Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 11:07
Forums
Oden Antarctic Expedition 08

Hi Mr. Peneston,

Thank you for posting our flag on your journal. We loved seeing it because we worked really hard on it. Did you notice that it had all of our names on it? We've been looking at your journal entries. They're great! You must be really adventurous to stand out on the ship the way you did getting splashed by those freezing waves.

We loved the cute penguin pictures. What else can you tell us about the penguins? How big are they? What do they eat? Why ARE penguins black and white anyway?

Dr. Yuan, thank you for taking our flag and our school mascot onto the Oden! Hope you get a lot of research done. Tell us if you make a new discovery. We're very interested in the issue of global warming. (Note from Ms. C-B: I saw Amy at the Lamont Christmas Party on the weekend. She was very excited to see you on the Journal!)

Have a great adventure! Keep making memories!

Ms. Christie-Blick's 4th Graders

New York

 

Mon, 12/15/2008 - 17:28

Jeff Peneston

First, I am sorry that it has taken me so long to reply to your question but here goes.Your flag does look great!  I spoke with Dr. Yuan and arranged to have her attend the webinar today and I was also able to get her to address your questions.
Penguins are amazing and I hope you enjoyed my penguin video on Dec. 13th.  The adelie penguins in the video are about 2 feet tall and we have also seen emperor penguins, which are 3-4 feet tall.  Many sea animals are dark on one side and lighter on the bottom.  When penguins swim under water, if a predator is below them, the light belly of the penguin makes it blend in with the sky above the water.  If the predator is above them, the penguin’s dark back makes them hard to see against the dark ocean depths.  Most of the penguins in the sea ice eat krill and small fish.  I hope this helps.
Jeff
Dear Ms Christie-Blick’s 4th graders and students from Cottage Lane Elementary School, We just started our scientific observations and will be very busy for next 3-4 weeks. We will collect as much data as possible during the voyage and analyze them together with historical data when we get back to our institutes. Big questions like what are the consequences of global warming and how fast glaciers melt in the Antarctic may not be answered by one scientific expedition, and may not be answered by a generation of scientists. However, efforts made by every scientific expedition will contribute to a better understanding of the big problems, and accumulative efforts from thousands of scientists around the global will advance the science step by step until we find the answers. I am proud to be a part in this scientific discover process. --Xiaojun Yuan