long metal pole and ice

Guest

Dear Amy,
We have enjoyed looking at the pictures that you have poted. We are wondering about the long metal pole that Max was using to collect water samples in the bottles. We also have many questions about the ice. How stable, or not, is it? How soon before it is all gone? How dangerous is it when you are in the boat?
Grades One and Two

Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 84

Dear Cornwall Elementary School,

So great to hear from a neighboring school. I'm glad you got on-line and have enjoyed looking at the pictures. It is always hard to decide which pictures to put in because there are always so many neat ones!!

The pole that Max was using to collect the samples is a fiberglass pole. It did have an attachment to clip a water bottle too, but no one could find it once we got here in Zhigansk, so we used duct tape instead.

One thing that I've learned is how careful scientists are to make sure that all the samples that we get stay as clean as possible. For example, today when we were sampling, I put the cap of the bottle on the ground while I was collecting with the long yellow pole. Max promptly picked it back up because that wasn't a good place to rest it as it could get dirty. When we go out on the boat to do the major sampling (on Saturday and Monday, I think) there will be a person designated as the "clean hands" person and the "dirty hands" person. The clean hands person will always have glove on and will be the only one to handle the samples as they come in. The dirty hands person will handle the equipment used to get the samples but will not come into direct contact with the water. We also tape some of the tops of some of the bottles that we get to make sure that they stay clean and to try and prevent any air getting through the plastic. Finally, we use special bottles that are called HDPE bottles because they are non-breakable, they seal very well, and the plastic is made in a way that it won't get the sample dirty.

As you can see the ice has changed a lot since we have been here. Right now, it is extremely unstable, and it will still be a couple of days before it is safe to go out on the boat to do our sampling. If you look at the Powerpoint that shows how the river has changed each day, you will see how the volume of ice is getting smaller and smaller everyday. The captain of the boat thinks it will be mostly all gone by Saturday. However, in the dead of winter, the ice is so stable that it is used as a road and people drive large trucks and heavy machinery on it. I will tell you the truth, although I would never do this, I think it would be really fun to jump on one of the big chunks of ice and go down the river for a little while on it!!!

I hope to hear from you guys again soon!!

Amy and Max