| Chelsie I believe that taking part in the Alaskan Research Challenge would be a useful, meaningful, and ‘once in a lifetime’ experience for many reasons. Due to it’s harsh climate this region is not studied as much as other regions of the world. This has led me to wonder about questions such as, "What effects will global warming have on the Arctic," and "How will that affect the rest of the Earth?" Another issue is pollution. Is the Arctic more sensitive to acid rain? Does it affect this region in the same way as other environments on Earth? One topic that has already been studied that can be further investigated is solar insolation. With information on this topic scientists can measure and calculate the amount of energy that is collected on the surface. Research is needed to investigate these and other issues. The Alaskan Research Challenge will help us to further understand these issues and is one piece of a puzzle that could help scientists to discover answers that may solve the larger puzzle of environmental issues around the world. |
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Sunday,
February 20, 2005 Yesterday we got in at about 1:00 a.m. due to flight delays, and most of us went to sleep after unpacking. We got up at about 10:00 and we left the Nordic House at 10:30 to go to a brunch with Dr. Martin Jeffries and his colleague Kim Morris. We discussed our plane ride here and what we planned to do the rest of the day. We then went to the Alaskan Coffee Roasters Co. and had hot chocolate, and Dr. Jeffries told us the plans for the rest of the week. We went to Fred Meyers’ to get groceries for the rest of the week as well. Then we went to the Geophysical Institute on campus and retrieved our gear. We went back to the Nordic House and tried everything all of our equipment for tomorrow. At about 5:00 Josh, Katie, Amanda, Chelsea, and I went to the bookstore to find that it was closed. Then we walked down to the Student Recreational Center to play basketball. We all made dinner and played poker with Skittles. We have a long day tomorrow. We are going to the Permafrost Tunnel, the Alaskan Pipeline, and out to Aurora Pond. We are also interviewing Matthew Sturm who is a snow physicist. |
| Monday,
February 21, 2005 Today we woke up at 7:45 to be able to leave the Nordic House at 8:30. We went to the Permafrost Tunnel and met Matthew Sturm. It was very interesting and we interviewed Matthew after we came out of the tunnel. After leaving the Permafrost Tunnel we went to the Geological Institute on campus. We had lunch and talked about the rest of the day and then we left for Aurora Pond. When we got there we met up with a group of home school students. With them, we measured temperature of the lake ice, snow depth and snow temperature. After Josh left for the emergency care center to see if he broke his finger when he shut it in the car door, we went out to collect the data and talk about how snow covering the ice acts as insulation, and actually decreases the thickness of the ice. The ice that is not covered with ice has a greater thickness because there is nothing to keep the heat in. We drilled holes in the ice to measure its thickness. We drilled three holes, and they all measured about the same, give or take a couple of millimeters. After checking on Josh at the emergency care center we were invited to eat MOOSE chili at the other students’ house. Tomorrow we are going to the Geological Institute. |
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| February 22, 2005 Today we met Dr. Jeffries outside the Nordic House at 8:30 to go to the Geophysical Institute. We looked at a slide show that was prepared by Dr. Jeffries about what we are going to be doing this week at Poker Flat. We talked about how we are going to be measuring snow depth and calculating surface temperature between the ice and snow. Martin showed us pictures of and graphs of heat flux and the different lakes that he has studied and done calculations on. Previous to the slide show, we had a tour of the G.I. and saw different parts of the International Arctic Research Center (IARC). After we had lunch and discussed our task for this trip, Josh, Chelsea, Katie, Geno, and I went down to the Campus Bookstore. We came back and met with Climate Modeler Uma Bhatt. She discussed her position in the science world, and what she does with other scientists. She discussed her current project with us. She is working with a group of Glaciologists to make a model about how the glaciers are melting and if they will melt. It was very interesting to discuss with her the tasks that she has done and what she is planning to do in the near future. She asked us about our interests in science and other subjects. She was also wondering what we are planning to do with our lives such as a career and colleges. She left and then we discussed our next interview. We then met with Martin Truffer, who is a Glacier Physicist. He told us about the Vostok Lake which is located under a glacier in Antarctica. We discussed some of the things that we discussed with Uma, such as the problems with glaciers shrinking. He told us that it is incredibly unlikely that the glaciers will disappear all together. We were able to ask him some questions about why he chose this type of science to study. Then we left the Geological Institute and hung out at the Nordic House. We went back to the campus store so we could shop more. Tomorrow we are going to Poker Flat, and going out for pizza with Dr. Jeffries. |
