Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/29/2012 - 05:09
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Antarctic Sub Glacial Lake and Stream Studies

Hi Mr. Lebaron!

Our class is enjoying all of your cool postings about your adventure. We were fascinated about Scott's hut and tried to imagine just how unforgiving their trip was. To answer your question, our class decided that you were checking to see if the black surface felt hotter than the red surface. Most kids thought that the black surface was hotter because darker surfaces absorb more energy than lighter surfaces. A few students thought that it didn't matter- either way it's cold in Antarctica!

We'll be watching the webinar on Dec 3rd during our 4th block class. Happy Antarctica day!

Keep warm!

Mrs. Hanellin's 4th block

Thu, 11/29/2012 - 17:21

Mike LeBaron

You are right! The black surface was much warmer than the red surface even though both were in air that was around 24 degrees F. It felt good on my poor cold fingers (I'd been holding nuts and bolts which is really tough to do with gloves on - you can drop more than you hold on to). Unfortunately I didn't have a thermometer that could get a good surface temperature so I could report the actual difference. Does the class know the difference between a quantitative and qualitative value?Scotts hut is one of 3 historic huts on Ross Island - all three have been preserved. It's fascinating to see how well everything is preserved - even seal blubber! History is really cool when you can see it and know how it affects what you are doing today. Remember that Scott died on his return from the South Pole, but being a good scientists, he still had 35 pounds of rocks that he had carried with him from the Transanarctic Mountains. He valued those samples because of what they represented in scientific knowledge and value.
Keep reading - and talk up the on-line event down in the copy room so even people like Mr. Gustin log in!
Take Care,
Mr. LeBaron