Today’s entry is written and submitted by: Paarnannguaq (Greenland), Arno (Greenland), Emil (Denmark), Jeannie (U.S.A.)
We started out sharing our results from yesterday’s expedition: telling each other about the flowers we found and identified, as well as the properties we observed about our water samples (from Lake Ferguson).
Ellen presenting her results. Photo by Laura Lukes (2011)
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Paarnanngguaq, Maria, and Titte present their findings. Photo by Laura Lukes (2011).
Today we also learned about the world of GPS. We got to make our own geo-caches. We were given patches to hide somewhere around town. We recorded the coordinates of our top secret hiding locations and then traded the coordinates with other teams. Then we made a competition out of finding the most patches. After two hours of running around and climbing over rocks, our team, Team Pink, came out victorious. We got to keep the NSF International Polar Year patches as our prize.
Christine, Maria, and Lauritz acquiring satellites with their GPS. Photo by Laura Lukes (2011)
After everyone finished up, we regrouped to learn some more about how GPS works and why it is an important tool for fieldwork. We learned about how atomic clocks help to make GPS very accurate. This allows for us to record exact locations when collecting samples or conducting tests. With our new knowledge of GPS, we are now more prepared to work in the field.
Lauritz, Maria, and Ole deciding on a research project. Photo by Laura Lukes (2011)
This afternoon we also met for the first time in our research groups. We began discussing what specific research we would like to do. Groups came up with all sorts of plans ranging from water quality testing in different lakes to researching musk ox.
Emil and Vance locate a geocache site with their GPS unit. Photo by Jean Wilkening
Geocahce: Musk Ox head site. Photo by Jeannie Wilkening
Today’s agenda highlights
Who’s who? Pop quiz on names using photos from yesterday
Reporting out on yesterday’s investigations
Using GPS: Creating team Geocaches
Using GPS: Finding team Geocaches
Meeting in research groups to create a preliminary plan
Vocabulary
Nalunaarasuartaateeraliorfittaarsualiorsimagaluaraminngoaq – Greenlandic word meaning ‘they build a telecom tower’