Ms. Lerenman in the Arctic Day 10 and 11

All we did this morning was get up, pack, clean our rooms, eat breakfast, burn photo and video CDs, and take a group photo. I'm really going to miss Churchill, Manitoba. We took our charter plane to Winnipeg and then after 2 hours of drama with United Airlines, I got onto a flight to Denver with Laura and we hung out at the airport and watched picture slideshows as my flight to Chicago is delayed. I should get in by 2am, I hope!

Yesterday, we tied up some loose ends for Pete and Steve in terms of data. I continued to mass the dried spruce needles so that Steve could record the change in moisture in the soil through climate change. We also worked on the final movie that captures our adventures. I was in charge of the soundtrack, and it was pretty sweet. Ask me if you would like to see it.

At the end of the evening, Pete and Steve presented a summary of their data and we rejoiced. Then we watched the final movie and it was so wonderful. We celebrated the end of our stay here by watching the sunset (the moon was up at the same time as the sun) and then played some foosball and pool before we went to sleep.

Bye bye, Arctic!

Ms. Lerenman in the Arctic Day 9

Weighing and inputting spruce needle data before going out for beluga whale watching. I am measuring the weight to a thousandth of a gram.
Some of us successfully got pictures of the beluga whales. I'll be borrowing those pictures in the future.
The other Zodiac boat avoiding a glacier bit.
Earthwatchers on floating ice! We are all wearing about eight layers of clothes here as the wind was below freezing here. We went all the way up to Nunavut, the uppermost Arctic Canada province or territory during our outing. It is occupied by mostly native Inuits.
Captain Cam explains the various formations on the large piece of floating ice that we are miraculously standing on and not falling through.
While we were on the ice floe, Laura and Will decide to drink out of the melted part of the floating ice. Apparently, it's the best tasting water ever...so fresh and so clean!
Our new Belgian friends on the boat with us.
Dr. Kershaw gives a thirty minute lecture on permafrost to our unwitting Captain Cam on the Zodiac beluga whale watching boat.
The "Miss Piggy" plane crash. The logo is an upside down question mark. Not the most safety ensuring logo that I can think of.

Today was a monumental day for us. We got to go beluga whale watching on an awesome Zodiac boat and we saw Merry Bay and finished our last GPR site in the Arctic ever! We finished a 75 meter transect in a record 30 minutes. Our first one took us about an hour and a half, so we have really improved over the past week. We also got to see a really strange cargo plane that had crashed thirty years ago and had bullet holes in it. Both pilots survived unscathed.

Ms. Lerenman in the Arctic Day 8

Stylin' in the Arctic.
Using a mallet to get the probes in.
Heidi finds the spruce needle bag with excitement aver much digging in icy terrain.
Jen and Jess picked up what they thought was a raptor pellet but really turned out to be wolf scat -- which is toxic to the kidneys. They promptly dropped it after Pete warned them of the potential renal failure.
Steve models how to properly insert the probes so that they can measure the nutrient absorption for the next eight months.
Maya hammers the probes into the icy icy ground.
Handstands in the Arctic.
Laura puts her hands up like caribou antlers to beckon them over.
We finally got to see some caribou. When they approached us without any suspicion, Carley said, "This is why they are food." Cute animals, but not the brightest. All you have to do is put your hands up like antlers to get them to come over.
The Cornell cinematographers film Pete talking about how climate change affects the ecosystems up North. Then they filmed us inserting PRS probes.
We finally got to see the rocket parts from the Rocket (ROK) site!


Today we got to go do Plant Root Simulator deployment at three different sites. A Plant Root Simulator (PRS) is a small plastic device that acts like a root and traps nutrients and other factors in the soil. Steve had us put 16 sets of two PRS devices into the soil for each of the 3 transects at each site. The probes measure cations and anions. So we did 16 X 3 X 3 probes today!

After dinner, we got to hear part 2 of Pete's landforms lecture. Riveting doesn't begin to describe it.

Ms. Lerenman in the Arctic Day 7

Jen finds the best route to get across the water in our rain gear.
Steve helps all the women across the water. We all got booters on the way back, but let's face it, we all liked it.
A view of the Rocket site with the tundra bordering the newly melted ice feature.

Everyone tries to help Jen out of the snow as she sinks, and by "help," we mean, take pictures.

