The airport floor calls the Argos for a game of scrabble. |
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Today was crazy! The first thing that happened was I got off the plane and met John Hartman, one of our Teacher Argonauts. We walked over to most of the team who were all lying on the floor of the airport playing scrabble. We then took vans to the dorms, got acquainted with our roommates, and dropped off our luggage as well. We then went right outside to play Frisbee. It was really fun to meet everyone while playing Frisbee, because everyone’s competitive nature came out. It was so cool, because I was already making friends! I could tell this week was going to be a lot of fun! After playing around for a while, we went and walked around the campus of the University of Wisconsin where we will spend a lot of our time this week. It is so exciting to finally be here! I have been waiting so long! Anyway, we then went to Applebee’s for dinner. We went back
John Knox and The Edmund Fitzgerald |
to the campus, and we did all sorts of things! We learned a little about how to interpret the weather forecast from Dr. John Kahl, a scientist we are going to work closely. We then received binders, t-shirts, a hat, water shoes, and a whole bunch of other fun stuff! I am having the greatest time ever, and I cannot wait for the rest of the week!
Monday, June 26, 2006
First off, today we went to a video conference with Dr. John Knox and his graduate students in Georgia. We talked about the Edmund Fitzgerald, a ship that sank in Lake Superior. Then we talked with Dr. John Kahl again, and we talked more about interpreting all of the different aspects of the weather forecast. We went back to what we now call the office, which is really our conference room, but we went back there and learned how to make movies
Wind Direction, Sculpture and Fun |
with the pictures and video clips. We went to the art museum next where we played with some really cool sculptures that tie in with the wind and weather, so that was pretty cool! We then went back and talked to our publice relations representative about how to take an interview. That was pretty cool to practice and to see how other people might handle the media. Next, we went back to ‘the office’ and practiced describing things without saying like or um. That was really hard!
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Today was probably my favorite day so far! We were working with this commercial diver, and we took a trip to her personal rock quarry. Today was the day where we learned to snorkel! I was one of the only ones who had never done it before. So we did some exploring of the quarry, and that was awesome. She then showed us pictures of a sunken houseboat and speedboat in her quarry, which was pretty exciting. On the way back, we went to my very first drive-in restaurant! It was pretty weird. I didn’t even know they existed! Today was a lot of firsts for me and it was really exciting!
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
My favorite day. Let’s snorkel! |
Today was another conference-filled day. We first saw a video about the Cornelia B. Windiate. It was a really cool shipwreck! We than had a video conference with the people who researched it, the Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary. That was actually really helpful in solving our Argonaut mysteries. We again talked with Dr. John Kahl a little bit about the weather station at the University and how it works. We went along the riverside after that and collected some weather data, as we do every day. We gave a presentation this afternoon about wind sheer and the death of a hurricane. That was pretty exciting!
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Today was pretty cool. We were on a research vessel all morning, collecting weather and water data. We were at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Water
What is a drive-in anyway? |
Institute. We also used some cool technologies to look at shipwrecks in the bottom of Lake Michigan. Then, we went back in the building to review what we did and to look at quagga mussels, a new form of mussel invading Lake Michigan. That was really cool. Then we did some experiments with water density, which I really enjoyed watching! We came back to the office and watched the movie The Perfect Storm, which was really cool. I actually was able to apply a little bit of what I learned from that to my hypothesis about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. So I really got a lot out of that! Nearing the end of this Boot Camp is really sad for me, because all of these people are like best friends to me now. I have had so many experiences here that I will never forget in my entire life!
Modeling wind sheer and the death of a Hurricane |
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Technology enabling us to look at shipwrecks at the bottom of the lake |
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An experience of a lifetime! |
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