Hollinger in Antarctica

After two really hard days hauling the pulks up to the col it was fantastic today to be able to speak to the Y7’s in Miss Smith’s Science lesson at Tapton school. The phone connection was perfect with virtually no delay which is amazing when you realise how far away I am! This made it pretty easy to have a conversation. The questions varied from Josi Neath asking me ‘How many cryoconite holes have I found and how do I know where to look?’ to Giovanni Lanera asking ‘How are the toilet facilities and why do we not have to bring urine back with us?’. Some of the other questions I was asked were: Sarah Dowdeswell – ‘How deep are the cryoconite holes and what do I do with the holes when I find them?’, Charlotte Pearson – ‘What do the lichens look like?’, Ben Hartley ‘What is the best thing about my trip so far?’ and Rhiannon Hume – ‘Do I think that lots of people should go to Antarctica or should it be left alone and kept as it is?’. Thanks to all of you who asked me such excellent questions. I understand you were interviewed afterwards by some journalists from the University of Sheffield so I hope that went well.  

Not only did I get to speak to the lesson but Peter Fuchs, Steve Bull and Teachers’ TV went to Tapton and took part in the lesson. The class tried on the clothing – boots, coats, gloves, hats etc and which hopfully gave everybody a good understanding of how many layers we are wearing and just how cold it is here as you baked in the classroom! They also all tasted my favourite food – the Sweet & Sour Chicken (I hope you liked it!) and had a look at a tent and sleeping bag similar to the ones I am using. Thanks to those of you who stayed on to ask more questions and to Alex Grech, Philip Beck and Marco Wood-Bonelli who had an interview with Teachers TV at the end of the lesson. Over the next couple of lessons the class will be analysing the weather data so far and creating human-sized bar charts of wind speed and temperature. These will then go up in the school for everyone to see. Happy birthday today to Danny 9RJ and Edward 7KA.