A Video for Drew!

     Hello from Canada, eh?  Before I forget, I wanted to let everyone know that while I was working in a wetland ecosystem called a fen today I caught several wood frogs!  Yay for HERPS!!!  I would like to answer a few questions that have been posted on the blog.  Natalie wants to know how I am feeling.  I feel great because I love science field work, working with other scientists/teachers, and laughing.  She also wants to know how the switch to the arctic has affected my sleeping and breathing (I have asthma...)  Sleeping here is a bit of a bummer, because the sun basically never sets.  Its pretty much light out all the time.  I took a blanket off the top bunk of my bed that no one is using and built a fort around the bottom of the bunk where I sleep to make a darker environment.  The blanket also traps a little heat!  I am breathing great.  The the air is cold and clean.  Canada is beautiful!  Also, I am not in the higher altitudes like I was when I studied in Wyoming, so the air molecules are closer together.
     For Drew's questions, I have a fellow researcher, Luann, helping me with the questions.  In this video, we just returned from working in a fen ecosystem which is similar to a bog, so we are looking quite awful.  I nearly lost one of my Muck boots in the hummocky fen!  Basically we go to several different ecosystems each day and survey one by two meter random land plots.  We are looking for three different tree species to monitor their germination in each of the different ecosystems.  This will lead to conclusions about the movement of the tree line.
SCIENCE CONTEST!!!  I will send the first blog follower a post card from the arctic who posts an answer to the following question.  Be sure to include your mailing address with your answer!  Here's the question.  What are three differences between a FEN and a BOG?

A Video for Justyne!

Thank you for the question Justyne.  Here is my first attempt at a video blog just for you! Sorry for the terrible still frame image! Remember, I have been outside all day in the cold and I am just at the edge of exhaustion! We collected tons of date on the same field of tree seedlings today, and hopefully tomorrow we will have the opportunity to understand all the data. We have learned about the melting of permafrost, peatlands, glaciers, sea ice, and snow pack and how all of this is related to climate change. As peatlands melt, they begin to decompose and release carbon dioxide and methane, two major greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. An increase in these gasses leads to climate warming.  Thanks for following me on this crazy adventure!  I am having a blast!  More questions please.

Happy Summer Solstice!

     Today is officially the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice.  Working on very little sleep, I am going to try to stay up and watch the sunset tonight around 11:00 PM!  My husband would be in heaven with that much daylight to "play" outside!  The sun really doesn't even seem to set here.  It just barely dips below horizon, then seems to pop right back up!  I am sleeping with a pillow over my face to try to make my world a little darker!
    In the photo above, Earthwatch teammate James and I are analyzing white spruce tree seedings to determine seedling success in a stressed environment.  (I am entering data into a field computer.) Churchill is truly a stressed environment as evidenced by the Krummholz "ing" of the trees.  To put this more simply, I have noticed the trees here look like flags blowing in the wind.  Stressed trees!!!  I also noticed this same phenomenon last summer in the high elevation areas of Wyoming.
     I have learned so much today, and I couldn't be happier!  I am networking with some of the finest middle school teachers in the country!  One of my fellowship obligations is the development of an original lesson plan.  I was inspired about a climate change study involving parasites living on frog species!  Leave it to me to be able to turn a trip to the arctic into more herpetology for seventh graders!  (My seventh graders know that HERPS RULE!!!!)  Thanks for following me. Ask questions!

So where is Churchill?

The tiny red dot shows where I am in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada.  The research center is right on the Hudson Bay where the ice flows freely!  This image is thanks to www.maps-of-north-america.us.

The Day of Endless Airports!

I am here!!! After five airports I have made it to Churchill. I have decided to rename what has been called the polar bear and beluga whale capital of the world to the mosquito capital of the world! The mosquitos are the size of the Ohio cardinal! (jet lagged sarcasm...)
I was really excited to see so many people following my blog! Thank you so much, hopefully I can deliver some pretty cool science!!! I am in my element here... this is what I truly love to do... seek out strange science experiences in the summer to try to make my science class during the school year awesome!
We arrived at the CNSC (Churchill Northern Studies Centre) just in time to grab a late dinner, introduce ourselves and unpack. It is now 11:00 PM central time, and it is STILL DAYLIGHT! The summer solstice is tomorrow which will mark the longest day of the year... there will be no darkness here... so strange! We meet at 7:00 am in the morning for our first field briefing, and then its off to work I go! Maybe tomorrow I will try the video blog... Thanks for following me!!!

Ready to Fly!

My bags are packed, and I am ready to fly tomorrow morning! This will be my last blog post from Medway, Ohio. My daughter, Natalie, has taught me how to update my blog with video, so hopefully I will be able to do that on my own when I get to Churchill. Even though we are almost a month into summer vacation, I am hoping I still have students following my blog. Remember students, I need good questions, so follow me for only eleven days!!!

Fears...???

My second pre trip question... What am I nervous about? Time is flying by so quickly, I leave for Churchill in three days... nervous?... a little. Let me spew out all the obvious answers. I am afraid my luggage will get lost, but its just stuff and I packed enough in my "carry on" to get me through an extra day. I am afraid I will miss one of the nine million flights to get to the great north, but I'm sure I will be fine. I am nervous about getting Canadian money, but how hard could that be? Now for the real stuff. I am nervous that my school district will not allow me to use what I am about to learn in the arctic with my students. Here's the deal: My district, for very lame reasons, forces science teachers to "split" students. In other words, I only have my students for one half of a school year, then, after winter break, I have a completely different group of students. The original group goes to another teacher. So that adds up to about ninety days with my students, and in that incredibly short amount of time I have barely enough time to teach a little biodiversity, ecology, and a few key science processing skills. It is awful. There's no other way to put it. I lose time learning new names and making new seating charts, while everyone else in the state of Ohio blows right by me. Classroom time is precious and this robs me of time every year. I have fought this for three years as I have watched our school's science scores go down the drain. I am unable to make meaningful connections between science concepts, and THIS, I BELIEVE, is the KEY TO UNDERSTANDING SCIENCE. The bottom line is: I need my students ALL YEAR. I am going to the arctic to study climate change and its impact on biodiversity and ecology. Shouldn't I be given the basic right of having students in my classroom for one full school year??? I need this time to build connections in science. So this is my fear. All the miles of travel, all this hope for new learning, all this time I've given and research I have done... won't benefit my students because I only have two short, frequently interrupted quarters to be with them. The solution is simple. My district, which I have loyally served for twenty-two years, needs to hold everyone accountable, and keep science students with the same teacher for one complete school year. I promised myself I wasn't going to rant on this blog... but I am going to the polar bear capital of the world and my fear is here at home.