Published Nov 9, 2023 by Alaska Native News
Fifth graders, sleeping bags, campfires, s’mores. And science.
It all rolled in together, along with much more, in a NASA-supported education outreach program this year by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute’s Snow, Ice & Permafrost Group and others in the Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area. Other partners in the program included the KMTA Corridor Communities Association, which manages the area, the National Forest Service and the Fish & Wildlife Service.
The Geophysical Institute’s Snow, Ice & Permafrost Group used NASA grant funds to participate in KMTA’s Alaska Outdoor School in April and September, with sessions geared toward fifth graders. Sessions were generally three days each and held over two-week periods in spring and fall. The SIP Group plans to be involved again in spring 2024.
The Portage area is perfect for an education effort like KMTA’s Alaska Outdoor School, said Wesen, who has been with the SIP group for two years but has been involved with STEAM education — science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics — since mid-2017. She previously worked for the Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program.
Portage, she said, offers a variety of study subjects: glaciers, rivers, a glacial moraine lake and forest, for example.
Each session starts with two sleepover nights at the Portage Glacier visitor center. The sleepover nights are filled with campfires, s’mores and other fun activities.
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