Friday, January 12, 2007

From Mrs. Fencl's Kindergarten Class in Westby, WI

Yesterday I received this email:

Hi Katie,
We are learning about Antarctica in kindergarten. The class has some questions for you. How cold is it in Antarctica? We want you to see us and to say Hi to us. What do the penguins look like there? Can you come to our school sometime and read us a book about scientists? What do seals feel like? Can you show us your gear from Antarctica? Can you take more pictures of penguins? We saw them on your Weblog yesterday...cool. What do the scientists wear? What do the seals look like?
We will e-mail again soon.
Thank-you...From everyone in Mrs. Fencl (Auntie M's) kindergarten


Dear Mrs. Fencl's kindergarten class,
I am really glad your class is learning about Antarctica. It is such an interesting place. I will try to answer all of your questions as best I can.

Right now, it is summer in Antarctica while it is winter in Wisconsin. Our seasons are opposite each other because we're on different sides of the globe. December and January are the warmest months here. The warmest temperature it gets in summer is about 40 degrees Fahrenheit which feels really warm to us since we're used to really cold weather. During the winter, it can be almost 40 degrees below 0! The South Pole, which is 800 miles from us, can get down to 100 degrees below 0!

There are two kinds of penguins around the McMurdo Station area, where I live. We have emperor penguins, which are the tallest and heaviest of all penguins. They can be four feet tall and weigh 75 pounds. They are almost all black and white but have yellow on their necks. I have seen emperor penguins in the wild, but they were far away from me. I posted some pictures of them at the beginning of October. The most recent penguin photos on my weblog are of Adelie penguins. They are much shorter and lighter than the emperor penguins. Adelie penguins are all black and white and have a longer tail than most penguins.

I will try to find a book about scientists to read to you at your school. I would love to visit your class when I get home!

We are not allowed to touch seals here in Antarctica. The Antarctic Treaty is an agreement made by 45 countries which makes Antarctica a protected place for science. Only scientists are allowed to touch the animals, and they must have permits saying they're allowed to.

Hopefully we will be able to talk to each other over the internet, and I will be able to show you my extreme cold weather (ECW) gear then. I have a big red parka, which everyone here nicknamed "Big Red" and these funny white boots we call "Bunny Boots". We are given so many clothes to wear down here that they fill two large duffel bags!!

I will try to take more pictures of penguins for you, but we haven't had any more close to town since the day I took the photos you just saw.

The scientists are all here studying different things so they wear what they need to depending on their job. Some scientists work outside and have to wear lots of clothes like the ones I just told you about. There are some scientists that live way out in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica for weeks and weeks to study things like rocks, lakes, fossils, and glaciers. One of my friends camped with a science group in the Dry Valleys, and he didn't get to take a shower for SEVEN weeks!! They couldn't do laundry either!

I will try to find a close-up photo of a seal for you, and I will post it on my weblog soon!

Hope to hear from you again soon! Great questions! Keep them coming!!
Sincerely, Katie

Posted by Katie from the Ice @ 11:17 PM