This morning started off with the group dividing into two crews. The first went to the burnt spruce forest site (the white spruce, not the black) with Dr. Pete while the rest of us stayed back with Steve to finish entering spruce needle length data into computers. After a few hours of "5.5, 8, 8, 8, 8.5, 9, 5, 6.5, 6.5 cm, etc." our eyes glazed over but we were done! "I Went to the Arctic and all I got was this Carpel Tunnel" was an idea for a T-shirt idea I had, but as Steve says it's "Science!" and we would do anything for science. (As he exclaims, "Science," you can see his finger point to the sky and his invisible light bulb flicker in his brain). Thus, "Data" is now our middle name.

For lunch, Rob served chicken fingers and Will paced himself. Then we split up into two groups again. The Pete group went and did some more GPR (ground-penetrating radar) readings at the Tree Island site. There, they battled the snowy terrain for domination. The Earthwatchers won. No GPR goes undone with this gang.

The group with Steve got to collect more needle bags from the Rocket site (abbreviated to "ROK", because either Canadians or scientists can't spell). It's called the Rocket site because there's rocket remains there from the Cold War. We didn't get to see any rockets, but we did get to see a ring of spruce trees shaped like a menorah! That was our treat from Steve for finishing the site and he described the candelabra shaped-tree with glee. We decided that Steve should get married there and that he can lift the mosquito net off his wife's face like a veil after the I Dos. What a special day that would be.

On the way there, we got to have a nice leisurely walk from the Center, crossed a snow drift and stream (or a water runoff from the melting or what not) and walked across some of the prettiest and surreal looking lichen I've ever seen. The colors are really blossoming these days. The bags, although pretty muddy, came out without too much trouble and we gave ourselves some mental pats on our backs for being awesome science assistants.

It started to rain on our way back, but we were troopers and forged ahead. We crossed the water again, and most of us got booters (water in the top of our boots) for the first or second time that day. As Laura put it, most of us like feeling like kids jumping into puddles again...and, why not? It's the Arctic! (This is our excuse for any out of the ordinary behavior while up here...)

Both groups got back from the sites with plenty of time to spare until dinner, so Steve got everyone right to work while he "delegated" and then escaped to his office to "work." Everyone paired off to clean off the needle bags and sort them for dessication, so that Steve could record the process moisture loss and decomposition from nutrient loss over the year for his project...or at least that sounds about right. (Pretend that "process" and "project" is said in a Canadian accent and then it sounds pretty legit).

We finished our lab work just in time for dinner and Rob made pasta, a group favorite. We ate and then played a card game that Leanne and Ben taught us, "Crazy 8 Countown," and it was like the game that never ends. Luckily, Krista Hanis was giving a talk at 7:30, so we went to the packed classroom to engage in some learning...Holler Scholar! After all of the various lectures, field and lab work, we are finally starting to get some of the nitty gritty of the arctic science here. I may even be able to explain methane ebullience in the wetlands to someone with some degree of confidence. The wetlands, or the Fen, here is the 3rd largest wetland in the world, and we were lucky enough to get to GPR in it...or even fall in it. Whatever... It's the Arctic!

Ms. Lerenman in the Arctic Day 6

What looks like sand on the horizon of the beach is really the frozen over Hudson Bay.

An example of a native Inuit stone sculpture in town.
Tourist trap souvenirs in a sled.
Exploded rocket from the Cold War.
Forest Tundra spruce tree experiment site.
Shhhh...we're hunting needle bags!

Today was our free morning, which meant that we got to go into town and explore. First we were dropped off at the Eskimo Museum, which houses the most Inuit artifacts in the North. I may have made that up, but it sounds right. After learning a lot about Inuit culture and their soapstone carvings (one carver used his teeth to make all of his miniature statues!) and buying some souvenirs, we ventured out on our own to the beach behind the Town Centre. Along the Hudson Bay, we could see rocks spilling out towards sand and then to water that had melted from the cracking ice ahead. You can still see just miles and miles of ice.

We had lunch at the famous Gypsy's in town with Pete and Steve and the group of middle school students that stole our Beluga Whale watching tour time slot that was supposed to have been today as well. Boo!

Afterward, we split up into two teams. One did GPR action (Ground-penetrating radar) with Pete while the other collected spruce needle bags from under frozen ground in the Forest Tundra area for Steve, so that he could desiccate them and then weigh them to observe changes in nutrient loss in times of climate change. At the site, we saw an exploded rocket (seen above) that had been launched and tested by the military during the Cold War. It had sufficiently exploded, as they had expected. We had to use our boot to dig up the bags at times since the ground was that frozen, much to Steve's chagrin. After wards, we tried various arctic tundra berries that were in the ground...really tart and tasty!

