STUDENTS ON ICE is an award-winning organization offering unique learning expeditions to the Antarctic and the Arctic. Their mandate is to provide students from around the world with inspiring educational opportunities at the ends of our earth, and in doing so, help them foster a new understanding and respect for the planet.

Educational Philosophy
Students on Ice believe in providing students with unique educational experiences that will challenge the way in which they perceive the world. Their aim is not to simply provide students with a "trip" to a unique destination but rather to give students an opportunity to have an aesthetic experience in some of the most wild and awe-inspiring ecosystems in the world. They do not want students to just pass through a place with camera in hand, but rather to listen to the land; to 'feel' these natural places and in turn, explore how we as humans feel when immersed in such places. Ultimately, their goal is for students to experience a transformative connection with Nature - a connection that changes the way they understand and act in this world.

Educational Approach
Students on Ice approach to education weaves together elements of experiential, expeditionary, and problem-based learning. In starting with a very 'hands-on' approach, active participation and critical thinking are important elements in the SOI learning process. Through posing questions, experimenting and constructing meaning, the learning becomes personal, relational and exploratory in nature. Their expeditions become symbolic learning journeys from the initial development of ideas, to addressing problems and possible solutions, to final reflections. They recognize that the journey will be unique for each student, as will the manner in which each student effects positive change in his/her individual lives following the expedition.

Educational Theme: Environmental Leadership
Woven into all Students on Ice expeditions is the overarching theme: Environmental Leadership. The world is a global ecosystem in which all natural and human systems are interconnected. Humans are part of nature and bound by the laws of the natural world. However, in today's mechanistic, consumer-oriented world our lifestyles have led to a disconnection with nature. We are often unaware or apathetic to where our most basic needs come from - food, clothing, shelter. Our over consumptive practices have led to resource depletion, atmospheric pollution, diminishing biodiversity, and most commonly discussed in the media, climate change. As a global society, we need to move towards living more sustainably. Today's youth have the opportunity to lead the way.

From an environment perspective, they focus their expeditions' lectures, discussions, and activities on current environmental issues facing the regions they are traveling through. Climate change is a particular focus on all their expeditions.

From a leadership perspective, they will explore how youth are effective agents of change and how their efforts contribute to positive societal action. Youth have an opportunity to establish sustainable livelihoods and make informed ecological-based choices early in their lives. The choices they make have a ripple effect and the action youth takes does make a difference. In developing the leadership component of their expedition's theme they facilitate ongoing group discussions on ways to get involved in youth-based environmental initiatives upon returning home.

Their theme of "Environmental Leadership" weaves itself through their education program in conjunction with their ongoing exploration of the history, culture, general science, and politics of our place of travel.

Source: Students on Ice  

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A 15-year old local Scottsdale, Arizona girl, Alexandra Polasko, spent 2-1/2 weeks this past August on a Students on Ice expedition to the Arctic Circle. Now back at school she and two other students from the expedition are planning to hold a national conference, The American Green Youth Summit, in summer 2010 in Boulder, Colorado, bringing together two students from each state to learn about protecting the environment.

"The summit will be about students reaching out to other students," Polasko said.

Before the expedition, Polasko said she had a passion for the environment but did not feel connected to it. But after seeing polar bears and sea lions losing their homes and not knowing why, she said she saw how humans affect the environment.

"We are not simply passengers on the planet," Polasko said.

Her most dramtic experience came on the trip's fifth day when students in Zodiac boats in a fjord came upon a shelf of ice. They watched as a giant shelf crashed into the water.

"I felt as if the Earth...as if its arm was breaking off or its finger was breaking off...I could see the reduction in the ice; I could see the animals suffering; I could see the impact that was happening firsthand," Polasko said.

Source: Arizona Republic

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I'm so impressed that high school kids today actually want to go on educational expeditions like this to the Arctic Circle and Antarctic, instead of wanting to go to a more "FUN" vacation destination, or just wanting to lay around all summer. Growing up in Chicago my junior class trip was to California. All we cared about was getting a nice tan. Thank goodness these kids are WAKING UP.  

 We have have over 1000 Environmental based Experiments, labs and lesson plans 

for Teachers/Home Schoolers and their students. Search topics like Global Warming (of course), climate change, air pollution, science, ocean etc..

*The site is fun and easy to use

*You do not have to hassle with any login procedure

*Grade ranges are from K-12

*The site is 110% kid safe 

www.greenplanetsearch.com is also: 

*An environmental search engine with over 3000 sites indexed and adding more green sites daily (we are an actual search engine, this is not another Google custom search)

* Original Environment related News Aricles

*Green Website Awards for sites that deliver great content in a unique qnd captivating way

*Submit your Green Website feature

Below is a screenshot of our home page showing  the ECO LESSON PLAN ENGINE on the top of the page.

Directions for LESSON PLANS, go to www.greenplanetsearch.com on the top of the page it will say ECO SEARCH ENGINE.

