The countdown has begun at school, and with it a flurry of activities all going on at once (doesn’t it always happen that way??) Awhile back we had an in-school Countdown Challenge. The idea was to get the classrooms involved in designing a means of marking down the time until I left on my expedition. Mrs. Higham’s First Grade class came up with the winning idea. (Just as a little background, Redd School’s population includes PreK-8th grade). So, the Countdown Calendar has a line of penguins jumping into the icy waters one at a time, leaving the number of penguins on the ice to designate the number of school days left. Each day, one of the students moves a penguin into the water .
Mrs. Higham and her First grade class at Redd School
Gabe moves the first penguin!
The last weekend in October presented two great opportunities for Polar Outreach. Rice University hosted the Sally Ride Science Festival for Girls. Ann Linsley and I teamed up to distribute information to students , teachers, and parents about the PolarTREC program and the IPY. Attendance this year was reported to be 1200 registered participants!
PolarTREC teacher Ann Linsley distributes materials.
The Redd School Fall Festival presented an opportunity to give Extreme Cold Weather gear a different spin! Eighth grade students created a Scarecrow School where the "lesson” for the day was "Dressing for Really Cold Weather”. Festival attendees enjoyed the display and were briefed about the upcoming Oden Expedition.
Scarecrow School
Of course, talking about extreme cold weather clothing, and actually trying it on are two different things!!
Laughing
This coat is much too warm for houston!!
What happened to the lights???
Does this come in "petite?
How do you walk in these things???
Which one is Lollie?:
Answer to the origin of the word "Penguin”:
According to askoxford.com, the origin is not real clear. The name originally was applied to the extinct great auk of the North Atlantic, with "pen gwyn "meaning white head, except that the auk only had one white spot in front of each eye. Another theory holds that the bird was called "pin- wing”, referring to its rudimentary wings. Still another idea is that the Latin word "pinguis” meaning "fat” is involved. Do a little research and see what you come up with!!