After dinner, we went back to the Black Spruce Forest site to excavate some more spruce needles from under ground and then took a leisurely ecology field lesson tour with Steve on our way to meet the other GPR team at their site. We now know how to distinguish between white and black spruce trees! On our way back to the center, Pete took us to Twin Lakes, and Will tried to walk across the ice and had a major booter, that's what Canadians call getting water fully into your boots. You can see him trying to prevent this accident in the photo above...FAIL!

Ms. Lerenman in the Arctic Day 5

Scortched earth -- a burnt forest site.



Today was a cold, rainy, and windy day in Churchill. I went with the morning group to a bun site, where the earth was scorched twice since 1987 (once naturally and once from foul play, supposedly). I got to be the brain the first time around and fiber optic chord manager the second transect. It sounds fancy, but it basically means making sure the fiber optics don't snag on shrubs and trees, thus breaking the expensive equipment. We had some technical difficulties that kept us from starting on time. The palm kept showing the wrong step options and the data was all scrunched up on the palm monitor. As you can see with the high-tech use of a rubber band attachment, that these mini-computers from 2000 are quite finicky.

The terrain was pretty awesome looking -- almost like the edge of the earth in an apocalyptic way. Denise created a fool proof method for cutting 20 minutes off our second 75 meter transect commute by only reading the decimals at the end of each step--genius! This streamlining of activity helped because most of us had freezing extremities, mostly fingers and toes. Who knew that rubber boots provide very little heat circulation? Lesson learned!

We got back into the van eagerly wanting to defrost our toes and got a mini tour from Carley about the landscape and wildlife of the area along the road. We saw one of the sea ducks that Matthew Perry (not the actor) follows from the Chesapeake Bay to the Hudson Bay here. He surgically inserts satellite antennae into the behinds of the ducks so that you can see them sticking out. Then, he follows their migration and captures more of them to study their migratory and mating patterns. The climate change in the subarctic has drastically altered some of the previous mating and nesting ecosystems, and Dr. Perry is studying to see how the sea ducks will adapt.

After lunch, we continued to measure various spruce needles for Steve's treeline study and also helped him "desiccate" the needles to be weighed later in order to show how moisture loss effects the standardized trees. Desiccation basically involves putting the needles into an oven for 3 days after sorting out the packets.

Following dinner, we had a lecture on landforms from the great Dr. Peter Kershaw, our PI, and it was both fascinating and hilarious. Will laughed so hard at one point that he had to take pace around the room to calm himself down...oh, Pete! How he makes Polygonal Peat Plateaus and Palsas the height of comedy. My hat goes off to him.

Ms. Lerenman in the Arctic Day 3 and 4

Me wearing "hip waders" for going through the muddy wetlands site called the Fen, which is nutrient rich.

On Day 3 we got to go into the wetlands (the "Fen" site) to do GPR transmissions again. The wetlands are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Above you can see the wetlands and the hip rubber boots that I had to wear to do research out there. We had to hold the radar unit above the water to get a good reading while still making sure that the unit didn't get wet, since it would fry the electrical parts.

On Day 4, it rained and we were unable to go outside because of the sensitive equipment. Instead, we helped Steve complete his doctoral dissertation by measuring spruce needles from various sites and angles to determine their surface area...loads of fun from 8am to 6pm. We did get to go into town for a bit and saw a polar bear prison holding for polar bears that try to make lunches out of humans.

Ms. Lerenman in the Arctic Days 1 and 2

On Saturday, I left for the Arctic from Reagan Airport. From there, I saw my parents at O'Hare airport in Chicago as they were kind enough to meet me there for my 2 hour layover. Then, I flew to Winnipeg, where I met 4 other teachers that are on my Arctic Expedition through Earthwatch Institute, an environmental non-profit. Three teach in L.A. and one of them taught in Chicago. Once we arrived in Churchill, polar bear and beluga whale capitol of the world, we were met by two staff members at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. Carley and Katrina took us on the "highway" of the town, which is more of a dirt road along the Hudson Bay.

The first night, we met G. Peter Kershaw, the Primary Investigator on the Climate Change at the Arctic Edge study as well as Steve Mamet, a graduate student working on Tree Line Advance during Climate Change. Since the first day was mostly travel, and some people had some crazy stories about their many flights, derailings, delays, we just got to know each other and the projects that we would be working on. Jess and Laura, two other teachers, are my roommates and we quickly reverted back to our college dorm days, clothes strewn about and plenty of pillow talk.

