Polar Outreach Catalogue

The Polar Open Forum for Junior High and High School Students was started in 2004 as part of IPY 2007?2008 as an outreach program by the SCJ and the NIPR to broaden interest in polar sciences among the next generation. The catchphrase of the forum was ?Arctic and Antarctic Proposals from School Students.? The forum had been held annually for five years. Implementation of the proposal was carried out by the Japanese Antarctic Research Expeditions (JAREs) overwintering at Syowa Station. The results of the experiments were reported to the students through an Intelsat TV conference system from Syowa, Antarctica, while the expedition members enjoyed conducting the experiment. This five-year outreach campaign was reviewed and this kind of activity for the younger generation was decided to be continued as a legacy of the IPY for the recruitment of polar scientists. The title of this campaign was renamed to the ?Contest on Antarctic and Arctic Science for Junior High and High School Students? and the event to honour and introduce proposals was named as the ?Junior Forum on Antarctic and Arctic for Junior High and High School Students?. A total of 128 proposals from 32 schools were submitted and a research proposal to study dreams of Antarctic expedition personnel won the first prize. The forum was held in mid-November 2009 at the NIPR, Tokyo with 120 participants, including 70 students.