Frontiers North's distinctive “Buggy One” is once again rolling across the tundra during the fall polar bear migration, serving as a window into the polar bear's world. This year we're offering a mix of webcasts that focus on polar bears and climate change. They include live shots and video clips of bears on the tundra. These will be followed by daily updates from Churchill November 15th-26th, 2009.

We have completed our October webcasts. PLEASE RETURN ON NOVEMBER 4TH, 9TH, 10TH, AND 11TH AND CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR NEXT ROUND OF WEBCASTS. All are scheduled for 11 a.m. Central Standard Time, except for the November 4th webcast, which will be held from 12 to 1 p.m. During the webcasts, you will be able to ask questions and have them answered in real time by emailing us at rollingonthetundra@me.com. The schedule is below. And don't forget to return for the daily updates from the tundra, November 15th-26th!

November 2009 Webcasts — All held at 11 a.m. CST:

Wednesday, November 4th - "Polar Bears and Climate Change"
Monday, November 9th - "Global Impacts, Warning Signs, and Inherent Issues"
Tuesday, November 10th - "Conversations: Polar Bears, the Arctic, and Climate Change"
Wednesday, November 11th - "Taking Action, Making a Difference"

November Panelists Include:

• Facilitator, Julene Reed (St. George's Independent School, Apple Distinguished Educator, PBI Advisory Council, Dr. Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots Advisory Council)
  
• Dr. Andrew Derocher (University of Alberta, PBI Advisory Council)
  
• Dr. Don Moore (Smithsonian's National Zoo, PBI Advisory Council)
  
• Martyn Obbard, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
  
• Dr. Thomas S. Smith (Brigham Young University, PBI Advisory Council)
  
• Geoff York (WWF-Arctic Program, PBI Advisory Council)
  

In addition to the webcasts, live video conferences will be conducted from Buggy One to pre-arranged audiences in remote locations, including secondary schools, universities, and PBI Arctic Ambassador Center zoos. The outreach will also extend to business and community leaders and their staff members. As with the webcasts, these informative and educational sessions will be archived online.

We've prepared a Tundra Connections FAQ to help answer any questions you may have.

Lesson Plans

This is the second year that Julene Reed, an Apple Distinguished Educator and PBI Advisory Council member, has directed our Tundra Connections program. In addition to her volunteer work with PBI, Reed serves on the Advisory Council of Dr. Jane Goodall's Root & Shoots and is director of academic technology at St. George’s Independent School in Collierville, Tennessee.

To prepare for the fall sessions, Reed, with the assistance of Bill McClain, an environmental science teacher from St. George’s, created a comprehensive set of interdisciplinary lesson plans that integrate technology and 21st century skills—especially focusing on authentic learning experiences surrounding real-world problems. The lessons include pre- and post-broadcast activities, plus follow-up grading rubrics and assessment activities. At the end of the unit of study, students will be encouraged to formulate a solution and take action to solve the problem they have chosen to address.

The lessons are hosted by the Apple Learning Interchange and may accessed at the Tundra Connections learning module.They complement the Rolling on the Tundra module that Reed created last fall. The curriculum designed so that elementary educators can easily adapt the content.

PBI wishes to express our gratitude to our corporate sponsors, Frontiers North's Tundra Buggy Adventure, the Platinum Sponsor, and Parks Canada. We also wish to thank our educational partners, Dr. Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots and Immersion Learning.

Special thanks to Apple Inc. for their continued support of our educational outreach.