Thursday was our school's 100th day of our 2014-2015 academic year. Several children helped support the first through third grade's can food drive and together as a classroom we counted 100 pennies with the grid of the 100 board. A few other children used the 100 pennies to count during the work time with the 10 square chain and the 100 board after first filling the grid with tiles.
Today is the annual Peace March. Although it has not taken place yet, we anticipate an introduction of John Lennon and we may see his appearance in the form of one of our students. We hope that many parents can attend.
It has been wonderful to see so many parents recently. In addition to the birthday celebrations, we heard about another student's trip to Argentina. The student prepared a poster with photos and brought clothes that would be worn by a gaucho. We look forward to more presentations as the year continues. In the next month we will look more closely at the continent of Africa and read about many Africans and African-Americans. If you have any stories, recipes, items, or music pertaining to this study, we invite you to share more with us in February.
Before January comes to an end, here are some responses to questions that we asked our friend Nicole, who lives in Antarctica:
What do you do for fun?
I do lots of things for fun! I go on hikes (we have about 6 around the station, ranging from 1.5 miles to 10 miles). On the hikes you see all sorts of cool things like mountains and glaciers. I also like to do normal things like watch movies, hang out with friends, go for runs, read, etc. We have a small library on station as well as a basketball court and small rock climbing wall. I sometimes visit our cafe that has games. We also have lots of events, like parties, sports teams, and fun trips to nearby historical sites. We just had a softball game a couple of weeks ago and it was "warm" enough to play outside (32 degrees...) Sometimes we even get to ride a snowmobile. I got to ride one the other day and it was TONS of fun! We also have a touch tank filled with underwater creatures that you can actually touch! The water is very cold though (-2 degrees Celsius) so it's hard to touch them for too long.
How does the ice break?
The sea ice gets broken by the Icebreaker ship, the Polar Star. It is crewed by the Coast Guard. It actually just arrived last week and broke up lots of the ice nearby. Their ship has a unique shape and a very thick hull to crush the ice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqmciwLmgxQ
Have you ever seen an inverted iceberg?
I haven't seen an inverted iceberg personally as my station is a bit far away from where the icebergs go, but people who have been on work trips to other camps have seen them. I would love to see one, they look very beautiful!
How can the animals survive in the winter if there is no sun?
The animals in Antarctica have adapted to live down here, with very think skin, lots of blubber, and unique types of fur/feathers. They also don't move much when it is winter so they don't need to see too much. For example, Emperor penguins huddle together all winter long. Also, it isn't sooo dark all the time. Even when the sun never comes out, sometimes you get a few hours of the dawn/dusk light in the sky. And I've heard that the sky is so clear here that you can read by the full moon or the southern lights (auroras).
Are there plants in Antarctica?
There are no plants near my station unfortunately. But in other parts of the continent there are small, hardy plants like lichen, moss, fungi, and algae. Those are mainly found in the peninsula area of Antarctica, near South America. Please let me know if there are any other questions! I'd be very happy to keep answering them. :)
Have a wonderful weekend,
Ms. Joanna Boone