| Wednesday, February 23, 2005 Today we were out on the ice at Poker Flat. We split up into three groups. Dr. Jeffries and Ms Porter went with Josh, Geno, and Nick to MST Pond. Kim Morris took Amanda and Chelsea to 31.6-mile pond. And Mark took Katie and me to 33.5-mile pond. We took snow samples, and measured their mass to determine density. We also measured the ice thickness on all the ponds using a “TWIT” which is a hot wire device. After we were done we saw a MOOSE!! We took pictures of it but when Marc backed up the beeping noise of the truck scared them away. After picking up the rest of the groups at their ponds we went back to the main office at Poker Flat. We ate lunch and then entered the heat flux data into the computers. We met up with Neal Brown who is an Aurora Specialist. He talked a little about his career and then gave us a tour of the Research Range. We went and saw the Rocket Payload, which is the rockets that they send up to study the aurora. We went to look at the satellites that receive information sent out by the rockets. We went to the “control room” where they actually count down to when they set off the rockets. We thanked Neal then got into the cars to go to the Alaskan Pipeline. We saw the manmade ice tower across the street and it was HUGE!! There was an ice climber on top. It is at least 15 stories tall. The owner sprays it with water during the winter so when it freezes it gets bigger. We decided to go to College Town Pizzeria for dinner. Martin, Kim and Marc came with us, we had a lot of fun! Tomorrow we are going to the G.I. and going into the freezer to cut up ice cores. We will also be going to see the Musk-Oxen farm, and the Reindeer by the campus. |
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| Thursday, February 24, 2005 Today I woke up to Ms Porter yelling, “Geno there’s a fire in the stove” (as a joke to wake him up, because he wouldn’t). We went to the G.I. today to cut up ice cores. We went into the freezer and Josh leaned back and turned on a random machine. Then the lights went out inside, it was a small room too, it was only about 5ft. X 8ft. We got the machine to turn off. Then we went back in. I got to cut up an ice core with a Chop Saw. It was a little scary! We took the pieces we cut and went into the freezer next door. We looked at them through a light table and used Polarized Filters to see the crystals. As we looked at the different layers of the ice we cut you could see the size of the crystals increased. The crystals go through a change, called a metamorphosis. We talked about different forms of crystals in different regions, such as, in Antarctica. The salty seawater affects the shape of the crystals, along with the water-current pushing the ice a certain way. A woman named Amy, came to interview Ms Porter. She also interviewed Amanda. Afterwards we went to see the reindeer farm by the campus and to the Musk Oxen research center. We couldn’t go to close to the Musk Ox but we still got pictures. After eating lunch at the G.I. we went to the museum and to the gift shop. We came back and met Martin to go to the downtown area of Fairbanks. We walked around and wanted to wait to see the next dog sled team to come in from the Yukon Quest race, but we couldn’t because the next team wasn’t coming in until 10:00 p.m. We walked around and went to get coffee and talked about what we were planning to do with the elementary school kids the next day. We left down town and headed back to the Nordic House. We hung out the rest of the night and some of us went to the library. Tomorrow we are going the University Park Elementary School for “Snow Day” and we are going to teach three fourth grade classes about snow and ice. |
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| Friday,
February 25, 2005 Today we went to University Park Elementary School. We worked with a group of fourth graders and taught them about snow and ice. We had three groups set up. One was with Martin who taught the children how to take snow samples and to calculate density from the mass. The second group was with Kim. They were looking at snowflakes and their crystals. Ms Porter’s group taught the kids how to take snow temperature on the bottom and on the surface. She also taught them to determine snow depth. We split up to help the three adults. Geno went with Kim. Nick, Chelsea, and Katie went with Martin. And Amanda, Josh, and I went with Ms Porter. We worked from 9:00 a.m. until about 11:30. We ate the lunch that the school hosted for us, and then we decided to leave to go get more coffee. We came back at about 1:00 p.m. We worked with one more class after lunch. When we came back inside and Martin gave an overview with a power point for the kids about what they did during the day. He talked about how temperature affects the snow and ice. He showed them pictures from when he went to Antarctica, and talked about what he did there. We had a pretty easy day, but we were all very tired. We came back to Nordic house and we started to plan our dinners. We were surprised with a dinner that was delivered from Gambardellas. Mr. and Mrs. Fasano actually ordered it from Connecticut for us. We invited Martin and Kim over to join us. It was very good!! Tomorrow we are going to Denali National Park to go on the lakes and making measurements. Then we are coming HOME!! THANK YOU FOR DINNER MR. & MRS. FASANO!!!!!! |
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Saturday- “A walk in the park”
Learn more about the Denali
National Park |
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