On day two, we finally got to do our research, using GPR (ground penetrating radar) transmitters with fiber optic cables, palm computers, and lots of lifting prowess. One person got to be the "brain" and control the distance and recording of the radar transmission every .25 meters. When we get a reading on the permafrost layers, we get to see (year by year) how much the climate change is affecting the active layers melting and at what rate. Basically, if the permafrost layers defrost too quickly, too much methane, a primary greenhouse gas, will be emitted into the atmosphere, thus increasing the climate change effects.

We were in the Tundra on Day 2, in beautiful weather (60 degrees and sunny for 23 hours!). Each person got to take turns using the radar transmission and being the "brain" with the mini-palm computer. Because there is always a threat of a polar bear attack, our bear monitor Carley had to supervise us with a shotgun rifle. She's one tough chick.

At night, we had a three hour lecture from Peter on Climate Change and then celebrated the summer solstice (the longest day of the year!) with all of the researchers at the center with a delightful bonfire. We watched the sun set at 11:30pm. Until then, it was as bright as noon, all day.

I Don't Read by Sierra

I don't read books
I won't even try
It doesn't make sense to me
to read
I can consume books
I can swallow books
I can love books
I can see books
I can imagine books
I can engulf books
but I don't read
so don't ask me if I do or can
because I cant and don't
It's simply not enough

Keep it on the DL by Sierra

I told you to keep it on the DL
You swore to secrecy
Crossed your heart and hoped to die
And now that its out
My very special secret
That I told you to keep on the DL
You really should hope to die

Why

Why do we sit in class all day if life is'nt lasting
Why do we have birthay it's another day close to death
Why do we have etertainment if there's nothing to laugh about
I'll tell you why it's because there is a purpose for the question why

secrets by Sierra.C

secrets are personal
your own to keep
from those
who will expose
your real identity
share if you like
but you best be prepared
for those you told
to tell
what you've shared
secrets are true
secrets are real
and they declare
what others will think
if you shared

Fresh Poem by Ja'Little

Ja'Little is the best
his flow is tight
sittin on the corner eating mike n'ikes

Liar,Liar by Shaybeon

YEW SAID YEW LOVED ME,
BUT WHOLE TIME YEW DIDN'T.
YOU VOWED TO NEVER LEAVE,
BUT YEW DID.
YEW SAID YEW WOULD NEVER CHEAT,
BUT YEW DID THAT TOO(LIKE 5 TIMES).
AND YET I STILL DEAL WITH YEW.
I DON'T KNOW WHY I DO.
MAYBE BECAUSE I LUV YEW.
IS THAT NOT ENOUGH FOR YEW TO NOT LIE TO ME.
OBVIOUSLY NOT,
BECAUSE YEW HAVE THE NERVE TO STILL DO IT.
I TRUSTED YEW.
LIAR,LIAR,
THAT'S WHAT YEW ARE.

Poems by the late Mani Fresh

Immune
Im immune to my community
some say I just run and hide
scared to get shot and die
the truth is I stand still
I let it all pass me by
the drugs, gangs, and violince
others run and hide
I show no emotion but I hide my pride

But now on because I have gotten my PHD(is dat the award for doctors?)
Well anyway Im now be adressed as ...

DR. Feel Good

The Mist

Floaating in the darkness creeping people out
Hey you heard that shout
Maybe there is more to it
At least the darkness not doin it
One more thing to say
Dont forgett to shout
Because you might just
MIST OUT

Names by: Wynter

Help!
Help!
Somebody explain to me
Why do they call you names
When they know it hurts insides
I have cried too many tears
(And seen others too)
I know its never gonna end
Why cant we be in peace?
We should be called by the names we are given
Whats wrong with that?

The adult bully by Karina

The adult bully just gets on my nerves
but I know that one day he'll get what he deserves.
He likes to bother me
in his class I don't at all feel free
if he decides to pick on you
don't be surprised 'cuz I'd told you what he'll do.



Oh and P.S
he'd act if has an 'S' on his chest.

The Perfect Unborn Stranger by Asia

The Perfect will be generous,

he will make me laugh all the time,

and he will tell me that im worth every dime.

