More Questions from the Classroom:  Day 5   

Are you going to be back tomorrow?  Hopefully another storm won't come in, and I'll be back with you on Wednesday.

What happened to the weather?  We had an Arctic storm that blew in.  It dumped a lot of snow and the pilots could not see well enough to land.  There should be pictures on the website for you to see. 

Do you like the friends you've made in Alaska?  Yes, I have made many friends in Alaska.  They consist of scientists, teachers, and the local people.

Do earthquakes happen a lot in Alaska?  Yes, they do have many earthquakes.  Remember the plates on the earth's crust we talked about in the beginning of the year?  Well there's one of these tectonic plates that runs through Anchorage, Alaska.

Do you think you will be in Alaska for one more week?  At this point, I should be back at school on Wednesday and not here for another week.

Can you describe how the caribou look? The caribou look similar to reindeer. 

What do you mean when you wrote "the river winds for miles over the land?"  I meant you can see it zig-zag or it has many curves like a side winder snake when it slithers across the ground.

How long can the aerosonde plane go?  Can it go longer than 7 1/2 hours?  The plane flew from the east coast of the United States across the Atlantic Ocean and into Scotland.  It can stay up in the air for 32 hours.

Have you taught any classes in the arctic? No, I haven't had the opportunity or time .

How old are the other scientists?  They are all different ages from early twenties to probably in their sixties.

What is a baleen?  Baleen is a type of fringe that hangs in baleen whales mouths.  Baleen whales have baleen instead of teeth.   These whales use the baleen to trap their food in their mouths so they can eat it.

What do you eat up there?  There is a kitchen at the science research facility.  We have not been lacking food. At breakfast, we can have anything from hot or cold cereals to special order omelets with sides like hash browns, bacon, and sausage.  For lunch we've had hamburgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, and other lunch fare. Dinner has included chicken  marsala, steak, spaghetti and meatballs with marinara sauce, and tonight we're having herbed chicken.

Are you looking forward to going further out on the frozen ocean?   We are hoping to today, but we need to have someone go with us in case we encounter a polar bear.

Will it get any colder than it is right now?   Today is the coldest morning so far.  It was 40 degrees below zero when we went to breakfast at 8:00A.M.

Have you felt the cold water yet?   No, I haven't because it's frozen.

What kind of science have you learned?  I've learned more about our atmosphere, the climate here in the Arctic, archeology of the Barrow area, and  More.  It's fascinating talking with the scientists up here.  We're learning new facts all the time.  

Have you seen a whale yet?  No, we have not seen a whale.  The ocean is still frozen.

What was the big bone you and Sally were standing in front of outside  the museum?   The big bone is the jaw bone of a Bowhead Whale. 

Do the schools in Barrow have one playground inside and one playground outside?     Yes, however the students can't play on the playground outside because it is too cold right now. 

Do Alaskans speak their own language? Most Alaskans speak English.  The local people up here speak English and their native Inupiat language.  The children even have a class to study their Inupiat language. 

When are you coming back?  We all miss you.  Do you miss us?  I will be back at school on Monday.  I miss you too.  Please practice the "Oh Susannah" square dance I taught you   before I left, so you can perform it for the Pioneer Performance on Thursday!  We'll practice some more on  Monday when I'm back at school.

Do you get to do math with your research?  Yes, when we take measurements of how deep the snow is in different areas.  We measure the snow depth in centimeters.

What kind of snack did you get at the snack bar?   We bought Irish Coffee Lattes.

When the Inupiat Eskimos kill the whales, do you feel sad?  Or, do you think it is the best thing to do for survival?   It is sad to think that animals have to die, but they need the whales to survive.  The people can only kill a  certain amount of whales, so nothing is wasted.  They respect the things in nature.

Is it hard to climb on the eddy tower?  Is it dangerous?  It's hard to climb the eddy tower because the metal steps are narrow and you have to reach high to step on each  rung.  Plus we have to wear big, thick boots that make it awkward to find your footing. 

Can any of your partners play an instrument?   Henry said he plays guitar.  We're hoping he plays tonight.

Have you been in a classroom when they were teaching?  If so, what was it like?  Yes, when we went into a classroom at the small village of Atqasuk, the 4th and 5th graders were studying  about owl pellets.  Owl pellets are what owls leave behind after they eat rodents and bird.  They are little round   balls of fur, feathers, and bone.  The students were picking the pellets apart and separating the bones.

