Thank you!

I am so proud of all of the Scofield students and friends who have responded to this blog. Going to Churchill was a wonderful experience. I personally learned new information about climate change, and I will review many of my experiences in class. As all teachers know, one learns more by doing! I would like to thank HSBC for making this trip possible. Thanks also to the Stamford Public Schools for allowing me to take part in the teacher/research opportunity. The teachers at Scofield have been wonderfully supportive of this trip - thank-you to Mrs. Nagurney and Mr. Forde for jumping into video-conferencing so quickly. Thanks also to my Purple Team teachers, Mrs. Wargo, Mr. Sollitto, and Mr. Santorella for keeping the team together and to Mrs. Littlestone for participating in the video conference with little notice. So many people helped to make this possible - Thanks to all!

Review of the trip

What do you think was the most interesting part of my trip? This was a totally new environment for me, observing the tundra/forest region and the wildlife that lives there. I enjoyed working in the field although the cold could be be challenging. Imagine doing this trip in February? A new group of teachers will be going then. Here are a view pictures of the views from the Churchill North Study Centre. If you look closely you will see a rainbow.

Our Last Night in Churchill

Tonight was capped with a viewing of the northern lights. They have not been seen every night, and generally it is after midnight that they appear. Tonight most of us made it up to the observatory (Thanks Erin!) to see the lights. I enjoyed watching the lights slowly move across the sky, a fitting end to my last night at the Arctic's edge. Now I need to go pack!

Finally Permafrost!

Our final day out in the field was largely spent coring trees and collecting data. However, I worked on a soil survey at the end of the day. We dug nine holes along a transect line in the tundra area and examined the soil. The soil was largely organic, composed from decaying leaves and other vegetation. We dug a pit at the end and found…PERMAFROST! It was found 71 centimeters from the top. I recorded the site’s location of N58 º 37.224’ and W 93º47.255’. Of course we all rallied around and jumped into the pit. When we grabbed a handful of the soil just above the permafrost we could see small crystals of ice.
We moved into the forest area and repeated the procedure of digging nine holes. Here we found the soil to have a lot of sand in addition to the organic layer. We dug another hole and found a few different soil horizons. Water began to seep in from the sides and filled the bottom of the hole. It was interested when we took the pH of the layers. As we came up from the bottom of the hole the soil became more acidic. What do you think caused the higher acidity? (Clue: Think about what you might find closer to the surface?)

Northern Lights again

Here's another picture of the northern lights from last night. I missed them! I last checked at 11:45, and the sky was clear. This picture was taken at 12:30. I will look again tonight. To get the best view I will have to climb up the ladder into the observatory. Wish me luck!

Rony and Lucas gave some information about how the colors of the northern lights are formed. It does have to do with the elements that can be found in the ionosphere. We will be studying the layers of the atmosphere later this year. Can someone tell me the names of the layers now?

Here is some more information on the the aurora borealis in Churchill.

Polar Bear on the Beach

Here is a picture of the polar bear on the beach. We could not get too close to it, nor would we want to. If you look real close, you might be able to see the dogs in the area. Read the comments section of the last post to see how the bear lives with the dogs.

Roads and Trails Tour

Today was our day off from counting seedlings and saplings. Everyone decided to take a Roads and Trails Tour. Sheldon met us at the Churchill Northern Science Center at 9:00 in a small school bus. Who knew that the bus could drive down this narrow dirt paths? We drove down many small roads that were not too far from the science center. We finally saw a polar bear! The first bear was very large, he generally stays in one area by the beach. He is surrounded by chained Eskimo dogs, they share the same food. We found the other bear up on the rocks. Both bears were a distance away so we were in no danger. Because they were so far I did not get great pictures, but I will try to upload some pictures from other teachers tomorrow.
We also saw another Arctic hare and two red foxes. Swimming in a small pond were two tundra swans.
We also stopped by the beach so we could put our hands in the Hudson Bay. I picked up some nicely weathered beach stones to bring back home. One teacher did a polar plunge into the Hudson Bay, but since the air temperature was 32 degrees F I decided my hand was the only body part that I was getting wet!