On the right of that you will see the black which states "switch to eco lesson plans" Click It, then you will see it change to the ECO LESSON PLANS, type in your search and learn!!! 

More than 265 teenagers from 44 U.S. states and nine Canadian provinces will meet at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff this week to participate as finalists in North America's largest high-school environmental-education competition, the 2008 Canon Envirothon.

The Canon Envirothon is an annual competition in which winning state/provincial teams compete for recognition and scholarships by demonstrating their knowledge of environmental science and natural resource management. The teams, each consisting of five high school-aged students exercise their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

READ MORE

The first Flash Search Engine is an Environmental Search Engine!! http://www.greenplanetsearch.com is now live!

 When Mike Haney first presented the idea behind the technology behind

www.greenplanetsearch.com, he was laughed down. Virtually, of course. “Everyone can

dream,: scoffed one, erroneously.

A few people were intrigued. The combination of Haney’s vision of a Flash-driven search

engine, and the plan to create a dazzling environmental education resource, eventually

attracted a loose-knit corps of collaborators, most of whom have never met in person first

among them Andre Roussille, a French computer programmer, and now part owner of the

company.

The upshot from this collaboration, apart from the stunningly beautiful homepage, is the

only people involved in the creation of the search engine, is that the only people involved

in the development devoted environmentalists, who genuinely wish to disseminate good

information to students and educators.

Later, through a similar serendipity, Mr. Haney teamed up with a veteran journalist who

agreed to lend his services to the site, building from scratch a source of environmental

news and policy analysis.

Advertisers will be strictly vetted by the companies shareholders, limited to companies

that are making a meaningful contribution the planet’s health.

The final result, which was launched this week, is the culminating of thousands of

hours of work, and more than a few false starts.

It boasts easily navigable information, experiments, lesson plans, presented in an interactive and graphically enhanced format,

and has an exclusive global climate change resource section for teachers and kids.

If you would like more information about greenplanetsearch.com, or to schedule an

interview with Mike Haney, please call Mike Haney at 305.531.3746   or e-mail info@greenplanetsearch.com. 

Base philosophy,

If you imagine for a moment that the earth and everything on it was on a laboratory slide and that through a microscope you were conducting a study in the same way a biologist or other scientist might view microscopic organisms. Your objective was to understand the Symbiotic relationships of the organisms that you could see going about their complex interactions and life cycles.

It would become rapidly clear to you that the relationship between the dominant organisms (Humankind) and everything else was PARASITIC in nature, in other words :

A type of symbiosis where two (or more) organisms from different species live in close proximity to one another, in which one member depends on another for its nutrients, protection, and/or other life functions.

The dependent member (HUMANKIND, the parasite) benefits from the relationship while the other one (EARTH, the host) is harmed by it.

You would determine that at a finite point in time, the HOST would not be in a position to satisfy the needs of the PARASITE and the PARASITE would become extinct. We know this to be true, we extinguish tens of thousands of species every year, through soil erosion, deforestisation, global warming, pollution of Air, Sea, Earth and water.

We have to move to a more sympathetic Symbiotic relationship with our host organism.

A type of symbiosis where two (or more) organisms from different species live in close proximity to one another and rely on one another for nutrients, protection, or other life functions. Both (or all) of the organisms involved benefit from the relationship.

There are many, many ways to achieve this future state, BUT THE COMMON KEY IS THAT WE HAVE TO CHANGE OUR THINKING. WHAT WE THINK, DETERMINES OUR ACTIONS, OUR ACTIONS DETERMINE THE OUTCOME.

With our current actions the outcome is inevitable - EXTINCTION

Join the 11THHOURACTION movement and CHANGE YOUR THINKING

By June 30th, the federal government will make one of the most important decisions in conservation history. If it declares the polar bear to be an "endangered" species, the decision will set off an unprecedented worldwide discussion on global warming.

If the government refuses, desperately needed global action will again be delayed by U.S. stubbornness. Short-term corporate profits will continue to control political agendas and threaten life on earth. All of life on earth.

It will all happen -- or not -- by June 30th.

Make it happen. Sign our petition today and pass it on.

We need to generate 70,000 petition signatures in favor of polar bear protection by June 15th.

Together we can generate an unstoppable wave of public support for global warming action. Please sign our petition.

When I wrote the scientific petition to list the polar bear as an endangered species in 2005, I had no idea how important it would become to the battle against global warming. The decline of the polar bear has focused international attention on the real-world effects of catastrophic climate change.

I also didn't know we'd have to file suit -- twice -- just to get the Bush administration to agree to make a decision. But now it's committed to making one by June 30th, and we need your help to pull out all the stops.

Earlier this month, I testified before Congress about the plight of polar bears and what can be done right now to save them. Leaders in Congress are doing their part to pressure the Bush administration to listen to the scientists and do the right thing. You and your friends can add to that pressure by signing the petition.