How many kids go to the school in Barrow?  I'm not sure of the total amount of students in Barrow, but each class has about 15 students in them.

 More Questions from the Classroom:  Day 3

Is the Eskimo channel the only one you get? Actually, we haven’t had time to watch TV at all, but Steve, our resident expert on almost everything, says they have Dish Network and cable – lots of choices!

Where does the energy come from to heat the research station?  What happens if you lose power?             The research station is heated with natural gas from the local well built in 1947 by the US Navy.   Losing power is not any more of a big deal than anywhere else because it would take awhile for the buildings to cool down enough to be harmful to us – and everyone has many warm clothes they could put on if a power outage lasted very long. 

What kind of food do you eat and how does it get there?  Have you eaten any "Eskimo" foods? (Are you eating your vegetables?)   We’ve been eating most every meal in the cafeteria in the research station.  The cooks are fantastic and I’m getting chubbier every day.  We did “eat out” at a local Mexican restaurant on “Taco Tuesday”.  The food was quite authentic!  Canned and packaged foods are shipped in from the south from time to time.   The fresh, refrigerated and frozen foods are flown in regularly.  We’ve never been without fresh fruits and vegetables, just like at home.  I’ve been amazed!  And, thank you for worrying about me – Yes, I’ve been eating lots of them!

How long could a person stay outside in shorts and a T-shirt before freezing?  At -40 degrees, which is what it’s been much of the time, the maximum time for most people to stay outside that way safely would be only 20 minutes.  After that, the skin on your arms, legs, hands and feet would start to freeze and shortly permanent damage would be done to the other parts of your body.

Is it harder to breathe up there when you're outside? The coldness often takes your breath away when you go outside for the first time, but after awhile, you do get used to it.

What do you do in case of a medical emergency?  Is there a hospital nearby? (Don't test this one!) I don’t intend to test it, but just in case I get hurt, there is a hospital in town.  Phew!

What's an argon tank used for?  It’s a tank filled with an inert chemical gas that is used to move other chemicals through the tubing of sensors.  Steve, the guy in the picture, uses it in his research for moving mercury through mercury gas sensors.  He’s researching mercury levels in the snow.

How can you tell where the land ends and the ocean begins under all that snow and ice? You taste the snow and if it’s salty, you’re over the ocean.  That’s because the salt moves up from the sea ice along the edges of the snow crystals.  If you’re over land, there’s no ice underneath and, of course, no salt in the snow.

Do you like Alaska enough to live there? (The correct  answer is no!)  Alaska is an amazing place – VERY UNIQUE!!, but I don’t think I could live here full time.  I’d love to come back here in the Springtime, though, and see all the little wildflowers growing on the tundra.  I’d also like to explore other areas of this glorious state sometime.

How often do you go outside and do you have to limit the time due to the cold? We go in and out all the time, mostly from car to building and back on the days we’re visiting schools, etc.  We’ve spent two days outside for a few hours at a time and we’re finding that it’s quite do-able if you dress in the right clothes and you know how to get inside and get warm if you start to get numb – especially in your hands and feet.  We made great use of hand and foot warmers today which helped us actually be quite comfortable in -32 degree weather.

Is the Aerosonde plane the remote controlled one you were talking about?  What if the batteries fail?       Yes, the Aerosonde plane is the remote controlled one in the pictures.  It has a generator and if the generator fails, they use batteries to power the plane.  Hopefully, the batteries don’t fail!!  It’s a researcher plane that flies with no pilot.  It can carry various types of science test equipment and cameras. The plane can fly for 30 hours and cover about 2,000 miles and they communicate with it via radio or satellite.  It was designed by an Australian company and the people who work for Aerosonde travel all over the world gathering science data for many different researchers.

How come cameras don't "freeze up" in the cold?  Do you need a flash? Our camera has, in fact, “frozen up” many times.  But, today we learned a new trick.  We used our “hand warmers” (these nifty little packets you put inside your gloves that give off heat) to keep our camera warm when we weren’t using it and it kept right on going all day!  The snow is very bright and it’s been very sunny – We only use a flash indoors.

More Questions from the Classroom:  Day 2

About how thick is the snow and the snow on the Arctic Ocean?   According to our measurements yesterday, the snow on the tundra is between 14 and 36 cm.   Out on the Arctic Ocean the snow depth is about 10cm.  The ice on the Arctic Ocean is about 6 feet  thick.

