For over a decade Blue Ice International, in association with NASA, ran a winter camp based in Lake Placid, New York for teachers across the United States – the primary goal was to bring winter science from the field to the classroom through a comprehensive “teacher as scientist” training camp.
H.O.W. – History of Winter Program
2001-2015 History of Winter (H.O.W.) – NASA/GSFC and Blue Ice International
The History of Winter (HOW) was a weeklong “teacher as scientist” Cryosphere- science focused field experience for elementary and secondary science teachers held annually in Lake Placid, NY - Northwood School in Lake Placid, New York was the host site for History of Winter (HOW) events. The school has a proud history of academic and athletic achievement. Northwood graduates have represented the United States in every Winter Olympics since 1968.
HOW utilized an experiential learning opportunity for teachers to connect firsthand with field research techniques common in the cryosphere sciences and used as ground validation for NASA satellite missions.
Education Enhancement - Teacher as Scientist
Teachers working alongside scientists, experience science inquiry firsthand, a benchmark experience on which they can build inquiry-based learning into their classroom. HOW teachers utilized research protocols, learn data organization and analysis, and the use of technology tools for fieldwork. HOW in-person instruction is supplemented by distance learning events, an array of online multimedia resources, and an online community project site.
HOW modeled science inquiry and technology integration and trains teachers in the use of 21st century technologies in the classroom. The emphasis is on how direct observation of snow and ice on Earth, in snow-packs and from lake ice cores, serves as ground validation for NASA satellite sensors and assists scientists in evaluating Climate Change.
History of Winter (HOW): Video Introduction
The History of Winter (HOW) program was comprised of a one week professional development/”teacher as scientist” cryosphere science training camp, held annually during mid February in Lake Placid, New York. Each year the NASA Goddard HOW program allowed teachers to understand winter in the Northern Hemisphere. The winter landscape is used as a “teacher” to better understand snow and ice processes and consequences of weather and climate at the micro and mesoscale. Snow in the air and on the ground, ice on Earth and in the Solar System, its crystal structure and axial orientation, and the ecosystem consequences of snow and ice constitute the week-long content package.
Learn more about the HOW Program
6 clips describing the many facets of the “teacher as scientist” professional training
Global Snowflake Network 4:33
Describes the Global Snowflake Network protocols: Snowflake shapes, and other visible snowflake characteristics indicate cloud processes (such as: accretion, agglomeration, and splintering of formed ice crystals), and are a proxy for conditions ( moisture and temperature) in the weather systems responsible for the snowfall.
Lake Ice Tells a Story 3:12
Lake ice cover is seasonal and occurs where average daily temperature is below the freezing point. Once formed the lake ice thickens over the course of the winter as the temperature gets colder. The lakes thermal structure prepares for ice with 0 degrees celsius water at the surface and denser 4 degrees celsius at the bottom. Once meteorologic conditions provide colder air, relative to warmer water, the water does not get colder – instead ice forms.
The Snowpit 2:23
The snowpit is a preferred method for visual hands-on analysis of the metamorphic changes in the snow cover. In an educational context, the students use field protocols to collect, analyze and interpet the data from the snowpit. Where snow is on the ground throughout the winter, the students address the history of winter as evidenced by the snowpack. Since the snowpack metamorphism is strongly dependent on the meteorological conditions – year to year studies are valid and extremely useful.
Thermochron Mission 4:44
During HOW 2007, as part of the launch of the Indigenous IPY, the HOW program provided Thermochrons and Global Snowflake collection techniques to the expeditions FINNMARK2007 and POLAR Husky GoNorth 2007. This was an inaugural field demonstration of the capabilities of continuous Thermochron monitoring of expedition temperature – demonstrating how otherwise inaccessible snowflake information of vital interest to NASA and others interested in the Polar region snow could be effectively and efficiently acquired. In addition, reindeer herder and Ph.D. student Inger Marie G. Eira was provided with Thermochrons and snowflake collection materials. She plans to incorporate the HOW techniques: thermochrons, snow pit observations, and snowflake identification protocols into her Ph.D. dissertation on snow changes, and reindeer pasturing.
Working with a Shallow Snowpit 3:36
How to work with a shallow snowpit when collecting samples.
The Case for Snow Studies 6:36
History of Winter – An case is made for the vital importance for the study of Snow and Ice.