WINTER began six months ago for students at Lourdes Hill College, Hawthorne, who have been trekking through the Arctic region alongside a team of United States scientists.
Well, not literally alongside, but this is what Year 9 and 10 information technology students feel like they have been doing.
The college has been involved in an international project – GoNorth! – sponsored by the University of Minnesota, which this year tracks a scientific team travelling through snowy Russia on husky-powered sleds.
With the use of modern technology, Lourdes Hill College has been one of 2900 schools across the globe to closely follow the expedition for learning purposes.
Lourdes Hill IT coordinator Robin Finlay said it was a unique opportunity, which “every school on the planet” should take up.
“The main purpose is for the team of scientists to monitor climate change and other environmental issues, but GoNorth! has opened it up so students all over the world can benefit,” she said.
“Students can follow the physical progress of the trek using satellite technology like Google Earth.
“They can also conduct online chats with the scientists… most people don’t realise that chat rooms have an enormous power for education.
“The girls have learnt so much more about new technology and climate change than they would have learnt from a text book… and they have become a lot more serious about things like saving water.
“It’s all about adventure learning, which is wonderful to be part of because it’s real and happening in real time.
“We even had some polar huskies visit the school so the girls could appreciate the physical power of the dogs.”
Another significant part of schools’ involvement in the project was an online blogging competition, which all students entered.
Year 10 Lourdes Hill student Emily Sheridan was the only zone winner outside the United States.
Emily said she took the competition seriously because she knew how “huge” GoNorth! was.
“I blogged about what I had learnt and my experiences throughout the semester… I’m still waiting for my prize to arrive though,” she said.
GoNorth! started last year and will continue to run until 2010.