Sincerely,

Kassie Siegel
Climate, Air and Energy Program Director
Center for Biological Diversity

PS: If you have trouble with the above hyperlinks, please copy and paste this directly into your browser:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1178

Major extinction events in Earth history occurred 440, 365, 245 and 208 million years ago. Then the last of the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago when a giant meteorite crashed onto the planet, ending the era of reptiles and beginning the era of mammals. This was the Cretaceous-Tertiary event, the fifth massive biological extinction of geological history. 

Now a sixth spasm has begun, this one a result of human activity.  Although not ushered in by cosmic violence, it is potentially as hellish as the earlier cataclysms. If left unabated, it could be the primary cause of extinction of a quarter of the species of plants and animals on the land by mid-century [1].

The United Nations Environment Program has identified 11,000 endangered plant and animal species. They include 1 in 4 mammalian species, 1 in 8 bird species, one third of amphibian species and 70% of the world’s assessed plant species.  All these appear on the Red List of endangered species.  The global extinction rate now exceeds the global species birthrate by a factor of a hundred. It is soon to be a factor of 1,000. These phenomena are unintended consequences of human ignorance and greed, two traits that also endanger our own species’ survival. If present trends of global warming and loss of habitat to deforestation, agriculture and urbanization continue unabated, half of all species of life on Earth will die out by 2100. This would constitute what has been termed the Holocene extinction event. From the Mahayana Buddhist point of view, this unnecessary, reversible trend is an immeasurable spiritual and biological loss. The Dalai Lama has written [2]:

We are facing the most massive wave of extinction in 65 million years.  This fact is profoundly frightening.  It must open our minds to the immense proportions of the crisis we face…This blue planet of ours is a delightful habitat.  Its life is our life; its future our future.  Indeed, the earth acts like a mother to us all.  Like children, we are dependent on her.  In the face of such global problems as the greenhouse effect, individual organizations and single nations are helpless. Unless we all work together, no solution can be found.  Our mother earth is teaching us a lesson in universal responsibility. [2]

1. Edward Wilson [2002] The Future of Life
2. HH Dalai Lama [2007] Collected Statements on Environment

Taken from: http://www.ecobuddhism.org/science.php?id=6 

One of the hottest new trends in ecotourism in observing sea turtles in their natural habitat.  To ensure that this travel encourages protection of endangered sea turtles, Ocean Conservancy has launched the SEE Turtles project.  By connecting travelers to sites where poaching and fishing threaten turtles, we will help to create alternatives for local residents and help to convince turtles are more valuable alive. 

 Through our site, www.seeturtles.org, you can find opportunities to take part in research and conservation efforts in Costa Rica, Baja California, and Trindad.  We are working with tour operators in each site who actively support conservation efforts, provide high quality service, and follow our best practice guidelines for turtle watching.

Sea turtles are among the most charismatic and endangered creatures on the ocean.  SEE Turtles is harnessing the power of tourism to ensure they are around for another 100 million years.

G.E.M. Technologies has a breakthrough energy that can change our world.

When we scale up our tests, we will be achieving much greater temperature differences and undeniable over unity. Our next scheduled test will be with three different volumes which will achieve the following temperatures and over unity.

Test 1: A total of 270 ml of ingredients (approximately 1 cup + 1 tbsp). This test will achieve 58.62 degrees Celsius or 137.52 degrees Fahrenheit. Our only deduction will be for the combustion of hydrogen at 0.312 degrees Celsius.

Test 2: A total of 540 ml of ingredients (approximately 2 cups + 2 tbsp). This test will achieve 117.24 degrees Celsius or 243.04 degrees Fahrenheit. Our only deduction will be for the combustion of hydrogen at 0.624 degrees Celsius.

The graphic tests above prove two things:

1. The first proof was the heat energy which was an outstanding 1400% and 1500% beyond that which we put into it.

2. The second proof was that this sustained for an entire week, seven days, with nothing else added.

So, the question is what do these MICRO TESTS prove to make an investor want to take a chance on us?

We know that 1-2 degrees Celsius is not going to save the world, even if that represents 2000% over unity. What we did prove is that there is electron excitation which produced the heat and sustained that for seven days. We used no electricity, we input nothing else into the flask, around the flask, or near the flask, we simply mixed ingredients. A MIRACLE IN A FLASK, the electrons were excited. Ask yourself why?

As we go up in volume, we will reach even greater electron excitation levels and heat levels. It is at this point that we will capture the world's attention.

We need a top notch team to finish our research, implement mechanical engineering, and build prototypes. Our testing will prove many things and will prove that we can eliminate carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, we can clean up all our polluted rivers, lakes, and streams, and we can provide a level of health never before seen on this planet.

"One day man will connect his apparatus to the very wheel work of the universe.The very forces that motivate the planets in their orbits and cause them to rotate will rotate his own machinery."

Dear 11th Hour Action,

www.Greenplanetsearch.com is filling it's search engine database with as many eco-friendly sites as possible, so we need your support in completing this worthwhile task. Any green website (especially those who incorporate learning) are desired. So give me an email at greenplanet.mike@yahoo.com

Your humble servant

Michael Haney

Founder

www.greenplanetsearch.com