With a little help from a handy technological tool, third
graders were able to garner some real-life insight what it’s like to be a
resident in our 49th state via Skype.
As part of our science and writing units, students are
studying about Alaskan animals and the necessary adaptations they must develop
in order to not only survive, but to actually flourish, in some of the state’s
more extreme environmental conditions. In addition to our online investigation
and/or other media research source endeavors, students were able to garner a
unique inside view of what it’s like to actually live in the state during
several Skyping sessions with longtime residents.
Our first two sessions were with Andrew, a local Alaskan
newspaper journalist, who lives in the city of Wasilla. He is the stepson of
Mrs. Moore, our own Title I coordinator. He and his friend Gil, a recreational
specialist, sent us a YouTube video about how snowshoes work and why they’re so
important when it comes to getting around in the winter. This was an especially
nifty nugget of information, because it tied directly into the adaptations
found in so many Alaskan animals that have evolved in order to help them stay
mobile in the frigid cold and snowy conditions found in the far north!
In fact, did you know that the coldest temperature on record
for the state of Alaska is -80 degrees Fahrenheit at Fort Yukon on January 23,
in 1971? The state’s warmest temperature recording was 100 degrees Fahrenheit
set back on June 27 in 1915 at Prospect Creek. Talk about a wide-range of
extremes!
Next we skyped with Miss Schmit’s grandparents, Steve and
Mary Schmit, who have spent the last sixteen years living out in “the Alaskan
bush” in a small community called Skwentna. The term “bush” is used to refer to
any wilderness area where there are either few or simply no roads linking it to
any main centers of population. In fact, for a lot of the smaller villages
and/or communities scattered across the state, air travel is the only way to
get in or out of the area. Sometimes, residents may have the added option of
going to town via boat as well, using one of the larger rivers, but for many,
the small-engine plane is the only way to move about. Which explains why there
are more than eight hundred airfields in the state of Alaska.
Such was the case for the Schmits, who either flew in or
floated out in order to get groceries, go to the doctor, or for any other
reason they might need access to what the city had to offer. Otherwise, they
spent their time surrounded by water, trees, the native animal residents, and
an ever-changing population of about ten other people for the majority of the
year. Due to the sheer expense of air travel, students learned that trips to
town were done as a necessity and only came about once or twice a year for a
lot of “bush” residents, including these longtime inhabitants. The third
graders also learned about how much work it was living so far away from other modern
conveniences that we so often take for granted such as municipal water supplies
and citywide-supplied electricity and/or gas hookups. Students also got a
glimpse of how much planning actually has to go into simply surviving out there
all alone, with few to rely on but yourself. For example, everything has to be
well stocked, including food, and fuel, tools and parts, and especially
medicines. Because if you run short, it can be days, even weeks sometimes
before you can restock, which could potentially lead to some dire consequences,
depending upon the situation.
Click on the link below to check out read students’
individual books about the Alaskan animal of their choice and its many
adaptations!
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