New Antarctic post from Tasis!
TASIS Roots & Shoots Wildlife teacher, Wendy Gediman is off to Antarctica for her third time! She goes with Robert Swan, the explorer, environmentalist, and his 2041 Foundation. This expedition is different from the others because it is just a small team of 14 people from around the world, and they are on a mission. The mission is to test renewable technology to be used next year by Rob and his son Barney as they walk 600 miles to the South Pole using only renewable energy. This will be a first in history!Ms. Gediman is joining Robert And Barney Swan, a NASA scientist, and a group of energy specialists flying to Union Glacier, in the interior of Antarctica. They will be based at Union Glacier base camp, the only private camp in Antarctica. Their expedition includes a night out on their own with tents using only sustainable energy to melt ice for drinking and cooking food.The Fifth grade classes got to meet Ciara Doyle, and take part in a Skype meeting. This meeting, described here, has inspired our Roots & Shoots club to work on obtaining a wind turbine like the one Ciara told us about for our school! If you want to follow Ms. Gediman's website that covers her expedition, here is the link: https://80degreessouth.wordpress.com/Ciara Doyle is coming along on the 80 Degrees South Expedition. She went with Rob to Antarctica last March, along with Michael Lunt and Ian King. Ciara works for Siemens at a power plant in Wales. Siemens built the station and now operate and carry out the maintenance on it for Calon Energy. Michael and Ian work with Calon Energy. They took part in a special Skype session with 5th grade on Monday.Ciara has just picked up a portable wind turbine from a small company in Hereford that makes them in a workshop on a farm called Leading Edge. Somehow, she will be bringing this turbine with her to Chile, and then Antarctica! This will be tested and used on our expedition for energy! The company looks pretty cool, Wind Turbine-Leading Edge Power.Ciara, Michael, and Ian spent about half an hour talking with the students. They talked about how power is used in the UK, the types of power used, renewable energy, and a bit about their travels to Antarctica. Ciara told the class about the portable wind turbine, and I promise to take videos of it in Antarctica to share. The students then took turns asking questions, which were well answered by all three energy specialists!What a special link to the work that is going on in the field of energy. This is so important, because every single one of us uses energy in various forms each day. And we all agree that renewable energy is important for our present lives and the future.
