SEASIDE Calif., Mar. 15, 2018 – Nearly 100 Monterey County middle and high school students participated in the Student Polar Research Symposium Thursday, March 15, 2018 at the CSUMB University Center Ballroom.

The symposium is a culmination of the National Science Foundation-funded (NSF) Polar Interdisciplinary Coordinate Education (Polar-ICE) Science Investigations Project designed to connect scientists, educators and students using data from the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

Local Monterey County schools in attendance included San Antonio Elementary School and Chalone Peaks Middle School. Teachers from aforementioned schools began preparing for this project last summer with a week-long workshop at The Ohio State University. Their students then prepared scientific-style project proposals before conducting their own investigations using authentic polar data this past January.

The top groups presented their findings to a panel of scientific personnel from seven scientific institutions including the Naval Postgraduate School, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University.

This project was designed to help students experience and practice the skills of scientists: asking science questions, analyzing and interpreting data, and planning and implementing science investigations, which are all important objectives of the Next Generation Science Standards.