Skyping from the Last Frontier

Erica MartinRadford University

Spring 2014

Purpose for Visiting•To raise student educational aspirations relating to science.

•To raise student awareness relating to current sea ice research and the culture of Barrow, Alaska.

•To identify the affects of Skype on classroom instruction.•To participate in the collection of sea data.

Barrow, Alaska is about 4,000 miles from Riner, VA

Skype SessionsDiscussion Points:• Time/

Temperature• Clothing • Purpose• Local

Surroundings

• Science Activities

• Interviews• Questions

Schools Involved:

• Auburn Elementary School-Riner, VA• Radford University-Radford, VA• Basset High School-Henry County,

VA• Stanleytown Elementary-Henry

County, VA• Campbell Court-Henry County, VA• Ridgeway Elementary-Henry

County, VA

550 Students

Pictures of the Skype sessions

Questions from VAKindergarten:• How many miles are you away?• At night do you hear any wolves? • How much ice do you have?• Are there any penguins?• Are there any polar bears?• What have you eaten?• What animals are there?• Are you having a lot of fun?• Will you get to go home? • What kind of fish are there• What are the birds? • Why is it so cold? How do you make

igloos?

Fifth Graders:• Do the kids have textbooks there? • What do you use to drill the ice? • Have you gotten cold? • What does the ice tell you? • How heavy are your boots? • Have you seen any polar bears? • Are you taking pictures with the

whale bones? • How much do your boots weigh?• Are you making new friends?• Are you teaching students in

Alaska too?

Blogging

Emartin9.wordpress.com This is the blog I created for this trip. I posted daily,

taking the readers through my day step-by-step so hopefully they could get a clear picture of what it is like here in Barrow. Currently, I have had over 900 views in less than a weeks time.

“Thank you for taking time out of your days to keep us updated and also for posting all of the pictures!”

“Seems like you’re learning so much! Your stories and pics are wonderful! Really enjoy both.”

“People tell me when they are reading your posts they feel like they are right there with you experiencing everything.”

Additional Outreach

• Channel 10 and 7 news interviews from Roanoke, VA

• Facebook page

• Arctic Geophysics Website www.radford.edu/alaska

Plans for the Future

• Follow up research• Graduate/

Undergraduate forum Presentation

• Additional conferences across the state of VA

• Possible Publishing of our research

Time in the Schools

• Fred Ipalook Elementary School

• Two 4th graders gave us a tour of the school

• Classrooms, Library, Gym, Music

• Invited to eat lunch with them

• Spoke to a few staff members

Thank you

• Umiaq Office– Nagruk Harcharek

• Fred Ipalook Elementary School

• Natalie Welcome• Martha Stackhouse• Radford University– Dr. Pat Shoemaker– Research Team– Jaslyn Gilbert