Questions & Answers Wk 12
Every week Team GoNorth! answers ten questions related to the module topic from student explorers -- so stay tuned and submit YOUR questions!
Yes we do miss our friends and our families. But, the thing is, it seems like our friends and family are always with us in spirit and thought. Our families know that we do what we love, that this is who we are, and that it is our way of life. They give us tremendous support and love which helps when it gets tough out on the trail. We actually think it may be tougher on our families the months before we depart, because the "getting ready to go" pretty much consumes our lives...
And yes... the Polar Huskies are like our family too. So in a way, we are always with some of our family which makes the cold seem a little less cold and the distance from home seem not quite so far.
Do you ever miss your family or ever think of going back to see them? Or when you are on the trail do you see your family as the dogs?
Melissa & Lilyanna
Walt Disney Magnet School
6th Grade Grade
Our school library
It is a rare-occasion that a dog gets loose from the line. Typically when this happens it is during the stake-out at night or for lunch and they don't leave the camp area. Sometimes we are surprised by a Polar Husky head popping into our tent!
Sometimes while we are mushing the lure of an animal on the horizon proves to be too much excitement and someone is able to "break-out" of their collar or harness... and "kick it into high gear!"
When this happens, there is a chase that results... we work as a team and no one wants to miss the excitement. More often than not, the escape artist gets bored because the other Polar Huskies have caught up. They might even be cheering him/her on! But when they are not running together it isn't quite as fun, so the loose Polar Husky will look to us to hook him or her back up with the team.
As long as we don't panic and over-react, s/he will come back rather quickly and want to rejoin the pack.
What happens if the dogs get loose of the reins?
Taeoshi
Hancock Park
4th Grade
Los Angelos
All ecosystems work in harmony... this means that upsetting one has consequences on others.
One of the consequences of the ice melting in the Arctic and Antarctic is that it is changing of the currents in our oceans.
We found the following information at the Nasa Website: "...Some scientists worry that melting Arctic sea ice will dump enough freshwater into the North Atlantic to interfere with sea currents. Some freshwater would come from the ice-melt itself, but the main contributor would be increased rain and snow in the region. Retreating ice cover exposes more of the ocean surface, allowing more moisture to evaporate into the atmosphere and leading to more precipitation.
Because saltwater is denser and heavier than freshwater, this "freshening" of the North Atlantic would make the surface layers more buoyant. That's a problem because the surface water needs to sink to drive a primary ocean circulation pattern known as the "Great Ocean Conveyor." Sunken water flows south along the ocean floor toward the equator, while warm surface waters from tropical latitudes flow north to replace the water that sank, thus keeping the Conveyor slowly chugging along. An increase in freshwater could prevent this sinking of North Atlantic surface waters, slowing or stopping this circulation...."
This alone has a domino-like-effect on everything else.
How does the arctic ecosystem affect life on earth?
Fofo
Homecoft
4 Grade
St. Paul, MA
WOW. This is hard question. For those of you that missed it, Lucy is talking about the dried flowers we saw in the Week 09 Photo Journal.
Did you see the "Bee Movie"? In addition to being funny, we did learn something when we saw it. When the bees stopped working because they gained control of all the honey they made, all the flowers started to die. Without the bees 'doing their job' and pollinating the flowers, all the flowers began to die.
We've done a little research and found there are "Arctic Bees!" Bumble Bees to be exact. Check them out here >>
We especially like the one named: Bombus (Al.) polaris. Guess the Polar Husky equivalent would be Husky Polaris!
We found a book about Bees that spoke specifically about bees in the Arctic:
"...Where there are flowers there likely are pollinators, and so I was hoping to see bumblebees. Only two bumblebees, Bombus polaris and Bombus hyperboreus, live here above the Arctic Circle. The first is a social bee, whereas the second is a social parasite of the first, behaving like Psithyrus or cuckoos bees further south.
I was not disappointed. Despite the midnight hour and new 0degrees C temperature, I heard and saw a large bumblebee zoom past. It flew fast and straight over the deep snow, but then came to an abrupt stop at some just-opened saxifrage flowers on a snow-cleared river-bank. Soon I saw other Bombus polaris queens that had just emerged out of hibernation. Not only were they visiting flowers, they were already house-hunting.
