will talk about how polar bears are ideally suited to their Arctic home and how their Arctic habitat is changing.

Arctic Marine Mammals
Meet Kristin Laidre, a biologist who studies Arctic whales and polar bears. What is the narwhal's tusk for? Ask Kristin.

"Tools for Observation" with an Expeditionary Artist
Learn basic tools for observation and sketching, how art leads to scientific inquiry and how to draw polar animals with Expeditionary Artist Maria Coryell-Martin.

Adelie Penguins Slideshow
Explore Greenland's ice sheet and Antarctica's Adelie penguins through the lens of Chris Linder's polar expedition photography. Book signing.

POLAR ACTIVITIES

Exclusive IMAX Film Sneak Peek
A 30 min presentation with polar bear specialist Q&A and footage from To the Arctic, a new IMAX film that will open on April 20, 2012. There is no charge but tickets are required.

Worlds of Stone: Focus on the Poles of Mercury and the Asteroid Vesta Learn about Mercury and Vesta's poles in our planetarium. Tickets required.

Exploring Our Polar Regions through Science On a Sphere Introduction to the Arctic and Antarctic on a six-foot diameter sphere--sea ice, ice sheets, temperature, and more.

Investigating Arctic Ice Melt
Discover what local scientists are learning about climate change and the Arctic sea ice through images, videos, objects and hands-on activities.

Make a Polar Animal Bookmark
Make a 3-D bookmark and learn about the incredible animals of the arctic featured in the IMAX film Into the Arctic.

Build an Igloo
Grab your friends and build your own igloo

Make an Origami Penguin
Fold your favorite Antarctic animal.

Polar Bear Paws
Experience icy waters like a polar bear, with polar paws.

POLAR SCIENCE PASSPORT STATIONS

U.S. COAST GUARD
Learn about life on an icebreaker. Try on a survival suit!

SEEING WITH SOUND
Find out how NOAA creates new maps of water depth and help find some hidden underwater obstacles.

THE INFLUENCE OF POLAR SEAS ON THE GLOBAL OCEAN
Challenge your understanding of the deep oceans by exploring how temperature and salt influence ocean circulation.

PLANETS' MAGNETIC PERSONALITIES
Follow a particle through space along magnetic field lines.

CAREERS IN SCIENCE - SEATTLE MESA
Explore careers and opportunities at Seattle MESA.

CAREERS IN SCIENCE - MARS ROVER
Drive a robot through an obstacle course by looking at only the TV output from a camera on the robot.

DIATOM DIVERSITY
Discover the world of diatoms, a type of plankton with over 100,000 species.

FISHY FLUCTUATIONS
It's tough to be a small fish in a big ocean.

MICROBES RULE!
Nitrogen is an important part of our planet, especially in the ocean. Explore the nitrogen cycle in the Bering Sea.

AIR FLOW IN POLAR SNOW
Explore how air can move through snow but ends up trapped in solid ice.

WHERE IS THE POLAR FRONT?
Use a research ship or satellites to map the water temperature of the Southern Ocean.

POINT DEFIANCE ZOO & AQUARIUM
Learn how polar bears are impacted by global warming and what you can do to help protect these incredible animals. Check out a polar bear skull and pelt.

BELOW FREEZING: LOOKING FOR MICROBES IN THE COLDEST PLACES
Learn about astrobiology and what it has to do with ice.

ARCTIC SEALS AND DISAPPEARING ICE
Assemble a map puzzle and add your favorite Arctic animals. Solve the mystery of why ice is disappearing and offer solutions that you can implement.

BE A FUR SEAL RESEARCHER
Join the Seattle Aquarium staff to find out how scientists track fur seals.

SNOWBALL MATH
Find numbers and symbols among the snowballs to make a true equation!

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE - LIFE AS A DIATOM
Navigate your way through life as a tiny organism called a diatom.

IT CAME FROM THE ICE PLANET
Come find out how ice reflects light and heat and what happens when ice takes over the world.

SEA ICE THICKNESS FROM SPACE
See how a laser on a satellite high above the Earth measures the thickness of floating sea ice.

LIVING WITH PENGUINS - OUR FASCINATION & OUR IMPACT
How do you estimate the health of a wildlife population?

SEA ICE VS. FRESHWATER ICE
Feel the difference between salty ice and fresh ice. Watch what happens when colored dye is dropped on the ice.

GREENLAND ICE CORE
See a real core of ice from the Greenland ice sheet. Learn how scientists use ice cores to study Greenland and climate change.

EXPEDITIONARY ART
See paintings of the Polar Regions and talk to the artist Maria Coryell-Martin, who went there and painted them.

GLACIER FLOW
Watch a silly putty glacier ooze down a slope, measure its surface height change with a laser, and find out what happens when meltwater drains to the glacier bed.

INFRARED LIGHT - TAKING THE TEMPERATURE OF EARTH, MARS AND THE MOON
Use a thermal camera to explore the surface of Mars and the moon.

SEA ICE FROM SPACE
Draw where you think the sea ice is in the foggy Arctic, then use a satellite to help you find out where it actually exists.

WARMING UP THE ARCTIC OCEAN
The Arctic Ocean is warming.

WHERE DOES ARCTIC OCEANWATER COME FROM?
Water enters the Arctic Ocean from many sources.

MOVING SEA ICE
Wind moves sea ice across the Arctic Ocean. With less sea ice present during summer, the wind can drive the ocean directly instead of through the ice.

MICROBES UNDER ICE
Some tiny organisms live under the thick ice of glaciers.

DUST ON ANTARCTICA
Try making your own dust pattern spray across Antarctica.

SALINITY TASTE TEST
Can you taste the difference between the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans? Your tongue is an amazing salinometer. Come try it out.

POLAR SLIDESHOW
See what it's like to work in the Arctic and Antarctic and talk to a veteran of more than 30 polar field programs.

ARCTIC ICE CAMP
Visit the hut, check out the equipment, and try on the clothing!

SLED PULL
Put on the harness and pull the sled, just like polar explorers used to do!

NARWHAL MYSTERIES
Be a narwhal; migrate around Baffin Bay and explore your environment.

SATELLITE-TRACKED DRIFTER
Observe a satellite-tracked drifter that was used to research ocean currents in the Bering Sea. Watch videos of the drifter tracks from the Bering and Chukchi Seas.

POLAR SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY
Find out what a ULS and a CTD are. Check out a buoy that's deployed on the sea ice and watch how it drifts across the Arctic. Meet the underwater robot Seaglider.

OCEAN WATCHDOGS
How do you retrieve a 13,000-foot-long string of scientific instruments anchored to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean? Listen to the answer.