16 April 2007

Another No Travel day for SnowSTAR as the team prepared sleds and equipment for tomorrows start of the remote and final leg of the Expedition. Dr. Chris Derksen arrived at the Daring Lake Camp late this afternoon by plane from Yellowknife. His addition brings the SnowSTAR team to seven members. While the crew is celebrating his arrival tonight, Chris will not get much time to get acclimatized! Mid-morning tomorrow, less than 18 hours after his arrival, he will be part of an impressive train of seven machines pulling 14 sleds out of the Daring camp heading east across the barrens toward the Thelon River. For our Soundclip tonight we have a weather report in Spanish by Henry. We also have a fun dispatch the crew put together that includes some Brain Teasers for all the students tracking SnowSTAR.

CHUGIAK STUDENTS: Click Here for weather in Espanol.

Daring Lake News & Brain Teasers

At Daring Lake Research Camp, 16 April 2007

Camp 32 Location: 65º 50'N,   111º 35'W

Weather: Sunny and Calm, Overnight Low-23ºC (-10ºF) Daytime High -10ºC (+14ºF)
No Travel Today

A Puzzle--What is different about Glen?!

Glen has a lot of clothes so that he can work in any winter weather.  We
have a puzzle for you today.   Glen is modeling his outfit but has changed 5
things between pictures.   Can you identify them?    The answers are listed
below, but don't look unless you get stuck.

Coffee!

One of the great pleasures of our trip is excellent coffee in the morning!
Many thanks to Michael and The Alaska Coffee Roasting Co. who sponsored us
with the finest fresh roasted coffee available.  Jon and Dan (the serious
coffee drinkers) start the day with Alaska's finest coffee. Now that we have
reached Daring Lake, Chris and Arvids will be enjoying this fine brew with
us for the rest of our trek.

Other News
Today Chris Derksen, the last member of the expedition, flew into Daring
Lake on a small plane equipped with skis.  Ski planes are used a lot in the
North because they can land so many places in the winter. All they need is a
patch of smooth snow.

Tomorrow, the whole expedition will head out for Baker Lake, the end of the
trip.  We will visit a diamond mine along the way as well as several
historic sites.

Answers to Glen's Puzzle
  1.. Different hat
  2.. Different gloves
  3.. Different boots
  4.. Different glasses
  5.. Looking a different direction


Math and Physics Problems for FUN!

Jon Fixes his  iPod and then Catches Back Up  (an algebra problem)

Question:  A while back (many kilometers now) Jon stopped for five min. to
fix his iPod  (the tunes were rocking but then they stopped).  The rest of
us were traveling at 24 km/hr.  Traveling at a constent speed, it took Jon
15 min to catch back up.  How fast was he going?  (in km/ hour.)
(email your answer to the Fairbanks Base Camp)

A Solar Energy Problem:
At the Daring Lake Research Camp here in the Barrenlands solar energy is the
main source of energy. The solar panels energy charge a bank of batteries.
There are 12 panels which can each generate 50 watts of power at a maximum.

Question 1: What is the maximum number of watts that can be generated?
( email your answer to the Fairbanks Base Camp)

The maximum output occurs when the sun strikes the panel vertically (not at
an angle). The panels all face south and are tipped at an angle of 43.6 degrees
(measured from the horizontal ground surface).  This angle was chosen
because it gives pretty optimal power generation in the spring/summer when
the sun is near its maximum height. At that time the sun light strikes the
panels vertically.   The sun angle a little after noon today was 32 degrees
above the horizon-a good bit lower than it will be in a month or two.

Question 2 ( this is a trig/ physics problem geared for High School
students)  How many watts can be generated today (use sun angle of 32
degrees)?
(email your answer to the Fairbanks Base Camp)