The miracle is that of the more than twenty thousand been species worldwide, even one manages to have a social life cycle this far north - a life cycle that requires the completion of at least two generations every year. To help make up for the short time, the queens produce many workers per generation. In one snow bunting next that these bees had taken over as their insulated domicile, I found typical bumblebee brood-clump of a recently (July 5) started colony that instead of containing the ten larvae typically found in temperate nests, contained a clutch of twenty larvae. The larvae were all of similar age and would pupate in a few days. The adult bees would emerge in about ten days, depending on how much time the queen could afford to incubate her brood...."
Source courtesey: Bumblebee Economics By Bernd Heinrich
We saw flowers in a house you stayed in. Is there bees in the artic?
Lucy
Neill
1st Grade
Minnesota
Mkaila, thank you for waiting until the Team was done on the trail until before you asked this question... we try to not talk about being sick when on the trail because we don't want to jinx ourselves. ;-)
With nothing but cold, snow, and rocks -- and a few wild animals -- you'd think that germs would be scarce. They are. But the communities along the way are just like communities at home. People get sick, and sickness spreads. As an example: On the 2004 expedition across Nunavut, Baker Lake was no exception. The flu passed through the community, from one student to the next, one neighbor to another. When we got there, Aaron got it, too. And when we left the community, Mille got it. If we are out on the trail, we will take a rest-day or have the person ride on the sled.
If a Polar Husky gets sick, we treat it the same way we would treat a a human if he or she gets sick during the expedition. We have basic training and a first aid kit with different medicines to try to deal with the situation out in the field. We may also carry the Polar Husky on the sled for a while if that is necessary, or take a rest day to try to see if that may help the situation. If necessary, we will call for a rescue to transport the Polar Husky out. We would extend this courtesy to very sick people too ;-)
What happens if one of the team members like Mille or Paul get sick? What if the dogs get sick?
MKaila
Cuyuna Range Elementary School
5 Grade
deerwood
With computers, a satellite phone, solar panels, giant batteries, and palm pilots... we can see how it would be easy to think we have a TV with us too!
But alas, we do not. In the time leading-up to a trip, we are often so busy that we don't have time to watch TV then either. In a way, this is good because then we don't go into shock missing it when we are on the trail. ;-)
Do you have TV down there add if yes does it have good reception?
Lorenzo
Walt Disney Magnet School
6th Grade
Chicago, IL
Unfortunately, we were not able to personally ask Dr Sturm about this in-time to answer you today.
But we do have this to say on the subject of mistakes:
It is human nature to make mistakes... everyone makes mistakes. How we fix or handle our mistakes is what makes us great. Sometimes the best way to learn is from our mistakes!
Here is an example of learning from a mistake: Tiffany was eating dinner at home. The phone rang and she put her plate (with pizza on it) on the coffee table and went into the other room to answer the phone. Choko, the retired Polar Husky, being so large that he can reach everything on the coffee table, ate the pizza. Oops. What did Tiffany learn? Don't put any food on the coffee table or Choko will eat it. Later that night, Tiffany also learned that Choko only thinks he likes pizza and it will in-fact give him a tummy ache. :P
Did Matthew Sturm ever make a mistake?
Angelo
Homecroft
4 Grade
St. Paul
We asked Aaron! And this is what he said:
I learned a great deal about the Arctic during this year's trip. Unlike the Russian, Alaskan and Canadian Arctic, there are many trees and a great deal of snow in Fennoscandia. Because of the moderating impact of the water, this region is not like the desert Arctic regions we have traveled through before. I also learned a great deal about the Sami and the practice of reindeer herding. It is simply amazing to learn about what it is like to herd 15,000 reindeer at one time and the impact reindeer have on their society.
What did Aaron Doering learn in the Arctic?
Kaleab
Homecroft
4th Grade
St. Paul, MN
When we are researching information about something or someone we Google It!
We Google'd Shari and found the following sites with information about her. (here's a tip too: when Googling someone, put the name in quotes to get the most accurate results)
Where do you think I can get more information on Shari Gearheard?
Tete
Homecroft
4 Grade
St. Paul, MN