The Perfect will be gourgeous with dimples,

and have no pimples

my love of the day

he is the only winner

he will surely take me to expensive dinner

The Perfect is not born

but I know he is waiting

Mysterious Feeling By Chynna

The glass shatterz
Mii heart is broken
The door openz
Mii stomach drops
i walk thru tha door
Mii head begins spinnin
I feel it
But kant touch it
I want it
But kant have it
I see it
But im blinded
Im lost
But im found
I smell it
But kant taste it
Itz comin
Itz comin
It circles around meh
Mii feet beginz 2 weaken
Mii fear beginz 2 go away
Itz gettin closer
mii heart beatz
Like a stick2 a drum
Then it happenz
It looks meh deep in mii eyez
It smilez at meh
Then it kissed meh
I think i luv it
But do i?
So wat waz it?
Luv

Ms.Anonymous by Rico

She sitting in her room
She's highly upset
She's lost and filled with fear
Her pops iz mean
He's drivin her insane
He doesn't hear or understand
Her pain
The personality of a demon
But a heart of an angel
She's special to me
She's cute
But who iz she
I don't know
I think her name iz
Ms.Anonymous

The Blank Controller by La'Von

I'm gripping my controller but it is slipping away there is nothing to hold back anyway. Just a worthless controller with green,yellow, blue, and red buttons. It has nothing to think abou all day so what does it do sitting like hay

Darkness by Karina

DARKNESS IS THE SCENE THAT CONSUMES ME
IT REMINDS ME OF THE DARK DARK SEA
IT MAKES PEOPLE THINK LOWER OF ME
DARKNESS IS A CONSTANT SENSE OF PAIN
THAT TURNS ANY SUNSHINE INTO RAIN
I JUST DON'T LIKE THEN DARKNESS

The Aroma of Skates by D-Cash

It was a rainy day.
I got off the bus.
I entered the rink.
I could smell the aroma.
Skates,rubber, and Carpet.
I get on the floor.
Then, I drift to the wind of the music.

Red & Black

Red was my stare, hard and cold
Watching my friend, in his arms he holds,
the love of my life. Now I'm mad,
The trust for him, that i had
It is gone never to return
black is my soul as it burns
It tastes horrible this bitter thing
my feelings for them are altering
these memories swirl around in my head
every time I see the colors black and red

Tears

When my mom cries
It brings me down
oh, how I hate to hear that sound
I hate to see her like that
To know that I caused this disrespect
Till now and forever I never want to see
Those red, tearing eyes staring down at me

Im Back

SUP ALL


Its me Mani Fresh (not the real one)

For my First trick a poem

Fire
Blazing with great light
Fire dances in the night
Until the light dies

My next trick a pic




My eye!!!!

Rain by Chauncey

Rain
Run's down my cheek
But....
it's not rain ...
it's tears .....
not rain ..
tears from a lost one ...
some one close to me......
But....
the rain...
it's not just me crying....
it's the sky....
maybe it's not the sky...
it's the person in the sky...
For know...
it's just rain...
rain from a lost....

undercovered fakes by osha

Iwent the hair dresser and she made all my hair fall out. Surprisingly i'm not the only one who this has happened to. many of my friends tell me their story. they eighther hear that the salon is great or the dressers tell customers how great they are. i went to the dresser expecting to walk out beautiful which i did . soon as i got home my hair was a me . i won't send my worst enemy to her. some people say their the best just to take people's money, and that's just what happen to me.a word of encouragement see if your dresser have any awards.

The NFL Playoffs.

So far the NFL Playoffs are turning out as no one had expected. It has been a surprise to me at what teams are still alive. The Cardinals,come on they were in a weak division and had an 8-8 regular season record. The Philadelphia Eagles come on they had an 7-8 record with 1 tie. Also the top teams, The New York Giants and The Tennesee Titans had got dethrowned and they had kept the streak running being the team as the top seed not winning the Superbowl. But, if you have any comments you can comment on this little article. The Philadelphia Eagles are going all the way this year baby!!

by:markerra

its never a good time for a child 2 experience abuse.such as on keyshia cole neffy was abused by men in her family.wen kids experience that its very emotional. their adulthood will be challenging,an emotional rollercoaster.i know as kids we are sometimes afraid of adults but not all.thats probably why some kids dont tell that their being abused because its frightning and scary for them.could you imagine having a life full of abuse, i know shocking.

Wii Haters(who knew!) by Mani Fresh

I swear to beans that what you are about to read is real. On Christmas day a couple exchanged gifts as usual. But there was a problem with one of them. The boyfriend, Heath Blom, got a Wii instead of a remote control airplane like he wanted. Now I know what your thinking I will take a Wii over an airplane or lucky guy. Blom got mad about it and as the girlfriend, Randi Young, has about to leave Blom pulled her hair. This was not a playful pull but a I'm gona hit you pull. Young turned around and punched him. After that they started fighting each other. Now they are sentenced to stay away from each other.