Have you seen any polar bears or other interesting animals? Yes, we've seen about eight caribou digging in the snow to eat lichen (low growing plants).

Has the temperature risen or fallen since you've been in Alaska?  The temperature rose a little bit, and then it fell a lot.  On Monday the temperature ranged from  -6 to -18 degrees Fahrenheit.  On Tuesday the range was from -10 to -19 degrees Fahrenheit.  Today has been the coldest day so far.  We don't have the final information on temperature today, but  The highest temperature so far has been -17 degrees Fahrenheit.

Do you like being in Alaska?   Even though Alaska is very cold, we are enjoying the experience of being in Alaska.   It has been exciting watching and doing science research with the scientists and discovering new things about this most northern community on our continent. 

Do you get to drive the snowmobile a lot?   No, we only had the opportunity one day to ride a snowmobile.

Have you made any friends?   Yes, we are meeting people from all over the world.  There are scientists from Australia, Norway,  New Zealand, Canada, and from many places in the United States.  It is interesting to hear of all of the research they do around the world and how they live in the countries they come from. 

How do you do your research?  What kind of information are you collecting?   To answer these questions look at our journals from Day 2. 

What is the eddy tower?  What does it do?   It is a tower that holds the instruments that collect the CO2 and water vapor data for our research.  Also, see Day 2 Teacher Journals.

How many people do you work with?   There are three of us working together right now; Kim Davis (scientist), Mrs. Sally Fox (5th grade Teacher at Lake Elementary), and Miss Cece Vevoda (3rd grade teacher at Empresa Elementary).

What has been your favorite experience so far?   Our favorite experience so far has been talking with the scientists and learning the many fascinating  things they know about our world. 

Have you gone onto the frozen ocean?  Is it dangerous?   On Monday we walked a little way on the Arctic Ocean.  We plan on going out further on Friday.   The ice is so thick that it is not dangerous to walk on right now. 

If the sun is out, why is it so cold?   It gets colder here when the sun comes back.  The sun is hitting white snow, so the rays from the sun is bouncing  back.  There are no dark areas for the sun to absorb.

A papoose is a baby that is from the arctic.  Have you seen any?   We have seen some babies.  They are not carried in a cradleboard on the back.  Today women  carry their babies bundled on the back of their parkas. 

What is the thing you are climbing on in the Day 2 photos?   The thing we're climbing on in Day 2 is the eddy tower.

Which day has been the coldest so far?   Today (Wednesday) is the coldest day so far.

Questions from the Classroom: Day 1

How cold is it?  It was 17 degrees below zero during the day. 

What do you see? Barrow is a small city with 4,900 people. The buildings are small, mostly one  story.  There are no mountains nearby, so all we see is snow for miles.   The Arctic Ocean is still frozen as are lakes around here.  I was told  then ice melts on the ocean and the lakes, so the  people can see the water in  the summer. 

How many layers of clothes do you need to keep warm?   People need at least two layers of clothing to keep warm.  Today I wore  thermal underwear (pants and top). Thick pants and a fleece shirt plus a snow                 jacket over the shirt.  People wear knit hats to keep their head warm.  Two pairs of socks are necessary; a thin liner for the first pair and the second pair are wool.  Waterproof heavy boots keep your feet toasty.  For     working out in longer periods of time, we will need to wear everything listed  above plus a thick parka with a hood, coveralls like ski pants, and warm boots called bunny boots.

How thick are your clothing? Inside the buildings  they are heated, so we can dress like we're in San Diego.  Outside our clothing can be as thick as about one inch like the parka that is goose down filled (goose feathers).

Have you seen any pa-poos?  I don't know what  pa-poos are and the scientists don't know what they are either.  Can you be more descriptive about what  pa-poos are?

How big are the icebergs?  There are no icebergs here because you get icebergs from a glacier and there are no glaciers around here.  In Barrow they get pack ice in the summer.  When the ice melts away from the land.  The pack ice blows down from the north and is blown south in the Arctic Ocean. 

What kinds of gases are up there?  Brenda Mulac, an atmospheric scientist, explained that there are no different types gases just different amounts found in the Arctic. Steve Brooks, an atmospheric scientist, explained air is made up of 78%Nitrogen and  21%Oxygen.  The other percentage is made up of other gases.  For example, there are higher concentrations of CO2 in  the Arctic as compared to San Diego because there are less plants to absorb the CO2 out of the air.