Questions & Answers Week 03
Every week Team GoNorth! answers ten questions related to the module topic from student explorers -- so stay tuned and submit YOUR questions!
Yes! And we are going to miss them. But, the thing is, it seems like our friends and family are always with us in spirit and thought. Our families know that we do what we love, that this is who we are, and that it is our way of life. They give us tremendous support and love-which helps when it gets tough out there. We actually think it may be tougher on our families the months before we depart, because the "getting ready to go" pretty much consumes our lives...
Is your family going to miss you?
Maisey
CRES
Brainerd, MN
We have eaten “eskimo ice cream” made from the lining of caribou stomach that is whipped with fat and then frozen with tundra berries mixed in. It is a great treat for us, that gives us a break from our regular trail food and all the fat in it helps to keep us warm.
Recipes for this treat are as different as the people that make it! Here is a recipe from Mille:
Grate reindeer tallow into small pieces. Add seal oil slowly while beating with hand. After some seal oil has been used, add a little water while whipping. Continue adding seal oil and water until white and fluffy. Any berries may be added to it.
Another way to make it is to combine seal oil, ground and melted caribou fat, berries, and some dried fish flakes. Then mix with your hands until it gets fluffy.
You could also just take the contents of a caribou’s stomach, pick out any obvious lumps (leaves, lichen, grass) and knead thoroughly. Then eat as is, or mix with fish eggs and blubber.
Or, squeeze some fish oil together with berries, lard, and sugar. Yum!
Have you ever eaten "eskimo ice cream?" What does it taste like? Do you like it?
Tooke/Larsen Advisories
NCCS
Rhinelander, WI
The oldest dogs in the Kennel are Charlie (13 years old) and Aksel (11 years old). The oldest Polar Husky on the expedition this year is Peto. At 12 years old, Peto also wins the distinction of being the most hyper Polar Husky, always happy and ready to pull.
What Polar Huskies do when they retire depends on their nature. Some stay in the Kennel and have the important job of teaching young dogs and working at public events. Others go to recreational kennels, and some go out to homes to become pets.
To learn more about all of the amazing Polar Huskies, visit the Kennel in the Dog Yard.
Who is the oldest dog?
T.E.
Mr. Clark's Class at St. Ann's
Missouri
Chukotka is more than 5,000 miles (8,045 km) from Education Basecamp in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
To get there, Paul and his support crew drove from Grand Marais, Minnesota, where the Polar Huskies were training, about 3,300 miles (5,300 km) north to Anchorage, Alaska! According to Mapblast.com, this distance measures exactly 3224.8 miles(about 5,188 km), and should take 57 hours and 34 minutes to drive. But that's not quite the case traveling with a loaded trailer and 24 Polar Huskies through weather and wilderness roads. It has taken about nine days.
Once in Anchorage, the gear, food, dogs, and people was loaded on to a plane and fly to Nome, the western-most community in North America. In Nome, Mille will join the Team, coming from Education Basecamp at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Loading everything and everyone on to small aircrafts, the flight then goes 80 miles (129 km) across the Bering Strait to Provideniya, the expedition starting point, where Nikolai will join the Team.
How far is Chukota from here?
S.
Mr. Sipper's 5th Grade @ CRES
We take a shovel, walk a short distance away from camp, dig a hole, sit down take care of business ... and enjoy the beautiful view! And if it is stormy, we get it done real quick!
Learn more on the Outhouse page in A to Z
Where do you use the bathroom?
A.B.
Mr. Clark's Class @ St. Ann's
Missouri
The Teacher Explorer is selected through a nationwide application process.
If you are a registered teacher, you will simply have to sign up for a short selection process. Every year—usually towards the end of the live program, so in May or early June—we put out a call for applications to be submitted. We will announce the competition on the front page of the website as well as in the Polar Husky newsletter!
If you are selected, you will travel with the Expedition Team on the trail for up to 14 days. Assisting with scientific and TEK data collection, you will gain first-hand experience of the Arctic environment and indigenous culture.
Learn more on the Teacher Explorer page under Professional Development.
I am a teacher and would love to go on an expedition? How do I apply for the GoNorth! Expedition?
Rumney
NCCS
Rhinelander, WI
Yes, every day we will be posting an audio update. And every Monday morning at 8 am CST, you will be able to see Trail Updates, movies, audio, pictures, and 360's from us. On Thursdays, Timber will have his Timber Tales on the site. This is all sent straight from the tent to you! We will even try to check in on a chat or two while in Chukotka, Russia!
We can do all of this because of out satellite phones, solar panels, generators, grab-it-batteries, and not one—but two— satellite communication systems... get the picture?
Now as for you being able to talk to us, make sure to post us lots of "Send-a-Note" messages! We love to download and read these on our days off and when in the communities.
After you leave for the expedition, will you still be able to communicate with us?
R.L.
Butler Middle School
Polar Huskies have was is called a "double-layered" coat. Closest to their skin is a thick undercoat of wool for insulation and warmth; and the outer coat is made up of long, oily "guard hairs" that protect the wool from getting wet. This means they are very protected when outside and that they easily overheat when inside.
So, on the expedition, we will dig holes for them in the snow. If there is any wind, it will pile snow to make a small wall blocking them from the wind at the end of the day. The Polar Huskies then curl up to cover their nose with their tail and let the snow drift over them like a blanket.
Learn more about the life of a Polar Husky on the Polar Husky World page in the Dog Yard.
How and where do the dogs sleep?
E.D.
Mr. Clark's Class @ St. Ann's
Missouri
Well, we do not have access to the traditional choice of fatty food—such as seal or whale blubber in the same traditional fashion as they Native people. But we still need lots of calories just like they do! So instead, we eat what is "native" to us and what we can buy and bring with us from home: butter and cheese.
Now, Mille is from Denmark and pretty much butter-crazed, but the rest of us prefer to eat the butter with something. We fry the bagels daily in lots of butter, mix it in with our hot noodles and mashed potatoes or, as Paul likes it—sandwiched between two pieces of jerky!
We need to consume 5,000-6,000 calories a day to have enough energy for what we are doing and to stay warm at the same time. That is 2-3 times more than the daily recommended amount!
Learn more about our food on the expedition on the Yummy page in the Polar Husky A to Z.
What made you think of eating frozen butter? Do you add anything to it to make it taste better?
Via Live Chat, March 6
NCCS
Rhinelander, WI
Three members of Team GoNorth! will travel the entire route: Expedition Leader Paul Pregont, from Minnesota in the United States, Mille Porsild from Denmark, and Nikolai Ettyne, who is a Chukchi from Chukotka, Russia. Once the team is on the coast of the Arctic Ocean, they will be joined for two weeks by Dr. Aaron Doering of University of Minnesota and by our brave Teacher Explorer, Jeff Sipper, also from Minnesota, USA.
Meet the team, read their bios and interviews on the Meet the Team pages in Logistics.
How many people are in your party?
Josiah
Via Live Chat, March 6
Polar Huskies are bred for what they are doing. They are Native to polar conditions (thus their name!) and we carefully nurture to keep their characteristics that enable them to survive and be healthy in Arctic conditions. That means Polar Huskies are burly dogs that cannot be sprinting all day or they will overheat. The trick is their double layered coat which covers all areas that could otherwise be exposed and prone to frostbite— including in between their paw pads, and even inside their ears.
Can the dogs get frostbite?
Via Live Chat, March 6
Amy Vargason's 5th Grade Grade
